Pearl Mackie

Pearl Mackie
Mackie at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	(1987-05-29) 29 May 1987 (age 38) South London, England
Alma mater	University of Bristol Bristol Old Vic Theatre School^[1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2010–present
Spouse	Kam Chhokar (m. 2024)
Relatives	Philip Mackie (grandfather)

Early life

Pearl Mackie was born on 29 May 1987 in South London.^[3] She grew up in Brixton in south London and is of paternal West Indian and maternal English descent. She is the granddaughter of Philip Mackie, who wrote the screenplay for The Naked Civil Servant. She was educated at Burntwood School in Tooting. She earned a degree in Drama from the University of Bristol,^[4]^[5] and speaks English, French and Spanish.^[6] During her studies she went to workshops and took part in many extra-curricular plays.

In 2010 she graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.^[7] In the same year Mackie was nominated for the BBC Carleton Hobbs Award for outstanding duologues in the school play Noughts & Crosses.^[8]

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Career

Summarize

Perspective

Mackie appeared in an early mainstream role as a front of house girl in the 2013 music comedy Svengali.^[9] In 2014, Mackie played Anne-Marie Frasier in Doctors and the young computer genius Mia in Crystal Springs at the Park Theatre in London.^[10]^[11] She could also be seen in the political satire Obama-ology at the Finborough theatre in west London, playing Cece and Caits, two young women finding their voice.^[12]

In 2015, she performed in the National Theatre's West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.^[13] In the same year Mackie appeared in the short film Date Aid by Bond, a satirical public service announcement.^[14]^[15] Mackie has also worked as an acting tutor for Troupers, a company that teaches theatre skills to children and young people.^[4]

On 23 April 2016, it was announced that Mackie would be playing Bill Potts, the companion of The Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who.^[2]^[5] It was also announced in March 2017 that Bill would be the first openly gay main companion in the series.^[16]

After production on Series 10 of Doctor Who had wrapped, Mackie joined a production of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party as Lulu. The production – costarring Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones, and Zoë Wanamaker – opened in January 2018 at London's Harold Pinter Theatre.^[17]

In 2020, she guest starred as Lucy 1 in Friday Night Dinner.^[18] In addition, she has a recurring role on the American television series The Diplomat as Alysse, to which she will likely return next year to reprise the role.

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Filmography

Key
†	Denotes productions that have not yet been released