Katie McGrath

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Katie McGrath
McGrath in 2018
Born
Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland
EducationSt. Andrew's College, Dublin
Alma materTrinity College, Dublin[1]
OccupationActress
Years active2007–present

Katie McGrath (/məˈɡrɑː/) is an Irish actress.[2] In television, she gained recognition for portraying Morgana Pendragon in the BBC One series Merlin (2008–2012), Lucy Westenra on the British-American series Dracula (2013–2014), Saskia in the TV series Secret Bridesmaids Business, and Sarah Bennett in the first season of the horror anthology series Slasher (2016), and for her role as Lena Luthor on the superhero series Supergirl (2016–2021). Her film roles include Lady Thelma Furness in the drama film W.E. and Jules Daly in the Christmas movie A Princess for Christmas (2011), Zara Young in the science fiction adventure film Jurassic World (2015), and Elsa in the epic fantasy film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017).

Early life[edit]

McGrath was raised in Ashford, County Wicklow, by her father, Paul, who works with computers, and mother, Mary, who works for an Irish designer. She has two older brothers, Sean, an online media manager, and Rory, who is a post-production producer.[3] She studied the International Baccalaureate at St. Andrew's College before graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, with a degree in history with a focus on Russian history.[1]

At a young age she applied to the Ballygowan 'Be the Face of MTV' competition.[4] Twenty finalists would be able to attend MTV Lick Party at the Tivoli.

Career[edit]

McGrath originally sought to work in fashion journalism and took on a job at Image magazine[1] before becoming a wardrobe assistant on the set of The Tudors. While working on The Tudors, McGrath was advised to try acting, so she sent photographs to Irish agents.[5] She said:

Being an actress was kind of like when you're a kid, and you want to run away and join the circus, it's something you really want to do, but then you grew up and got a proper job. It was a dream, but I didn't think it would ever be reality, and yet here I am![5]

McGrath was cast in Damage, an Irish TV-movie in 2007. She also starred in the play La Marea at the Dublin Theatre Festival in the same year.[6] She appeared in the feature films Eden and Freakdog in 2008, before being cast as Morgana Pendragon in Merlin.[7]

In 2009, McGrath starred in a five-part docudrama for Channel 4 exploring the life of Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen, in which she played a young Princess Margaret.[8] Emilia Fox portrayed Elizabeth II in the same episode in which McGrath appeared; the two had previously worked together as sisters Morgause and Morgana in Merlin. In 2010, McGrath was cast in Madonna's directorial debut W.E., an Edward VIII biopic. McGrath played Lady Furness, the king's former mistress who introduces him to Wallis Simpson.[9]

In 2011, McGrath appeared with Roger Moore in the comedy-drama film A Princess for Christmas, a Hallmark Channel Original Movie shot mainly at the Peleş Castle in Romania.[10] In September 2011, McGrath voice-acted the characters in the Irish animated short film Tríd an Stoirm (Through the Storm).[11] Later that month, McGrath was cast as Oriane Congost in Labyrinth.[12]

McGrath was reunited with her The Tudors co-star and close friend Jonathan Rhys Meyers in NBC and Sky Living's horror drama TV series Dracula; she portrayed Lucy Westenra.[13] In June 2013, McGrath co-starred in episode four of the Channel 4 show Dates as a young lesbian on the dating scene alongside Gemma Chan.[14]

In November 2014, McGrath co-starred in a Hozier music video for the song "From Eden".[15]

In 2015, McGrath had a supporting role as Zara in the film Jurassic World[16] and starred in the Crackle original spy-thriller, The Throwaways.[17]

McGrath portrayed the lead role in the first season of Chiller's original horror series Slasher, which premiered on 4 March 2016.[18]

In 2016, it was announced that McGrath would play the recurring role of Lena Luthor in the second season of Supergirl.[19][20] She debuted in the season two premiere episode titled "The Adventures of Supergirl" and was promoted to a series regular in March 2017 and maintained this role until the show's end in 2021.[21][22] She appeared as Elsa in Guy Ritchie's fantasy film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which was released in May 2017.[23]

In 2019, McGrath starred alongside Abbie Cornish and Georgina Haig in Seven Network series Secret Bridesmaids' Business, about how a bride's wedding turns deadly after one of the bridesmaids invites a stranger into their lives. McGrath starred as Saskia, a bisexual lawyer who is described as an intelligent, loyal woman who is holding a secret.[24]

In September 2023 she had a supporting role in The Continental as the Adjudicator.[25]

Filmography[edit]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Pebble Tara Short film
2011 W.E. Lady Thelma Furness
2012 Tríd an Stoirm Alice/Banshee Short film; voice role
2014 Leading Lady Jodi Rutherford Afrikaans film[26][circular reference]
2015 Jurassic World Zara Young
The Throwaways Gloria Miller
2017 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Elsa [23]
2018 Buttons Mrs Katherine Wentworth
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Damage Rachel Television movie
2008 Eden Trisha Television movie
The Tudors Bess Episode: "His Majesty's Pleasure"
Freakdog Harriet Chambers Television movie
The Roaring Twenties Vixen Television miniseries
2008–2012 Merlin Morgana Pendragon Main role
2009 The Queen Princess Margaret Episode: "Margaret"
2011 A Princess for Christmas Jules Daly Television movie
2012 Labyrinth Oriane Congost Television miniseries
2013 Dates Kate Foster Episode: "Erica and Kate"
2013–2014 Dracula Lucy Westenra Main role
2016 Slasher Sarah Bennett Main role (season 1)
2016–2021 Supergirl Lena Luthor Recurring role (season 2); Main role (seasons 3–6)
2016–2017 Frontier Elizabeth Carruthers Recurring role (seasons 1–2)
2019 Secret Bridesmaids' Business Saskia de Merindol Main role
2023 The Continental: From the World of John Wick The Adjudicator Recurring role; Television Miniseries
Music videos
Year Title Artist
2014 "From Eden" Hozier

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2009 Monte-Carlo Television Festival Outstanding Actress - Drama Series Merlin Nominated [27]
2011 Monte-Carlo Television Festival Outstanding Actress - Drama Series Merlin Nominated [28]
2011 Movieguide Awards Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance on Television A Princess for Christmas Nominated [29]
2013 SFX Awards Best Actress Merlin Nominated [30]
2018 Teen Choice Awards Choice Scene Stealer Supergirl Nominated [31]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Carey, Anna (October 2008). "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". The Gloss Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  2. ^ "What Katie's doing next". thetimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Katie McGrath superstar in waiting". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Jessie a face of MTV finalist". independent. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b "She's magic". Sunday Herald Salon. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  6. ^ bedrockproductions Archived 5 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "'Merlin' Katie McGrath final series Q&A". Digital Spy. 4 December 2012. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Five actresses to play the Queen for C4". The Guardian. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  9. ^ Love, Ryan (8 October 2010). "Katie McGrath praises 'fantastic' Madonna". Digital Spy. London. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  10. ^ Blaga, Lulia (25 February 2011). "PRODUCTION: Christmas at Castlebury Hall Will Shoot in Romania". Film New Europe. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Short Film of the Week: Watch Tríd an Stoirm by Fred Burdy | Film Ireland". filmireland.net. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Katie McGrath: 'Labyrinth is gritty'". Digital Spy. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  13. ^ "Victoria Smurfit To Sink Teeth into Jonathan Rhys Meyers' 'Dracula'". IFTN. 4 February 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  14. ^ "New Channel 4 series "Dates" features gorgeous, complex lesbian couple - AfterEllen". AfterEllen. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Hozier releases new video for 'From Eden' featuring Katie McGrath". Irish Independent. 19 November 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  16. ^ Kit, Borys (3 April 2014). "Judy Greer Joins Jurassic World". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Crackle Premieres Jeremy Renner-Produced Movie 'The Throwaways'". Videoink. 30 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  18. ^ "'Slasher' star Katie McGrath's character gets a bloody good welcome". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  19. ^ Ausiello, Michael (4 August 2016). "Supergirl Lands Merlin's Katie McGrath as Lex's Sister Lena Luthor". TVLine. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  20. ^ Bernstein, Elizabeth (4 August 2016). "Supergirl Finds Its Lena Luthor in Jurassic World's Katie McGrath". Nerd Much?. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  21. ^ Saclao, Christian (12 September 2016). "'Supergirl' Season 2 Spoilers: CW Releases First Official Photos Of Katie McGrath As Lena Luthor". ibtimes.com. IBT Media Inc. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  22. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (22 March 2017). "'Supergirl': Katie McGrath Promoted To Series Regular For Season 3". Deadline. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Katie McGrath - Hamilton Hodell - CV". hamiltonhodell.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  24. ^ Yang, Rachel (8 May 2019). "Abbie Cornish-Led Thriller Series 'Secret Bridesmaids' Business' Begins Production (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  25. ^ Petski, Denise (8 February 2022). "'The Continental': Katie McGrath, Ray McKinnon Among 5 Cast In Starz's 'John Wick' Prequel Series". Deadline. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Leading Lady (Film)".
  27. ^ "Irish Film & Television Network | IFTN | Company Directory, Irish film Locations, Actors, Crew, Industry events, Jobs | The Irish Film & Television Network". www.iftn.ie. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  28. ^ "In Full: Monte Carlo TV Festival fiction nominees". Digital Spy. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  29. ^ "20th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry Winners List". Movieguide.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  30. ^ "IMDB: Merlin Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 14 January 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  31. ^ "Teen Choice Awards 2018: Here's the Full List of Nominations". Moviefone. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.

External links[edit]

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