Francesca Mills

Mills was born with the genetic disorder achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism.^[3]

As of 2021, Mills lives in London,^[4] but was brought up in Loggerheads, Staffordshire.^[2] Mills learned to dance at the Jill Clewes Dance School in Bradwell, Staffordshire,^[2] and first acted in a production of Oliver! at the age of nine.^[5] Mills was a student at Madeley High School in Madeley, Staffordshire.^[2] She also travelled to London to attend the Urdang Academy in Islington, and was a student at the Academy of Theatre Arts in Worcester.^[4]

In 2014, Mills joined Warwick Davis's Reduced Height Theatre Company for its first production, a revival of See How They Run, at the Richmond Theatre.^[1] In 2017, Mills was nominated for the Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Maria in The Government Inspector at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.^[4] The same year, Mills played a seamstress in the Timothy Sheader directed production of A Tale of Two Cities at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.^[6] In 2019, Mills played multiple roles in The American Clock at The Old Vic in 2019.^[5] The same year, Mills was in a national tour production of the Emma Rice version of the Malory Towers musical.^[7] From 2018 to 2019, Mills starred as Cherry Dorrington in series 2 and 3 of Harlots with co-stars Eloise Smyth and Samantha Morton, and as Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge alongside Mackenzie Crook.^[4]

In August 2021, Mills began filming the Netflix miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin,^[8] set in a time 1,200 years before The Witcher. Mills appears as Meldof, an assassin, in a cast which includes Lenny Henry and Michelle Yeoh.^[9] The miniseries aired on Netflix on 25 December 2022.^[10]

In 2024, Mills voiced Bethany in series four of the audio play Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures.^[11]

In January 2025, Mills made her first appearance in episode 2 of series 28 on the BBC TV forensic crime series Silent Witness as Kit Brookes, a crime analyst.^[12]

In June 2025, Mills starred as 'Millie' in brand new ITV comedy series Transaction, written by and co-starring Jordan Gray. Nick Frost, Kayla Meikle and Thomas Gray (no relation) also star.^[13]