Nathalie Emmanuel

Nathalie Joanne Emmanuel (born 2 March 1989) is a British actress. Emmanuel began her acting career appearing in theatre in the late 1990s, acquiring roles in various West End productions such as the musical The Lion King. In 2006, she began her on-screen career by starring as Sasha Valentine in soap opera Hollyoaks, after which she appeared in various British television series until her debut film appearance in Twenty8k. Emmanuel gained international recognition for her role as Missandei in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2013–2019), and continued her career with supporting roles in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and its sequel Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), the Fast & Furious films Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), F9 (2021) and Fast X (2023), and had a role in Army of Thieves (2021). Early life Emmanuel was born on 2 March 1989 in Southend-on-Sea, a city in Essex, England. Her mother is Dominican, and her father is of half-Saint Lucian and half English descent. She has an older sister. Emmanuel recalled that her mother first took notice of her passion and desire to become an actress during Emmanuel's attendance at the private St Hilda's School, which closed in 2014, and later the Westcliff High School for Girls grammar school. In an interview with the New York Daily News, she commented, "When I was 3, [I'd] always cause drama that my mum decided maybe I should channel it properly—so she started me on acting, singing and dancing classes". At the age of 10, she played Young Nala in the West End production of the musical The Lion King. Career