Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey (born 4 January 1996) is a French-born British actress. Her breakthrough performance as Maeve Wiley, a sardonic teenager, in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

comedy-drama series ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

'' (2019–present), earned her a

British Academy Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

nomination. She has since starred in the mystery film ''Death on the Nile'' (2022) and in the drama film ''Emily'' (2022). Her portrayal of writer

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

in the latter earned her two

British Independent Film Award The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

nominations, and the

BAFTA Rising Star Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is an award that acknowledges new talents in the ...

Early life

Tachard-Mackey was born in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, the daughter of a French father and an English mother. Her father is a school headmaster. She grew up in

Sablé-sur-Sarthe Sablé-sur-Sarthe (, literally ''Sablé on Sarthe''), commonly referred to as Sablé, is a commune in the Sarthe department, in the Pays de la Loire region, western France. It is about 50 km northeast of Angers. Population Geography The Va ...

and received her in 2013 with High Honours in l'académie de Nantes, a French school district, subsequently moving to England to study English language and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. She graduated in 2016. Mackey lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as a dual French-British citizen.

Career

Mackey was cast in her first professional role with the

comedy-drama series ''

'' as Maeve Wiley, an intelligent, quick-witted, business-savvy "bad girl" who convinces fellow student Otis Milburn (

Asa Butterfield Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield (; born Asa Maxwell Thornton Farr Butterfield on 1 April 1997) is an English actor. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young ...

) to start an underground sex therapy business at their school. She stated that "For me, this is my first piece of work. ... It was—and still is—a really happy time." Mackey's work on the series has earned her acclaim. ''

The Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' wrote "Emma Mackey, as Maeve, is a revelation; perhaps the best performance by a young British actress I’ve seen since I discovered

Florence Pugh Florence Pugh ( ; born 3 January 1996) is an English actress. She made her acting debut in 2014 in the drama film ''The Falling (2014 film), The Falling''. Pugh gained recognition in 2016 for her leading role as a young bride in the independe ...

. She’s alluring yet distant, pragmatic yet emotional, whip-smart yet foolishly in love." For the role, she received a

nomination in 2021, and won a National Comedy Award in 2022. In 2021, Mackey led the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film ''Eiffel'', which premiered at the

Alliance Française French Film Festival L'Alliance Française French Film Festival is an annual French film festival in Australia organised by Alliance Française. With the intention of highlighting the richness and diversity of French cinema, the festival supports a selection of 35+ new ...

and has earned numerous international theatrical releases; it has grossed over $13 million worldwide.

Review site A review site is a website on which reviews can be posted about people, businesses, products, or services. These sites may use Web 2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users or may employ professional writers to author reviews on the topic ...

DoItInParis stated that Mackey "radiates mischief in the boots of a rebellious and entire provincial bourgeoisie, a bit capricious but madly endearing." The following year, she starred in the mystery thriller film ''

Death on the Nile ''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at s ...

'', a sequel to 2017's ''Murder on the Orient Express''. She was cast in 2019 in the supporting role of Jacqueline de Bellefort. The film earned generally positive reviews and was successful during its release. Mackey had her first lead film role as the novelist

in the partly fictional 2022 film ''Emily'', focusing on Brontë's early life. She will next appear in ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

'' (2023).

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackey, Emma 1996 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds BAFTA Rising Star Award winners British film actresses British people of French descent British television actresses French film actresses French people of English descent French television actresses People from Le Mans People from Sarthe 21st-century British actresses 21st-century French actresses