Nathalie Joanne Emmanuel is an English actress and model. Emmanuel began her acting career appearing in theatre in the late 1990s, accruing roles in various West End productions such as the musicalThe Lion King. In 2006, she began her on-screen career by starring as Sasha Valentine in soap operaHollyoaks, 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 HBOfantasy seriesGame of Thrones, and continued her career with supporting roles in ' and its sequel ', and in the Fast & Furious films Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, and F9.
Early life
Emmanuel was born on 2 March 1989 in Southend-on-Sea, a seaside resort town in Essex, England. Emmanuel is the second child of a half Dominican and half English mother, and a father of half-Saint Lucian and half English ancestry. Emmanuel demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age; she recalled that her mother first took notice of her passion and desire to become an actress during Emmanuel's attendance at the independentSt Hilda's School and later grammarWestcliff High School for Girls. In an interview with the New York Daily News, she commented, "When I was 3, 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
In 2006, she made her television debut, starring as Sasha Valentine in the soap opera Hollyoaks. Emmanuel appeared on the show until 2010, her character's storylines included prostitution, and heroin addiction. In January 2012, Emmanuel presented BBC Three's Websex: What's the Harm?, investigating the online sexual habits of 16–24 year olds in the UK. Later in the same year she made her film debut in the thriller Twenty8k. The following year, she was cast as Missandei, Daenerys Targaryen's interpreter, in HBO's fantasy drama series Game of Thrones. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she confirmed that she received the news about winning the role when she was working in a clothes store as a shop assistant. In 2015, Emmanuel was promoted to a regular cast member on the show.Missandei was the only prominent character that was a woman of colour in the show, and her death scene, which took place whilst she was in chains, was unpopular among fans, being called an example of fridging and evoking an image of slavery. Emmanuel later told The Guardian: Also in 2015, she played computer hacker Ramsey in the action filmFurious 7, and Harriet in the science fiction adventure '. For the former Emmanuel won the Screen Nation award for Best Female Performance in Film. She played Harriet once again in the movie ' in 2018. In 2017, Emmanuel said that she learnt "the art of subtlety" playing Missandiei, and that as she was working on soundstages and with greenscreens when playing Ramsey, that role developed the use of her imagination when acting. She reprised her role of Ramsey in The Fate of the Furious in 2017 and is set to continue the role in F9, which was due to be released in May 2020 but was postponed until April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emmanuel played Maya, a political speechwriter, in the romantic comedy television seriesFour Weddings and a Funeral for Hulu, and was the voice of Deet in Netflix series, both released in 2019. In July 2020 Emmanuel costarred opposite Kevin Hart and John Travolta in the Quibioriginal seriesDie Hart.
In the media
FHM magazine ranked Emmanuel as 99th in their 100 Sexiest Women of 2013, and 75th in their Sexiest Women of 2015. In 2015, she also appeared in the April issue of InStyle and GQ magazines.
Personal life
Emmanuel is vegan for health reasons, and told Glamour magazine in 2017 that "I don’t trust the food industry, I don’t trust what they put in our food - it makes me feel sick actually."
