Why Mia McKenna-Bruce Is A Force To Be Reckoned With

It’s official, after being nominated in an incredibly competitive category amongst the likes of Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Jacob Elordi and Sophie Wilde, Mia McKeena-Bruce is 2024 EE BAFTAs‘ Rising Star.

Since she first came to public attention in 2010 as Tee Taylor in Tracy Beaker Returns, Mia McKenna-Bruce has become a force to be reckoned with. It wasn’t until last year however, withHow To Have Sex that she started being recognised by the big leagues in the entertainment industry and earned her first-ever BAFTA nomination.

How To Have Sex is a coming-of-age drama film about three sixteen year old best friends’ rite of passage holiday to the party resort of Malia. Mia plays lead character Tara – the only virgin of the trio – who feels a certain about of pressure to get some experience. The film is powerful and emotional and an incredible directorial debut from Molly Manning Walker, who also wrote the screenplay.

Whilst How To Have Sex didn’t win for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, Mia McKenna-Bruce’s Rising Star win is a win for the film itself.

In her acceptance speech, Mia – who welcomed her son Leo in August with fiancé Tom Leach – seemed shocked by her win saying, ‘Thank you so much BAFTA, EE, from the bottom of my heart, every single person that voted. To get to do the thing that I love in the whole entire world… is amazing.’

As well as thanking the How To Have Sex team, Mia also paid tribute to Tom and ‘our beautiful baby boy Leo’ adding, ‘What a bloody adventure we’re having’.

So who exactly is BAFTA’s Rising Star Mia McKenna-Bruce and where might you have seen her before How To Have Sex?

What movies has Mia McKenna-Bruce starred in?

The Fourth Kind

Mia’s feature film debut came in 2009 with the sci-fi thriller film The Fourth Kind.

Starring alongside Milla Jovovich and Elias Koteas, she played the small character of Ashley Tyler, the daughter of psychologist Abbey Tyler whose husband is brutally murdered months before an alleged alien abduction.

Persuasion

In 2022, Mia starred in the Netflix adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion and used the opportunity to show off her comedic acting chops.

Whilst Dakota Johnson took the lead role of Anne Elliot, Mia played her spoiled younger sister Mary Musgrove who enjoyed the finer things in life and didn’t take well to becoming a mother.

How To Have Sex

The film that got Mia nominated for her first-ever BAFTA, How To Have Sex was raved about by critics with Variety describing Mia’s performance as ‘star-making’. Looks like BAFTA agreed!

What TV series has Mia McKenna-Bruce starred in?

Tracey Beaker Returns

Mia’s first big TV role – after some small bit parts in Holby City, EastEnders, The Bill and Doctors – came in 2010 with Tracey Beaker Returns. Mia played Tee Taylor, the younger sister of Johnny Taylor (Joe Maw).

Mia later reprised her role as Mia for The Dumping Ground.

The Witcher

In 2019, Mia appeared in an episode of the Henry Cavill-led Netflix series The Witcher, playing Marilka, a villager who is hired to help capture Geralt of Rivia (Cavill).

Get Even

In 2020, Mia starred in the BBC adaptation of the book series Don’t Get Mad as Bree Deringer, a rebellious student who forms part of a secret club in order to seek revenge on the bullies at their school.

Vampire Academy

Despite being cancelled after one season Vampire _Academ_y – and Mia in her role as Mia Karp, a vampire – received generally positive reviews.

The fantasy horror series follows the life and adventures of the students at the St Vladimir’s Academy, a boarding school for vampires.

Where is Mia McKenna-Bruce from?

Mia was born and raised in Bexleyheath with her two younger sisters: 16-year-old Anya – who also works as an actress and is known for her roles in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and London Town – and 20-year-old Ellis – another actress who has starred in Persuasion alongside her big sister Mia and the upcoming film The Phantom Warrior.

Much like her sisters, it’s clear that Mia (or Mimi as her two sisters call her) had aspirations of becoming a performer from a young age. Whilst she attended Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, Mia regularly took dance lessons at Sapphire Dance Academy until she moved away to West Malling where she then attended Maidstone Grammar School for Girls.

Both of Mia’s sisters were delighted by her BAFTA Rising Star win and took to Instagram to share how proud they were of the eldest McKenna-Bruce sibling.

Mia decided to become an actress at the age of six, after receiving a phone call from the James Cameron, director of the iconic film Titanic, or so she thought… After struggling to sleep after she watched his hit Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet film, Mia’s mum Angela McKenna-Bruce asked her Grandad to pretend to be the director and explain the process of making a film.

Explaining the story she said, ‘I was honestly distraught. He explained to me about actors, costume, make-up, scripts, and loads of other things that come along with making TV and film and convinced me that what I watched wasn’t real. I found this so amazing and thought I want to do that, that’s a real job!’

How old is Mia McKenna-Bruce?

Despite playing a 16 year old in How To Have Sex, Mia is actually 26 years old, born 3 July 1997 – making her a Cancer.

Maybe it’s Mia’s petite height that meant that she could pull off the role of Tara. She comes in at just under 5ft aka 1.52m.

Who is Mia McKenna-Bruce’s fiancé Tom Leach?

In February 2022, Mia got engaged to Tom Leach, an actor known for his role in The Rebels – the film on which the pair met back in 2019.

The historical film tells the story of four rebellious teenagers in 1st century Roman-occupied Wales who must flee their village and live in the wild after they accidentally kill a Roman soldier and cause an uprising.

Prior to meeting Tom, Mia dated actor Ceallach Spellman (Cold Feet, Waterloo Road) for a number of years and the pair are apparently still close friends.

In August 2023, Mia and Tom welcomed their son Leo. She shared the exciting news with fans via an Instagram post sharing a sweet picture of her holding him.

Despite both Leo and Mia being happy and healthy now, Mia has revealed that the birth experience was pretty traumatic for both and Tom who had to witness Mia’s struggles which lasted three days including 25 hours of active delivery.

She explained, ‘I was being violently sick. I couldn’t keep anything down. The contractions had stopped, and then I was petrified, that, well, I’d dilated to a point, was I going to go back.’

Just six weeks after giving birth, Mia headed back to work in order to promote How To Have Sex, which had luckily been filmed before she got pregnant, and last week the actress opened up about the mum guilt that she feels as an actor. Speaking on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby. She said, ‘It really took a hold. I knew I was being silly, but that feeling was just there. The only way that I found to combat it was just to try and accept it.’

In an open letter to Leo in Net-a-Porter in October, Mia wrote a beautiful tribute to her newborn son.

‘Becoming your mum has unlocked a whole new part of me. I have discovered an inner superhero: pregnancy, labour, and the aftermath are relentless, but we did it. And for you, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Amidst all the chaos and cuddles, I have found pure joy, deeper than any adventure I’ve known.’

Does Mia McKenna-Bruce have Instagram?

She sure does. You can follow her @mia_mbruce.

Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations.