Mia McKenna-Bruce

McKenna-Bruce was born in 1997 and was raised in Chislehurst, Bromley.^[1] She took dance classes at Liz Burville Performing Arts Centre in Bexley and was a student at Belcanto London Academy.^[2][1] McKenna-Bruce also attended the Sapphire Dance Academy in Bexleyheath,^[3] as well as the Maidstone Grammar School for Girls.^[4]

McKenna-Bruce's first role was a ballet girl in the West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical.^[5][6] Her first TV role was the minor role of Ester, Small Dark Places.^[7] She then starred in Holby City as Abi Taylor for one episode.^[8] McKenna-Bruce then appeared in EastEnders as Penny Branning.^[3] She had a two-episode guest stint in January 2008 and then a three-episode guest stint in April 2008. McKenna-Bruce next starred in The Bill in 2009 as Keira Curtis for one episode.^[9] She then moved on to Doctors for three episodes.^[10]

Later in 2009, McKenna-Bruce starred in her first film role, The Fourth Kind, playing Ashley Tyler.^[11][12][13] Her next role was as main character Tee Taylor in Tracy Beaker Returns from 2010 to 2012.^[14] In 2011, McKenna-Bruce appeared in the TV series Spy for one episode,^[15] and in five episodes of The Tracy Beaker Survival Guide. McKenna-Bruce reprised the role of Tee Taylor from 2013 until 2016 (and again as a guest in 2017 and 2018) in the spin-off series The Dumping Ground.^[16] McKenna-Bruce played Tee Taylor in a The Dumping Ground spin-off, The Dumping Ground: I'm..., a webisode series.^[17] She guest starred in another episode of Holby City as Asia Lucas, as well as guest starring in BBC Three's Josh.^[18][19][20] McKenna-Bruce was cast as the lead in a feature film, The Rebels.^[21] In 2020, she began portraying the role of Bree Deringer on the iPlayer teen thriller series Get Even.^[22] In 2021, she appeared in an episode of Vera,^[23] later being cast in the Netflix film Persuasion.^[24] In August of that same year, she was cast as Mia Karp in the PeacockTV fantasy series Vampire Academy.^[25]

In 2021, McKenna-Bruce successfully auditioned for the role of Tara in Molly Manning Walker's film How to Have Sex. Her performance as an inexperienced schoolgirl grappling with issues of consent while on holiday in Crete was widely praised^[26][27][28] and led to her being identified as a Screen Star of Tomorrow by Screen Daily.^[29] She was also nominated for Best European Actress at the 2023 European Film Awards,^[30] and won Best Breakthrough Performer of the Year at the 2023 London Film Critics Circle Awards.^[31] She also won the BAFTA Rising Star Award at the 77th British Academy Film Awards.^[32]

McKenna-Bruce stars in the Netflix series The Seven Dials Mystery in the role of Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent.^[33] In 2025, it was announced that she would be playing Maureen Starkey in the upcoming series of Beatles biographical films, set for release in 2028.^[34]

In 2024, McKenna-Bruce married actor Tom Leach.^[35] Their son was born in August 2023.^[36][37]