Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, author, playwright, and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayals of Mary Hawkins in the

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

historical drama series '' Outlander'' (2016), Tina Pemberton in

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's comedy-drama series '' Living the Dream'' (2017–2019), Summer Falk in the romantic comedy film ''

All Roads Lead to Rome "All Roads Lead to Rome" is a proverb of medieval origin in a number of languages, referring to Roman roads, possibly related to the Milliarium Aureum. The term may also refer to: * ''All Roads Lead to Rome'' (1949 film), a French film * ''All ...

'' (2016), and Sierra in the supernatural horror film '' Down a Dark Hall'' (2018). Day is an ambassador for stem4, a teenage mental health charity. Her debut book, ''Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon''—based on her

one-woman show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show, one-woman show, or one-person show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieti ...

of the same name—was published in 2021.

Career

At the age of four, Day was spotted by a casting agent and given her first role, playing Emma on the first season of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama series '' Hope and Glory'', which aired in 1999. She featured as one of the Dudakov children in

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

's ''

Summerfolk ''Summerfolk'' () is a play by Maxim Gorky written in 1904 and first published in 1905 by Znaniye (''1904 Znaniye Anthology'', book Three), in Saint Petersburg.

'' at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

the following year, and went on to build a strong reputation as a

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...

in such series as ''

Black Books ''Black Books'' is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Dyla ...

'', ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'', ''

Bernard's Watch ''Bernard's Watch'' (informally known as ''Bernard'' in the reboot series) is a British children's drama series about a young boy who could stop time with a magical pocket watch. The show was created by Andrew Norriss and was produced for seve ...

'', '' My Life as a Popat'', and ''

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer. Though she did not train professionally, Day drew from her experiences working alongside adult co-stars, studying and imitating them. In 2010, at age 16, Day played Naomi in the Anya Reiss play ''

Spur of the Moment A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to bac ...

'' on the West End. She made her feature film debut in 2012, starring as sex-trafficking victim Angel in the horror film '' The Seasoning House.'' The role brought her critical acclaim, as well as a Best Actress win at the

Screamfest Horror Film Festival Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a horror film festival founded by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in August 2001. It runs over ten days during the month of October and is hosted at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Los Angeles, Ca ...

. To prepare for the part, Day conducted extensive research into "the experience of women who adbeen in that situation", while also learning sign language. She later said that playing Angel had "certainly had an effect" on her. In 2013, Day was chosen as one of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

''s "Stars of Tomorrow". In 2015, Day co-starred as

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both Sarah Jessica Parker filmography, screen and stage. List o ...

's defiant teenage daughter in the romantic comedy ''All Roads Lead To Rome'', citing Parker as "a huge influence" professionally. From there, she returned to the small screen for the recurring role of Mary Hawkins on the second season of the

historical drama, '' Outlander''. Airing in 2016, Day was suggested for the part of Hawkins by Scottish actor

Sam Heughan Sam Roland Heughan (; born 30 April 1980) is a Scottish actor, producer, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his starring role as Jamie Fraser in the Starz drama series '' Outlander'' (2014–present) for which he has won the People ...

, whom she had worked with two years previously. Day's performance in the 2017 drama ''Butterfly Kisses'' was well received, with the film going on to win a

Crystal Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

at the

67th Berlin International Film Festival The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as president of the jury. '' Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the ...

. Day appeared as Pam Tennison in the ITV miniseries ''

Prime Suspect 1973 ''Prime Suspect 1973'' (also known as ''Prime Suspect: Tennison'') is a British television detective drama series starring Stefanie Martini as the young Jane Tennison. It is a prequel to the long-running ''Prime Suspect'' series that had starre ...

'' that same year, and began starring as Tina Pemberton in the

comedy-drama series '' Living the Dream''; a role she played until 2019. In 2018, Day starred as Sierra, a troubled boarding school pupil, in the supernatural horror film '' Down a Dark Hall''. Describing herself as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, Day said that she was attracted to the project because of its female-centred approach. She then portrayed actress

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

in a 2019 episode of

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

' '' Urban Myths'', and starred as the drug-addicted mother of a newborn in the 2020 psychological thriller film ''

Baby In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

'', with ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' describing her performance in the latter as "expressive" and "persuasive". Day starred in the

improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

comedy film '' Real Love'' in 2021, as well as voicing the character of Meteion in the video game '' Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker''. Following guest roles on '' McDonald & Dodds'' and ''

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, ...

'' that same year, Day appeared in the self-penned

, ''Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon'', which—after previewing in 2020—ran from February to March 2022 at the

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London with two venues, both located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They ident ...

. Writing for ''

WhatsOnStage.com WhatsOnStage is a UK-based theatre website providing news, reviews, interviews, and a comprehensive listings database of performances across the country. The platform claims to list over 5,000 performances at any given time and also operates a tick ...

'', Alun Hood described her portrayal of Eileen in ''Armageddon'' as "impressive and unsettling", adding that it was imbued with "sparky, nihilistic wit". Next, Day co-starred as murder victim Kelly Flint in the vigilante thriller film '' Hard Home'', which debuted on streaming platforms in 2024.

Other work

It was announced in March 2025 that Day's debut novel, ''Vipers'', had been acquired by

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

for release in 2027. It follows the publication of her non-fiction book, ''Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon'', in 2021.

Filmography

Feature film

Television

Video game

Radio

Scripted podcast

As director

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Rosie Living people 21st-century English actresses English child actresses English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses Actresses from Cambridge Year of birth missing (living people)