Mei Mac (born July 1992) is a British actress and theatre maker. For her performance in the stage adaptation of ''

My Neighbour Totoro is a 1988 Anime, Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. It stars the voices of Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto and Hitoshi Takagi, and focuses on two young sister ...

'', she was nominated for a

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

Early life

Mac was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

to a working-class Hong Kong immigrant family. She initially intended to study medicine at university. At 16, she was inspired to pursue acting by artistic director Kumiko Mendl of the New Earth Theatre, of which Mac is now an associate.

Career

Stage

Mac's first theatre role was in the role of San in Whole Hog Theatre's stage adaptation of

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

's ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated historical drama, historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Set in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, the film follows Ashitaka, a young Emishi prince who journeys west to cure his curs ...

''. Studio Ghibli head and director of the original movie

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

said of Mac's performance: "I've never imagined San as a real-life human being, but if she did exist, it would be you." In August 2022, it was announced Mac would play the lead role of Mei in the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

's staging of another Studio Ghibli movie, ''

''. The play opened at the

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

to positive reviews. Mac's performance earned her a

WhatsOnStage Award The WhatsOnStage Awards (WOS Awards), formerly known as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements in UK theatre, with categories covering both regional p ...

nomination for Best Performer in a Play, and an

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

nomination for Best Actress. In May 2023 Mac appeared as

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

, alongside

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. After a screen Breakthrough role, breakthrough portraying Eric Effiong in Sex Education (TV series), ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023), he rose to further prominence as the ...

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

, as part of the Coronation Concert and starred in Kimber Lee's ''untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play'', in the

Royal Exchange, Manchester The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Ex ...

and

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

in London.

Television

Mac has appeared in the long-running BBC drama

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

, and in the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

sketch show East Mode. In 2024 it was announced she would join the cast of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' spin-off series, ''

The War Between the Land and the Sea ''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' (sometimes shortened to just ''The War Between'') is an upcoming British science fiction television miniseries created by Russell T Davies for BBC One and Disney+. Part of the Whoniverse franchise, the s ...

''.

Personal life

Mac is openly queer. During lockdown, she co-founded Rising Waves, a collective for

British East and Southeast Asian The terms British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) or simply East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) are used to refer to people in the United Kingdom (UK) who identify with the cultures and ethnicities of East and Southeast Asia. The 2021 United Kingdom c ...

(BESEA) artists.

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, Mei Living people 1992 births Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands 21st-century British actresses British stage actresses British television actresses category:Dramaturges English LGBTQ actors English people of Hong Kong descent British queer actresses Theatre practitioners Date of birth missing (living people)