Mia McKenna-Bruce won the Bafta rising star award in 2024 on the back of her breakthrough role in Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, and just six months after she and actor husband Tom Leach became parents to a baby boy.
The former child actress most recently starred in Claire Denis’ Toronto 2025 premiere The Fence, and can be seen in Netflix’s country house murder mystery series Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials. Upcoming is ITVX series The Lady, in which she stars as former royal dresser Jane Andrews, who was jailed for murder. She is currently shooting Sam Mendes’s The Beatles, playing Ringo Starr’s wife Maureen Starkey.
How did you feel when your name was called that night?
Honestly, I felt like I was going to throw up! I thought there was no possibility that my name was going to be called, so I did not prep anything. I was just very much sitting back, enjoying the show, very grateful to be in the room, and then they said my name, and I thought, “Oh my god. Now I’ve got to go and talk in front of all these people, and I haven’t planned anything to say, and I can’t swear, and I can’t say too much, and I just talk for England. So, like… what on earth is about to happen?”
What do you remember from giving your speech?
I was trying hard to remember to thank everybody who I wanted to thank, and all I could see was Ryan Gosling in my eyeline. I was seconds away from being like, “Ryan, please stop looking at me, you’re putting me off!” But luckily, on reflection, I think I said what I wanted to say, and hopefully got across just how much it meant to me.
Who did you meet for the first time that night?
Kaya Scodelario. I grew up on Skins, so when I saw her I was like, you’re an icon. And she was so lovely. Chatting with her was something I really took away from that night.
What was your family’s reaction to your win?
My mum and dad weren’t sat with us so I didn’t get to see their reaction. But I had messages from people who were sat near them at the time, [who said] they were screaming and they kissed each other. And then as soon as I did see them, my dad just grabbed me and said, “What the hell?!” My husband had a little note in his pocket that he gave to me when I won. It just said, “I knew you’d win.” I’ve still got the note.
How did you juggle the press commitments and campaigning with your work schedule?
At that time, I was on the job of being a mother. My baby wasn’t even six months old by the Baftas. It was great to keep me fully grounded all the time, because we were lucky if [the clothes I was] wearing for press didn’t have baby puke on them. I think I started doing press [for Mubi’s November 2023 UK release of How To Have Sex] six weeks after I had him, and it was an amazing way for me to throw myself back into work and go, “Oh, I can still do this and be a mum. I haven’t totally lost my identity.”
Where do you keep your Bafta?
It’s at my mum and dad’s house, which is where it’s always been. Because I’m quite a chaotic person, I knew it would be very safe at my mum and dad’s house, and bless their hearts, they proudly display it. If they have people over, it will be moved into the kitchen or something where people are going to be. Or if we’re having a barbecue, they’ll put it by the window.
How would you assess the impact of the award on your career?
It’s been incredible. It’s definitely put me in conversations I wouldn’t have been in before. And it’s also given a lot of people, studios and production companies faith in me to lead a show and stuff like that, which might not have been there before.
It also encouraged people who hadn’t seen How To Have Sex to watch it, which is amazing for many reasons, but also it was a performance that I was proud of. And it seems like people have started to view me as an adult since then, or maybe just take me more seriously.
No comments yet