Here's a guide to the career of actor George MacKay, who got his start with 2003's Peter Pan. MacKay was born in 1992, with his mother and father working as a costume designer and stage lighting manager respectively. He got his first acting role in Peter Pan almost by chance, when he was picked out by an acting scout at his school and asked to audition. He played the role of Lost Boy Curly in the 2003 fantasy adventure, and from there, went on to appear in shows like British drama Rose and Maloney and the 2006 Terry Pratchett adaptation Johnny And The Bomb.
That same year George MacKay also appeared in the fantasy film Thief Lord, alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson. His next major role came with 2008 war drama Defiance, which recounted the true story of a group of Jewish partisans who rescued Jews from the Nazis during the occupation of Poland. MacKay starred alongside Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell, but the movie proved to be a critical and financial disappointment. In 2009 he appeared in Clive Owen drama The Boys Are Back, and played a leading role alongside Jack O'Connell in the war movie Private Peaceful.
In addition to his work in movies and TV, George MacKay is no stranger to the stage. In 2014, he played the role of Jack in a stage adaptation of Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden, and in 2016 he appeared in a production of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. This was around the time he started to get noticed as a lead actor, thanks to the praise he received for romantic drama How I Live Now - co-starring Saoirse Ronan - and Dexter Fletcher's Sunshine on Leith.
George MacKay's Rise To Stardom
George MacKay's run of great projects continued with Pride, a historical comedy set during the British miners' strike in 1984. On television, he starred in the well-received BBC miniseries The Outcast and the following year played a supporting role in Stephen King TV adaptation 11.22.63. He starred alongside Anya Taylor-Joy and Mia Goth in dark psychological drama Marrowbone in 2017 and played a member of the Nazi youth in 2018's Where Hands Touch, who falls in love with a biracial teenage girl.
George MacKay's star has really started to rise in recent years, thanks to the success of Sam Mendes' 1917. He played the main role in the World War 1 movie, which was praised for both its performances and technical accomplishments. He also won raves for his title role in True History of the Kelly Gang. In 2021 he portrayed a young man who believed himself to be a wolf in the fittingly titled Wolf with Lily-Rose Depp and he received yet more praise for his work in Netflix's Munich – The Edge of War, involving a plot to kill Hitler. MacKay has several upcoming projects like sci-fi romance The Beast and is one of (many) candidates rumored to be in the running for James Bond.
