Katie McGrath
Katie McGrath is an Irish actress. In television, she is best known for portraying Morgana on the BBC One series Merlin, Lucy Westenra on the British-American series Dracula, Sarah Bennett in the first season of the Canadian horror anthology series Slasher and for her role as Lena Luthor on the American superhero series Supergirl. Her film roles include Lady Thelma Furness in the drama film W.E. and Jules Daley in the Christmas movie A Princess for Christmas, Zara Young in the science fiction adventure film Jurassic World, and Elsa in the epic fantasy film .
Early life
McGrath was raised in Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland, by Paul, who works with computers, and Mary, who works for an Irish designer. She has two older brothers, Sean, an online media manager, and Rory, who is a post-production producer. She studied the International Baccalaureate at St. Andrew's College before graduating from Trinity College, Dublin with a degree in history with a focus in Russian history.Career
McGrath originally sought to work in fashion journalism and took on a job at Image magazine before becoming a wardrobe assistant on the set of The Tudors. While working on The Tudors, McGrath was advised to try acting, so she sent photographs to Irish agents. She said:McGrath was cast in Damage, an Irish TV-movie in 2007. She also starred in the play La Marea at the Dublin Theatre Festival in the same year. She appeared in the feature films Eden and Freakdog in 2008, before being cast as Morgana Pendragon in Merlin.
In 2009, McGrath starred in a five-part docudrama for Channel 4 exploring the life of Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen, in which she played a young Princess Margaret. Emilia Fox portrayed Elizabeth II in the same episode in which McGrath appeared; the two had previously worked together as sisters Morgause and Morgana in Merlin. In 2010, McGrath was cast in Madonna's directorial debut W.E., an Edward VIII biopic. McGrath played Lady Furness, the king's former mistress who introduces him to Wallis Simpson.
2011 saw McGrath film the comedy-drama A Princess for Christmas in Romania. In September 2011, McGrath voice-acted the characters in the Irish animated short film Tríd an Stoirm. Later that month, McGrath was cast as Oriane Congost in Labyrinth.
McGrath was reunited with her The Tudors co-star and close friend Jonathan Rhys Meyers in NBC and Sky Living's horror drama TV series Dracula; she portrayed Lucy Westenra. In June 2013, McGrath co-starred in episode four of the Channel 4 show Dates as a young lesbian on the dating scene alongside Gemma Chan.
In November 2014, McGrath co-starred in a Hozier music video for the song "From Eden".
In 2015, McGrath had a supporting role as Zara in the film Jurassic World and starred in the Crackle original spy-thriller, The Throwaways.
McGrath portrayed the lead role in the first season of Chiller's original horror series Slasher, which premiered on 4 March 2016.
In 2016, it was announced that McGrath would play the recurring role of Lena Luthor in the second season of Supergirl. She debuted in the season two premiere episode titled "The Adventures of Supergirl" and was promoted to a series regular in March 2017 and still maintains this role in season 5. She appeared as Elsa in Guy Ritchie's fantasy film , which was released in May 2017.
In 2019, McGrath starred alongside Abbie Cornish and Georgina Haig in Seven Network series Secret Bridesmaids' Business, about how a bride's wedding turns deadly after one of the bridesmaids invites a stranger into their lives. McGrath starred as Saskia, a bisexual lawyer who is described as an intelligent, loyal woman who is holding a secret.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Damage | Rachel | Television movie |
| 2008 | Eden | Trisha | Television movie |
| 2008 | ' | Bess | Episode: "His Majesty's Pleasure" |
| 2008 | Freakdog | Harriet Chambers | Television movie |
| 2008 | ' | Vixen | Television miniseries |
| 2008–2012 | Merlin | Morgana Pendragon | Main role, 57 episodes |
| 2009 | ' | Princess Margaret | Episode: "Margaret" |
| 2011 | ' | Jules Daly | Television movie |
| 2012 | Labyrinth | Oriane Congost | Television miniseries |
| 2013 | Dates | Kate Foster | Episode: "Erica and Kate" |
| 2013–2014 | Dracula | Lucy Westenra | Main role, 10 episodes |
| 2016 | Slasher | Sarah Bennett | Main role, 8 episodes |
| 2016–present | Supergirl | Lena Luthor | Recurring role ; main role ; 60 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Frontier | Elizabeth Carruthers | Recurring role; 7 episodes |
| 2019 | Secret Bridesmaids' Business | Saskia de Merindol | Main role |
| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2014 | "From Eden" | Hozier |