 Dahl is the daughter of the English actor Julian Holloway and the writer Tessa Dahl.Her paternal grandparents were the actor Stanley Holloway and the former chorus dancer Violet Lane.Dahl's paternal lineage has been associated with the stage since at least 1850; Charles Bernard (1830–1894), a great-uncle to Stanley Holloway, was a successful Shakespearean actor and theatre manager in London and the English provinces.