Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Anne Boleyn in the Showtime series The Tudors and Margaery Tyrell in the HBO series Game of Thrones. Dormer was born in Reading, Berkshire, and attended Chilterne Edge secondary school before moving on to Reading Blue Coat School, an independent school for boys that accepts girls in the sixth form. She grew up with her stepfather, mother, sister Samantha and brother Mark. She has said that she was bullied at school. At school, Dormer was a prefect, a straight-A student, vice-captain of the school netball team, and also had the chance to travel the world with the school public speaking team.

During her school years, Dormer trained in dance at the Allenova School of Dance. She describes herself as the family's "academic hope", and was offered a place to study history at Cambridge; however, she did not get the A grade in her A-level history exam required for admission. Dormer decided she would audition for drama schools and chose to study at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.