Mia Sasha McKenna-Bruce (born 3 July 1997) is an English actress. She gained prominence through her role as

Tee Taylor This is a list of characters that were introduced in CBBC's ''Tracy Beaker Returns''. The series is based on The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson. It ran on for three series from 2010 to 2012. The series follows ''The Story of Tracy Bea ...

in ''

Tracy Beaker Returns ''Tracy Beaker Returns'' is a British television programme. Based upon the novels by Jacqueline Wilson, it is the sequel series to '' The Story of Tracy Beaker''. The series stars Dani Harmer reprising her role as protagonist Tracy Beaker. T ...

'' (2010–2012) and ''

The Dumping Ground ''The Dumping Ground'' (also informally referred to as ''The DG'') is a British children's television drama series that focuses on the lives and experiences of young people who live in a children's home with their care workers in care. The ser ...

'' (2013–2018). She has since appeared in the

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services de ...

series '' Get Even'' (2020) as Bree Deringer and 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 ...

film ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for Social influence, influence. Persuasion can influence a person's Belief, beliefs, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, Intention, intentions, Motivation, motivations, or Behavior, behaviours. ...

'' (2022).

Early life

McKenna-Bruce was born on 3 July 1997 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 ...

and was raised in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

. McKenna-Bruce took dance classes at Liz Burville Performing Arts Centre in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

and was a student at Belcanto London Academy. McKenna-Bruce also attended the Sapphire Dance Academy in

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

, as well as the Maidstone Grammar School for Girls. McKenna-Bruce has two sisters, Anya and Ellis.

Career

McKenna-Bruce's first role was a ballet girl in the West End production of Billy Elliot. Her first TV role was the minor role of Ester in the TV short, ''Small Dark Places''. She then starred in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' as Abi Taylor for one episode. McKenna-Bruce then appeared in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' as

Penny Branning The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' which aired in 2008 (by order of first appearance). All characters were introduced by executive producer Diederick Santer. Santer introduced four ch ...

. She had a two episode guest in January 2008 and then another three episode guest stint in April 2008. McKenna-Bruce next starred in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' in 2009 as Keira Curtis for one episode. She then moved on to ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' for three episodes. Later in 2009, McKenna-Bruce starred in her first film role, ''

The Fourth Kind ''The Fourth Kind'' is a 2009 science fiction psychological horror thriller film directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and featuring a cast of Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Corey Johnson, Will Patton, Charlotte Milchard, Mia Mckenna-Bruce, Yulian Verg ...

'', playing Ashley Tyler. Her next role was as main character Tee Taylor in

from 2010 to 2012. In 2011, McKenna-Bruce appeared in the TV series Spy for 1 episode and in 5 episodes of The Tracy Beaker Survival Guide. McKenna-Bruce reprised the role of Tee Taylor from 2013 until 2016 (and again as a guest in 2017 and 2018) in the spin-off series ''

''. McKenna-Bruce played Tee Taylor in a ''The Dumping Ground'' spin-off, '' The Dumping Ground: I'm...'', a

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...

series. She guest starred in another episode of ''

'' as Asia Lucas, as well as guest starring in

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

's ''

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

''. McKenna-Bruce was cast as the lead in a feature film, ''The Rebels''. In 2020, she began portraying the role of Bree Deringer on the

teen thriller series '' Get Even''. In 2021, she appeared in an episode of '' Vera'', later being cast in the

film ''

''. In August of that same year, the actress was cast as Mia Karp in the PeacockTV fantasy series Vampire Academy, based on the best-selling book series by Richelle Mead.

Personal life

In February 2022, McKenna-Bruce became engaged to actor Tom Leach.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna-Bruce, Mia 1997 births 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London English child actresses English film actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses Living people People educated at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls