Thomasin McKenzie

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie? Oh, she’s basically New Zealand acting royalty, no joke. Born in Wellington, she grew up in a family where the arts were just…normal life. Her mum, Miranda Harcourt, is a well-known actress, and her dad, Stuart McKenzie, directs stuff—so, yeah, dinner conversations probably got dramatic. Her grandma is Dame Kate Harcourt, a total legend, and her granddad, Peter Harcourt, comes from the same crowd that started Harcourts International. That’s, like, the real estate giant down there. She’s not an only child either—she’s got an older brother and a younger sis, Davida, who’s also in acting (must be something in the water). School-wise, she finished up at Samuel Marsden Collegiate in 2018, balancing studies and film sets, which sounds stressful just thinking about it. Now, she popped up in The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies—pretty solid start, right? But it was Leave No Trace in 2018 that really put her on the map. Critics loved her in that; it wasn’t just some background gig. After that, she just kept stacking up roles. The King, Jojo Rabbit, True History of the Kelly Gang in 2019…she was everywhere, quietly stealing scenes. Fast-forward to 2021, she turns up in Old, a thriller that messes with your head. But the big one? Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho. She plays Eloise, this kind of innocent, wide-eyed girl from Cornwall who ends up deep in the neon-lit, surreal nightmare of London’s Soho. McKenzie’s got range—she can do broken, haunted, or just plain weird—and honestly, she’s only getting started.