Rosie Day


Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, writer and director. She is known for playing Mary Hawkins in the Golden Globe nominated Starz and Sony Pictures TV series Outlander and Sarah Jessica Parker's daughter in the comedy film All Roads Lead to Rome. She currently stars as Tina Pemberton in Sky One's Living the Dream, alongside Phillip Glenister and Lesley Sharp, and the 2018 Summit Entertainment feature Down a Dark Hall alongside Uma Thurman. She is also an ambassador for the teenage mental health charity stem4.

Life and career

Day has been acting since childhood, both on stage and on screen, following in the footsteps of her older sister. It was at one of her sister's auditions that she was spotted by a casting agent and given her first role, at the age of 4, in BBC's Hope and Glory. In that same year, Day and her sister played two of the Dudakov children in Maxim Gorky’s play Summerfolk at the Royal National Theatre in London. She soon became a successful child actor on British television playing roles such as young Tess Elliot in ITV's medical drama Harley Street in 2008, and in theatre including at the Royal Court Theatre and Palace Theatre.
Day never received professional training as an actor, but drew from her experience working with adult co-stars, watching and copying them.
At the age of 16, she played Naomi in the hit stage play Spur of the Moment by award-winning playwright Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre in London's West End.
In 2012 she made her film debut playing Angel, a sex trafficking victim, in Paul Hyett's horror film The Seasoning House. The role brought her positive acclaim and four awards for Best Actress. To prepare for the part, Day conducted intensive "research into the experience of women who been in that situation" and learned sign language to portray the deaf character. The actress later said that she was "young and very naïve" when taking on the role and that the "film certainly had an effect on ."
Rosie was chosen as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow in 2013. The special edition magazine highlights up and coming actors and filmmakers in the UK and Ireland.
In 2015 she starred alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, who Day calls "a huge influence", in the romantic comedy All Roads Lead To Rome. From there she returned to the small screen for the recurring role of Mary Hawkins in the second season of Starz’s historical drama series Outlander. In 2014, while working with Scottish actor Sam Heughan on Heart of Lightness, a film based upon Henrik Ibsen's play The Lady of the Sea, the Outlander star told her about the character and suggested Day for the part. As part of Outlander's second season cast, Day received the Satellite award for "Best Cast in a Genre Show" in 2017.
Later that year she starred alongside Uma Thurman in Summit Entertainment’s Down a Dark Hall, an American-Spanish horror film, based on the novel by Lois Duncan. Day portrayed troubled teenager Sierra in the female led piece which, as an outspoken feminist, appealed to the actress. Butterfly Kisses, a film in which she was the lead, won the Crystal Bear for best feature at the 67th Berlinale festival in 2017.
Day currently stars as Tina Pemberton in the Sky One family comedy-drama Living the Dream. In 2019 she played Jane Asher in Sky Arts 'Urban Myth: Scrambled Eggs'.

Filmography (Actress)

Filmography (Director)

Theatre

YearTitleCharacterProduction
2018AgainIzzyTrafalgar Studios
2014VelocityDotFinborough Theatre
2012Pussy RiotKateRoyal Court Theatre
2011Microwave by Elinor CookBeckyRoyal National Theatre Studio
2010Spur of the Moment by Anya ReissNaomiRoyal Court Theatre
2006Les MisérablesYoung CosettePalace Theatre, London
2002Winter's Tale by William ShakespeareBohemiaRoyal National Theatre
2001The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington SyngeLilyRoyal National Theatre
2000Summerfolk by Maxim GorkyAnyaRoyal National Theatre