Mirren Mack
{{Short description|Scottish actress (born 1997)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{EngvarB|date= April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mirren Mack
| birth_place = Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1997|12|08|df=y}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/mirren-mack-rising-star-bbcs-nest-interview-2504255 |title=Mirren Mack, rising star of BBC's The Nest, interview|work=The Scotsman|access-date=20 April 2020|date=21 March 2020}}
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 2016–present
| television = Sex Education
The Nest
| education = Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA)
}}
Mirren Mack (born 8 December 1997) is a Scottish actress, known for portraying Kaya on the BBC drama The Nest, Florence in Sex Education, Queenie in the National Theatre’s 2022 production of Small Island, and Merwyn in the Netflix miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Early life
Mack was born in Stirling, Scotland. From a young age, she was exposed to the entertainment industry, with her father, Billy, being an actor and her mother, Callan, being a drama tutor. Her younger sister, Molly, is also an actress.{{Cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/18372963.nest-mirren-mack-breakout-role-kaya/|title=The Nest: Mirren Mack on her breakout role as Kaya|work=Herald Scotland|access-date=13 April 2020}} With sister Molly, she danced at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Mack went to Riverside Primary school and then Wallace High School in Stirling,{{cite news|title=Mirren Mack – Tolbooth Talk: Released – 18th June 2020 |url=https://stirlingevents.org/tolbooth-event/mirren-mack/|work=stirlingevents.org |date=18 June 2020}} In year five at High School, Mack attended the Dance School of Scotland's Musical Theatre. In 2016, she received the Dewar Arts Award for outstanding Scottish talent in the arts, enabling her the opportunity to audition for a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied a Bachelor of Arts in Acting.{{cite news|title=Mirren Mack: how eight-hour bus trips put Nest star on road to success |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/05/mirren-mack-how-eight-hour-bus-trips-put-nest-star-on-road-to-success|work=The Guardian |date=5 April 2020}}{{Cite web|title=GSMD Graduates 2018-2019 - Mirren Mack |url=https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/drama/final_year_actors/graduates_2018_19/mirren_mack/|year=2019|website=Guildhall School of Music & Drama|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417220723/https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/drama/final_year_actors/graduates_2018_19/mirren_mack/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2021}}
Career
=Theatre=
Mack made her professional acting debut in a stage production of Bat Boy as Mayor Maggie,{{Cite web|url=https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/mirren-mack/|title=Mirren Mack|work=Independent Talent|access-date=13 April 2020}} at the Citizen's Theatre, for which she won the Musical Theatre Award and the drama award for her year.
Stage performances have included the play Wound by Philip Ridley in 2020.{{Cite web|title=Mirren Mack by 1883 film - With her performance in The Witcher Blood Origin, Mirren Mack proves she has franchise level talent |url=https://1883magazine.com/mirren-mack/ |work=1883magazine.com |year=2022}} In 2022, as Ophelia in the Bristol Old Vic's adaption of Shakespeare's Hamlet.{{cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/Billy-Howle-Joined-By-Niamh-Cusack-and-Mirren-Mack-in-HAMLET-at-Bristol-Old-Vic-Full-Cast-Announced-20220901|title=Billy Howle Joined By Niamh Cusack and Mirren Mack in Hamlet at Bristol Old Vic; Full Cast Announced|publisher=Broadway World}} and the same year as Queenie in Small Island at the Royal National Theatre in London.
=Film and television=
In 2019, Mack made her television debut in three episodes of the Netflix series Sex Education as Florence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/drama/news/view/article/guildhall_school_announces_the_gold_medal_winners_for_acting_and_production_arts_2019/|title=Guildhall School announces the Gold Medal Winners for Acting and Production Arts 2019|work=Guildhall School|date=16 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220164133/https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/drama/news/view/article/guildhall_school_announces_the_gold_medal_winners_for_acting_and_production_arts_2019/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 February 2022}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/sex-education-star-hints-season-3992759.amp|title=Sex Education star hints at season three of hit Netflix show|work=Gloucestershire Live|access-date=13 April 2020}} In 2020, Mack was cast in her first leading role as Kaya on the BBC drama series The Nest alongside Martin Compston and Sophie Rundle. {{Cite news|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-04-12/the-nest-cast/amp/|title=Meet the cast of BBC One's The Nest|work=Radio Times|date=12 April 2020|access-date=13 April 2020}} Mack came out of Covid lockdown to appear in the seventh series of Portrait Artist of the Year on Sky Arts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-10-21/mirren-mack-portrait-artist-of-the-year/ |title=Mirren Mack reveals why Portrait Artist of the Year was more nerve-racking than being on stage|work=Radio Times|date=21 October 2020}}
Mack began filming of the Netflix miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin in August 2021,{{cite web |title='The Witcher: Blood Origin': Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, Nathaniel Curtis, Dylan Moran Among Cast To Join Netflix Prequel Series; Filming Underway In UK |url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/netflix-witcher-blood-origin-lenny-henry-dylan-moran-filming-begins-1234815527/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=16 August 2021}} set in a time 1,200 years before The Witcher, and appeared in a main role as Princess Merwyn in a cast that includes Lenny Henry, Laurence O'Fuarain and Michelle Yeoh.{{Cite news|url=https://redanianintelligence.com/2021/08/16/the-witcher-prequel-blood-origin-reveals-new-cast-members/|title=The Witcher prequel Blood Origin reveals new cast members |work=redanianintelligence.com |date=16 August 2021}} The series was released on Netflix on 25 December 2022.{{Cite news|url=https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/witcher-blood-origin-plot-photos-creator-interview|title=The Witcher: Blood Origin Creator Previews the Magical Spin-Off |work=netflix.com |date=25 September 2022}}
In 2024, she appeared as Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham in three episodes of the Sky Atlantic period drama Mary & George.{{Cite news|url=https://theconversation.com/intimacy-secret-service-and-social-climbing-meet-the-real-villiers-women-behind-mary-and-george-225356 |title=Intimacy, 'secret service' and social climbing: meet the real Villiers women behind Mary & George |author1=Sarah Bendall |author2=Megan Shaw |work=theconversation.com |date=18 March 2024}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan="2"|2021
| Ladybaby | Rose | Short film |
| Mudlarks
| Ansel |
| rowspan="2"|2022
| Blood Rites | Rose | Short film |
| The Painter & The Poet
| Gemma | Short film |
| 2025
| Hedda | Tabitha Greenwood | Post-production |
=Television=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| rowspan="3"|2020
| Florence | Recurring role; 3 episodes |
| The Nest
| Kaya | Main role; all 5 episodes |
| Portrait Artist of the Year
| Herself | 7th series |
| 2021
| Maggie | Episodes 3 and 4 |
| 2022
| Merwyn | Miniseries |
| 2023
| Rose Whittle | Main role |
| rowspan="2"| 2024
| ‘’The Ink Black Heart’’ | Recurring supporting role |
| Mary & George
| Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham | 3 episodes |
| TBA
| Dinah |
=Stage=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Director/writer/venue |
|---|
| 2016
| Bat Boy | Mayor Maggie | Graham Dickie |
| rowspan="4"|2017
| Arkadina | Wyn Jones |
| The Relapse
| Amanda | Jonathan Humphreys |
| Talk to the Dog
| Girl | Ellis Howard |
| Orphans
| Helen |
| rowspan="5"|2018
| Viola |
| The Bachai
| Agave |
| Phaedra's Love
| Phaedra |
| Oklahoma!
| Ado Annie |
| Mercury Fur
|Naz |
| rowspan="2"|2019
|Electra |
| Merrily We Roll Along
|Joanne |
| 2022
| Queenie |
Awards and nominations
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|10939187}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20200806072849/https://stirlingevents.org/tolbooth-event/mirren-mack/ Mirren Mack – Sterling Events Tolbooth Talk, 18 June 2020]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mack, Mirren}}
Category:21st-century Scottish actresses
Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Category:British television actresses
Category:Scottish stage actresses