Bel Powley

Isobel Dorothy Powley, born and bred in the heart of London, didn’t exactly have the most typical childhood—unless your idea of typical involves bouncing between TV sets and classrooms at Holland Park School. She sort of crashed into the acting scene as a teen, landing gigs on shows like M.I. High (yeah, that CBBC action series everyone secretly watched), the Dickensian drama Little Dorrit, the moody Murderland, and even popping up in Benidorm, which, let’s be honest, is about as different from period drama as you can get. But Powley didn’t just stop at being a familiar face on TV. She really blew up when she played Princess Margaret in A Royal Night Out—critics actually noticed, which is saying something, and she got herself a British Independent Film Award nom for Most Promising Newcomer. Not bad at all. Then she took a sharp turn and totally owned the lead in The Diary of a Teenage Girl, playing a messy, confused teenager trying to figure herself out. That role snagged her a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress, plus the Trophee Chopard at the Cannes Film Festival. Cannes! No small feat. Since then, Powley’s been on a bit of a roll: Mary Shelley, White Boy Rick, Ashes in the Snow, and even The King of Staten Island. She’s managed to keep things pretty varied, never sticking to just one type of role. Plus, if you’ve watched The Morning Show on Apple TV+, you’ve probably seen her there too, holding her own alongside some big names. She’s one of those actors who doesn’t just fade into the background—she keeps you watching, even if you weren’t planning to.