Mia McKenna-Bruce, the star of Netflix’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation, has admitted she feels she would have been taken more seriously in the entertainment industry if she had a “posher” accent.
The 28-year-old star hails from Bexley, Kent, and got her big break in Molly Manning Walker’s celebrated coming-of-age movie How To Have Sex in 2023.
McKenna-Bruce has two projects debuting this year: the Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials series, co-written by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, and The Lady, an ITV four-parter about Sarah Ferguson’s former dresser Jane Andrews, who was jailed for murdering her boyfriend.
Both shows see McKenna-Bruce deploy a posher voice – and in a new interview, the former Peaky Blinders child star has admitted she used to change her accent often.
“I feel like I’m taken more seriously or would be taken more seriously if I spoke with a posher accent,” she told The Times, before adding: “Slowly I’ve settled into the comfort of this is my voice.”
In Seven Dials, McKenna-Bruce - as sleuth Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brunt - leads a star-studded cast including the likes of Helena Bonham-Carter and Martin Freeman. Speaking to The Independent on the red carpet at the series’ launch, McKenna-Bruce revealed she suffered an injury during production and was forced to shoot a pivotal scene with a broken foot.
She’s also currently filming not one, but four, of the most hotly anticipated films of the decade – Sir Sam Mendes’s Beatles biopics. McKenna-Bruce is playing Ringo Starr’s first wife, Maureen Starkey, in the quartet of movies, which will each focus on a different member of the band.
Saltburn actor Barry Keoughan is taking on the role of drummer Starr, while Paul Mescal (Normal People) and Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) are playing Paul McCartney and John Lennon, respectively, and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Game of Thrones) will portray as George Harrison.
Due for release in April 2028, the biopics will also feature Aimee Lou Wood, Saoirse Ronan, and Anna Sawai.
Speaking shortly after her role was announced, McKenna-Bruce last year admitted she was relieved the news was finally out. “I’ve known for near on a year, but I couldn’t tell my family,” she said. “I love them all but they have the biggest mouths in the world."
The actor also revealed she had some revising to do as she didn’t know much about the Liverpool four-piece when she was cast.
“We sang ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and ‘Yellow Submarine’ at school, but it wasn’t my jam,” McKenna-Bruce said. “Now, I’m like, Oh my God, The Beatles are underrated. This is good. It’s music I’d sit and listen to on the train."
