Thomasin McKenzie

Thomasin McKenzie
McKenzie in 2024
Born	Thomasin Katherin Helen Harcourt McKenzie (2000-07-26) 26 July 2000 (age 24) Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present
Mother	Miranda Harcourt
Relatives	Kate Harcourt (maternal grandmother)

Thomasin Katherin Helen Harcourt McKenzie ^[1] is a New Zealand actress. After a minor role in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), she rose to critical prominence for playing a young girl living in isolation in Debra Granik's drama film Leave No Trace (2018), winning the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance. ^{[2] [3]}

McKenzie continued gaining recognition in 2019 with supporting roles in the period films The King and True History of the Kelly Gang , as well as for her role as the Jewish girl Elsa Korr in the satirical film Jojo Rabbit . ^{[4] [5]} In 2021, she starred in M. Night Shyamalan's thriller Old and Edgar Wright's psychological horror film Last Night in Soho , and featured in Jane Campion's western film The Power of the Dog . She has since played the title role in the thriller Eileen (2023) and embryologist Jean Purdy in the biographical drama Joy (2024).

Early life

McKenzie was born 26 July 2000 in Wellington, New Zealand, and attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington's Karori suburb, graduating in 2018. ^{[2] [6]} Her parents are actress and acting coach Dame Miranda Harcourt, and director Stuart McKenzie. ^[6] She is the granddaughter of actress Dame Kate Harcourt and Peter Harcourt, whose family founded the real estate company Harcourts International in Wellington. ^[7]

She has an elder brother, Peter McKenzie, and a younger sister, actress Davida McKenzie. ^{[6] [7]}

Career

After appearing with her brother in the film Existence (2012), McKenzie portrayed teenager Louise Nicholas in the television film Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story (2014). In 2015, she played Pixie Hannah in the soap opera Shortland Street . The following year, she played the titular character in the children's comedy web series Lucy Lewis Can't Lose .

She gained recognition for her portrayal as a daughter of a war veteran in Debra Granik's Leave No Trace (2018) opposite Ben Foster. Her performance received critical acclaim and won her the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance. In 2019, McKenzie joined the ensemble cast of Netflix's The King as Queen Philippa of Denmark, starring alongside Timothée Chalamet, Joel Edgerton and Robert Pattinson. She next played the role of a young Jewish girl who hides in the home of the title character in Taika Waititi's satirical comedy-drama Jojo Rabbit (2019) which she obtained a nomination at the Critics' Choice Movie Award as Best Young Actress.

In August 2018, McKenzie was cast in Top Gun: Maverick , but dropped out of the film after signing onto Lost Girls (2020). In 2021, she starred in the M. Night Shyamalan's thriller Old , and played the lead character in Edgar Wright's psychological horror film Last Night in Soho , opposite Anya Taylor-Joy. ^[8] In the same year, she joined John Crowley's televised adaptation of Kate Atkinson's novel Life After Life for BBC Two, which premiered in 2022. ^[9]

In 2023, McKenzie joined the main cast of the second season of Pantheon , a science fiction drama adaptation of the series of short stories by Ken Liu, voicing MIST, the first C.I. (computational intelligence) born of U.I. (uploaded intelligence). In the same year, she played the lead character in the William Oldroyd's psychological thriller Eileen , opposite Anne Hathaway. For her performance, she received positive reviews, with David Fear of Rolling Stone describing her as "such an adept performer at sketching out people that are somehow both sheltered and jaded that you have a clear picture of her even before her dark twin shows up." ^{[10] [11]}

McKenzie portrayed British embryologist Jean Purdy in the 2024 film Joy , based on the true story of the world's first in vitro fertilisation baby. ^[12] In September 2023, McKenzie joined Jim O'Hanlon's upcoming British period comedy Fackham Hall , written by comedian Jimmy Carr. ^[13] In December 2024, McKenzie will star opposite Amanda Seyfried in an upcoming historical drama musical film Ann Lee directed by Mona Fastvold. ^[14]

Personal life

In March 2017, McKenzie was living in Wellington, New Zealand. ^[2] McKenzie moved to Islington, United Kingdom, in June 2023. ^[15]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2012	Existence	Scraps
2014	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Astrid
2017	The Changeover	Rose Keaton
2018	Leave No Trace	Tom
2019	The King	Queen Philippa of Denmark
	Jojo Rabbit	Elsa Korr
	True History of the Kelly Gang	Mary
2020	Lost Girls	Sherre Gilbert
2021	The Justice of Bunny King	Tonyah
	Old	Maddox Cappa (aged 16)
	Last Night in Soho	Eloise "Ellie" Turner
	The Power of the Dog	Lola
2023	Eileen	Eileen Dunlop		[16]
2024	Joy	Jean Purdy		[17]
2025	Fackham Hall †	Rose Davenport	Post-production	[13]
	Ann Lee †		Post-production	[18]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story	Young Louise	Television film
2015–2020	Shortland Street	Pixie Hannah	Recurring role
2015	End of Term	Annabel	1 episode
2016	Bright Summer Night	Petra Quince	4 episodes
2016	Jean	Young Jean	Television film
2017	The Cul De Sac	Willa	3 episodes
2016	Lucy Lewis Can't Lose	Lucy Lewis	Lead role
2022	Life After Life	Ursula Todd	Miniseries	[19]
2023	Totally Completely Fine	Vivian Cunningham	Lead role
2023	Pantheon	MIST (voice)	Main role; season 2
TBA	Gossamer†	TBA	Post-production; voice role

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
Alliance of Women Film Journalists	2019	Best Supporting Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[20]
		Best Breakthrough Performance		Won
Chicago Film Critics Association	2018	Most Promising Performer		Nominated	[21]
Chlotrudis Awards	2019	Best Actress		Nominated	[22]
	2023	Best Supporting Actress	The Justice of Bunny King	Nominated	[23]
Columbus Film Critics Association	2019	Best Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[24]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards	2019	Best Young Actor/Actress		Nominated	[25]
	2020		Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[26]
Denver Film Critics Society	2019	Best Supporting Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[27]
Detroit Film Critics Society	2018	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[28]
Dublin Film Critics' Circle	2018	Best Actress		Nominated	[29]
Florida Film Critics Circle	2018	Pauline Kael Breakout Award		Runner-up	[30]
Georgia Film Critics Association	2019	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[31]
		Breakthrough Award		Nominated
Gotham Independent Film Awards	2018	Breakthrough Actor		Nominated	[32]
Greater Western New York Film Critics Association	2018	Best Debut Performance		Nominated	[33]
Hawaii Film Critics Society	2022	Best Actress	Last Night in Soho	Nominated	[34]
Hollywood Film Critics Association	2020	Best Actress 23 and Under	Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[35]
Independent Spirit Awards	2019	Best Supporting Female	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[36]
Indiana Film Journalists Association	2018	Best Actress		Nominated	[37]
		Breakout of the Year		Nominated
	2019	Best Supporting Actress	Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[38]
IndieWire Critics Poll	2018	Best Supporting Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[39]
Kansas City Film Critics Circle	2018	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[40]
Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society		Best Actress 23 and Under		Nominated	[41]
Music City Film Critics Association	2019	Best Young Actress		Nominated	[42]
	2020		Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[43]
National Board of Review	2018	Best Breakthrough Performance	Leave No Trace	Won	[44]
Online Association of Female Film Critics	2018	Best Supporting Female		Nominated	[45]
		Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated
Online Film and Television Association	2019	Best Youth Performance		Nominated	[46]
		Best Female Breakthrough		Nominated
Online Film Critics Society	2018	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[47]
Philadelphia Film Critics Circle	2019	Best Breakthrough Performance	Jojo Rabbit	Runner-up	[48]
Phoenix Critics Circle		Best Supporting Actress		Won	[49]
San Diego Film Critics Society	2018	Best Supporting Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[50]
		Best Breakthrough Artist		Won
	2019	Best Supporting Actress	Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[51]
San Francisco Film Critics Circle	2018	Best Supporting Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[52]
Seattle Film Critics Society	2018	Best Youth Performance		Nominated	[53]
	2019		Jojo Rabbit	Won	[54]
Seattle International Film Festival	2018	Best Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[55]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	2018	Best Youth Performance		Nominated	[56]
	2019		Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[57]
Women Film Critics Circle	2018	Best Young Actress	Leave No Trace	Nominated	[58]
Women's Image Network Awards	2020	Best Actress in a Feature Film	Jojo Rabbit	Nominated	[59]

References

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2. Keogh, Brittany (10 March 2017). "Young Kiwi actor Thomasin McKenzie's big break in US movie My Abandonment" . The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 19 April 2017. Thomasin McKenzie, 16, will fly out to Portland, Oregon on March 28
3. Macandrew, Ruby (14 March 2017). "Wellington teen Thomasin McKenzie lands lead role in US film My Abandonment" . Stuff . Retrieved 19 March 2017.
4. Zemler, Emily (21 October 2019). "Why 'Jojo Rabbit' actress Thomasin McKenzie is determined to make a social impact with her work" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
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External links

• Thomasin McKenzie at IMDb