When Emma Mackey first appeared on our screens in the first episode of Netflix’s Sex Education we were a nation bewitched. Sure, her character Maeve Wiley, had an air of Skins-era nostalgia: a moody teenage girl with a strong attachment to DIY hair dye and heavy eye makeup. But she had a heart of gold, an uncanny resemblance to Margot Robbie, and more acting chops than the showrunners knew what to do with.
Of course, Emma is not the only star to emerge from the TV juggernaut. She’s one of three Sex Education cast members to feature in the new Barbie movie, and she was up against co-star and on screen bestie, Aimee Lou Wood, for the BAFTA Rising Star award this year (which Mackey won). Ncuti Gatwa, aka Eric Effiong of “wash your hands you detty pig” fame, has also had a meteoric rise - he’s secured three BAFTAs for his role as Eric and will soon become the first black actor to ever portray Doctor Who. Simone Ashley, who plays mean girl Olivia, made waves as the lead in Bridgerton season two and become one-to-watch on the red carpet.
In fact, half of the high-performing cast have become so famous and in-demand that they’re ditching the show after this season: Mackey and Gatwa aren’t coming back after season four and Ashley has already left, declaring herself a Bridgerton girl for good.
Yet despite a cast that could create so much noise around her, Mackey has always stood out and carved out her own narrative. So, how did this wiley French-born Brit go from Le Mans, to Leeds Uni, to leading the charge past her Sex Education pals? Here’s everything to know about Emma Mackey, from her origin story to what to expect from her new Barbie role.
The education of Emma Mackey
Born Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey in Le Mans, a town in the northwest of France, Emma was raised in France until she moved to Leeds for university in 2013. At school her favourite subject was literature and she had a love for the Brontës from a young age - Ncuti Gatwa even brought it up himself in a joint interview the two did with Asa Butterfield three years ago. “I’m going to say [your favourite subject] was English because your favourite person is the Brontë,” Ncuti says, with Emma laughing, “The Brontë!” in agreement.
True to this, Emma moved to Leeds to study English language and literature at the University of Leeds, leading a typical Leeds Uni lifestyle - student digs, uni balls, taking pictures of the highly Instagrammable Parkinson Building, until she graduated in 2016.
Hitting the big time
Unlike some of the fairly seasoned actors Mackey works alongside, Maeve was actually Emma’s first role. Her lack of previous experience wasn’t lost on the casting department, either, who took a chance on an unknown face because they were having a bit of trouble finding the right Maeve.
“When [Emma] first came in, we’d been seeing so many actresses. Oh my God, so, so many,” casting director Lauren Evans told Metro. “Her agent, who is brilliant, and also looks after Ncuti Gatwa, said ‘I’ve taken on this girl, she doesn’t even have any headshots yet, she’s very, very new, will you take a look at her?’”
“So they sent us photos that look like they’d been taken by a friend, and she came in, she did a nice casting, so we got her back in with Ben [Taylor, Sex Education’s director].” She smashed the audition with Ben, chewing gum throughout and acting like a true Maeve Wiley, and landed the part. The popularity of Sex Education got her noticed, and that, combined with “something animal” about Emma (according to director Frances O’Connor), made her the perfect fit for Emily Brontë, O’Connor’s 2022 directorial debut.
Her turn as Emily won her the Rising Star award at the BAFTAs, which she accepted in a state of absolute shock last month. “Didn’t prepare anything,” she forces out after clearing her throat, “thank you BAFTA, thank you EE, thank you to everyone who voted,” then, distracted by her friend, co-star and fellow nominee Aimee Lou Wood sitting in the audience, she says “Aimee, hi!” as if she’s about to cry, then goes on to thank all the other nominees, as well as her mum, dad and friends (”Gotta do all the classics,” she joked).
What to expect from Emma as Barbie
Well, first off, you can expect she’s absolutely stoked to be in it: Emma is a huge Greta Gerwig fan. During her Vogue “In The Bag” interview she divulged that Greta Gerwig’s bag is the bag she’d most like to take a peek inside of. “Because I love her,” she reasoned, “I see her as being quite poetic but also really focused and ambitious so I feel like she’d be quite organised but I kind of imagine her having poems in her bag just lying around from admirers.”
Secondly, we know she’s a fellow Barbie, alongside lead Barbie Margot Robbie - her well established lookalike, though tragically the pair have yet to address this fateful co-casting yet, we’re holding out hope for the Barbie press tour - and a whole host of other Barbies. Each of the Barbies has a designated profession: Issa Rae is President Barbie, Hari Nef is Doctor Barbie et cetera. Emma’s Barbie has a Nobel Prize in physics. Given the newest marketing and supposed feminist slant, it looks like the Barbies may rise up against having to be “everything” while their male counterparts, the Ken dolls, are allowed to be just men - sorry, I mean, just Ken.
And Emma appears to have had a great time making it - she even told Esquire that the cast had a Gerwig enforced sleepover. “Right in the beginning, we had a sleepover for the Barbies,” she told the publication, “which would involve playing games [like table tennis] with Scott [Evans] and Ncuti. I don’t play games usually, because I get so competitive and angry. But Scott and I were top of the game.”
What a dream. Though we’ll miss her as our Maeve, it looks like Emma Mackey is fully enjoying her stratospheric rise.
