Felicity Jones on Oscar nomination: 'I never expected my name to be associated with these kinds of awards'

The actress has also been nominated at the Baftas and SAGs for her performance in 'The Theory of Everything'

Felicity Jones plays Stephen Hawking's wife Jane Wilde (Universal)

British actress Felicity Jones said she “never expected” her name to be associated with the Oscars, but was today nominated in the Best Actress category.

The 31-year-old has been recognised for her performance as Stephen Hawking’s first wife Jane Wilde in The Theory of Everything, in which she stars alongside Eddie Redmayne.

The actress, who described today’s announcement as a “great honour”, will compete against Marion Cotillard, Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike and Reese Witherspoon for the award.

Speaking to The Independent last month, she said: “You don’t expect your name to be associated with those kind of awards, so it’s wonderful.

"It’s a film that we all cared so much about because we were playing real life people, and complicated, nuanced, interesting characters, that this is all just wonderful that people enjoy it.”

The actress has also been nominated for her performance at the Baftas, the London Critics Circle Film Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Jones has previously starred in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Charles Dickens biopic The Invisible Woman and romantic drama Like Crazy.

She began her career in the CBBC series The Worst Witch in 1998, in which she played Ethel Hallow.

Read more: Felicity Jones on playing Stephen Hawking's wife - 'I didn't want her to be a saint'