Michelle Ryan is best known for portraying the role of Zoe Slater on BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Ryan was born in Enfield, Greater London, and was a student at Chace Community School. She was picked for her role in EastEnders when she was 15 and first appeared on the show in September 2000. She left the series in late 2005
During summer 2005, Ryan appeared in a run of Who's the Daddy? at the King's Head Theatre. She had a small role in an episode of Marple which screened in February 2006, and also appeared in a small independent film the same year, Cashback.
In early 2007, Ryan was seen as Maria in Mansfield Park and also as Lila in the film I Want Candy. In February 2007, it was announced that she had been cast as the lead in the new drama Bionic Woman. The series began airing in the United States on the broadcast network NBC in September 2007.
Ryan is signed to Independent Models in London, and is also a patron of children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
In 2009 Ryan was cast as Lady Christina de Souza in Planet of the Dead, a Doctor Who special to be shown at Easter 2009.
Also in 2009, Ryan filmed 4.3.2.1, a crime thriller starring Emma Roberts, Noel Clarke, Tamsin Egerton and Ophelia Lovibond.
In 2011 Ryan appeared in the comedy film Huge alongside Noel Clarke, Johnny Harris, Ralph Brown, Thandie Newton, and Tamsin Egerton, directed by Ben Miller. Another film, No Ordinary Trifle, is in post-production. Also in 2011, Ryan played Helena from A Midsummer Night's Dream in the BBC Learning project, "Off By Heart Shakespeare" and delivered the speech: "Lo, she is one of this confederacy!"