Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey (born ) is a British and French actress. Her breakthrough performance in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

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 human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

'' (2019–2023) earned her a British Academy Television Award nomination. Mackey has since starred in the mystery film ''Death on the Nile'' (2022) and portrayed Emily Brontë in the drama film ''Emily'' (2022). She won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2023.

Early life and education

Tachard-Mackey was born in

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, the daughter of a French father and an English mother. Her father is a school headmaster. She grew up in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, 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 Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. She graduated in 2016. Mackey lives in London 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 persuades fellow student Otis Milburn ( Asa Butterfield) 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'' 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. She's alluring yet distant, pragmatic yet emotional, whip-smart yet foolishly in love." For the role, she received a British Academy Television Award nomination in 2021, and won a National Comedy Award in 2022. In 2021, Mackey appeared in the independent

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

film ''Eiffel'', which premiered at the Alliance Française French Film Festival and has earned numerous international theatrical releases; it has grossed over $13 million worldwide. Review site 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 ...

'', a sequel to 2017's ''Murder on the Orient Express'', in the supporting role of Jacqueline de Bellefort. Mackey had her first lead film role as the novelist Emily Brontë in the partly fictional 2022 film '' Emily'', focusing on Brontë's early life. The following year, she appeared in the fantasy comedy film ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

''. In April 2025, Mackey was cast as the White Witch in Greta Gerwig's 2026 adaptation of ''The Chronicles of Narnia''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackey, Emma 1990s 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 Sablé-sur-Sarthe 21st-century British actresses 21st-century French actresses Year of birth missing (living people)