The actress who plays Calypso in Pirates of the Caribbean is gorgeous in real life

If you're familiar with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, then you'll no doubt recognize voodoo enchantress Tia Dalma (the sea goddess Calypso bound in human form). But what you might not know is that the woman beneath all the dreads and makeup is just as alluring as the character she plays. British actress Naomie Harris made her debut as Dalma in 2006's Dead Man's Chest and has since added many other huge movies to her resume, but the story of her life pre-Pirates is equally as interesting.

Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican mother and Trinidadian father, who split before she was born. "It's made me wary of commitment," the Londoner told The Telegraph. Times got tough for Harris and her mom in the years that followed, though they pulled through it together.

From her humble beginnings to her arrival in Hollywood, let's take a look at the life and career of the real Calypso, the stunning Naomie Harris.

Naomie Harris wowed with her performance in White Teeth, showcasing raw talent that director Danny Boyle was eager to refine. In 2002, Harris put in a star turn opposite Cillian Murphy in Boyle's gritty, London-set zombie apocalypse flick, 28 Days Later. "He's the reason, really, that I have the career that I've had, because he took a risk on me and gave me Selena in 28 Days Later," Harris told Digital Spy of the Academy Award-winning director. "[He] really started my career for me, I'm very grateful to Danny Boyle."

He later cast Harris in his 2011 stage adaptation of Frankenstein, but it wasn't exactly a happy reunion.

"I'm not a theater animal," the actress told The Guardian despite of her formal training at the Bristol Old Vic theater school. "It's not my thing at all," she continued, adding, "In every performance I felt like I was going to throw up. I don't think that level of nerves is particularly healthy."

2017 was a huge year for Harris, whose performance as drug addict Paula in Moonlight ensured she was kept busy over awards season. She was nominated for awards at the Oscars and Golden Globes, and, while she didn't end up winning, just having a seat at the table meant everyone now knew her name. Surprisingly, Harris had almost passed on the Oscar-winning role because Paula's world was just so far removed from her own.

"I've always said that I wanted to portray positive images of women and positive images of black women in particular," Harris told RogerEbert.com. "I thought playing a crack addict is not exactly a progressive type of role." What she discovered after she went off to research the role (which involved watching YouTube videos of actual crack addicts) was that she had been far too judgmental about substance abusers in the past.

"I had to confront that in my journey," she explained. "I had to realize that addicts aren't a subset of our society, they are any one of us."

After a legal defense fund was opened in the United States after the Harvey Weinstein scandal, British actresses began supporting its equivalent abroad, the UK Justice and Equality Fund, which aimed to "[support] women who are victims of abuse in all industries" (via The Telegraph). Keira Knightley and Emma Thompson were among the many A-listers to sign an open letter, urging women to fight for equality and an end to sexual harassment. Harris joined them, though luckily for her she's never been harassed in the workplace, thanks to her manager.

Speaking to Net-A-Porter, Harris recounted when she was saved from a potentially dangerous situation. "When everything was blowing up, my manager did remind me about a person who asked me, post-screening, to go up to his room and have a drink," she said. "But because my manager is amazing, she immediately stepped in and said, 'That's not happening under any circumstances.'" Sadly, not every actress has a manager willing to go that extra mile to keep them safe.