Frances Mayli McCann

Frances Mayli McCann was born and raised in Bishopbriggs, a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, to a Hong Kong mother and a Scottish-Irish father.^[1] She was a dancer and gymnast from the age of four.^[2]

She attended Turnbull High School.^[3] After discovering acting and singing, she auditioned for and joined the Glasgow Academy Musical Theatre Arts (now GPRO), graduating in 2009.^[2]

McCann first appeared on television in the 2000s CBBC series Against All Odds as Melissa and the BBC Scotland soap opera River City as Mia. She was also a finalist on CITV's Britannia High. In 2009, she was cast in a tour of the music show Highland Heartbeat.^[4] She guest starred in a 2010 episode of the BBC Three series Lip Service.

In 2011, McCann made her West End debut as a diva in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre. She returned to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for its 2013 tour around the UK, this time as Cynthia.^{[citation needed]}

McCann originated the role of Kylah in Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, a stage adaptation of Alan Warner's novel The Sopranos in the play's 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival premiere.^[5] She took the character on tour later that year, to the National Theatre in 2016, and to the West End at the Duke of York's Theatre in 2017.^[6] McCann and the rest of the cast were jointly nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, McCann had a recurring role as Niki in the fifth series of Shetland on BBC One. She also had a small role in Evita at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. She began playing Éponine on a tour of Les Misérables, but it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7] In 2021, McCann appeared in the world premiere of Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World at MAST Mayflower Studios in Southampton, as well as productions at the Royal Court^[8] and Almeida Theatre, and played Heather McNamara in the West End revival of Heathers: The Musical at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.^[9]

In February 2022, it was announced McCann would star as the titular Bonnie Parker in the original West End cast of Bonnie & Clyde opposite Jordan Luke Gage as Clyde Barrow. The show's original run took place in spring 2022 at the Arts Theatre.^[10] For her performance, McCann was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award. Bonnie & Clyde would return to the West End in March 2023 at the Garrick Theatre with McCann and Gage reprising their roles.^[11] Also in 2023, McCann appeared in the second series of the CBBC tween science fiction series Silverpoint, played Misa in the London Palladium concert staging of Death Note: The Musical, and returned to River City in the role of Chloe Qi-Lewis.

In February 2025, it was announced she'd star as Daisy Buchanan opposite Jamie Muscato in the European premiere of The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum.^[12]

McCann married Australian actor Christopher Chung in a traditional Chinese ceremony in Melbourne in 2020,^[13] followed by a western wedding at Bothy Glasgow in 2021.^[14]