Born in Tokyo and raised in England, Sonoya Mizuno trained as a dancer but had a love of acting promoted by her uncle at a young age as well. She danced in performances with the Scottish Ballet, and followed a path that included some time as a model, wearing clothes designed by the likes of Alexander McQueen and Chanel. In 2015, Mizuno made her big screen debut in the film "Ex Machina" (2015). The film, about a computer programmer brought in to test the ability of an Artificial Intelligence to mimic human behavior, was Alex Garland's first as a director and featured Mizuno as an assistant to AI designer Oscar Isaac. She appeared as a dancer in two films the following year, the indie "High Strung" (2016), and the critically acclaimed "La La Land" (2016). It was announced that she would appear in Garland's second directorial effort, "Annihilation" (2017).