Katie McGrath

Early life

McGrath, born January 3, 1983, was raised in Ashford, County Wicklow, by her father, Paul, who works with computers, and mother, 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 on Russian history.

At a young age she applied to the Ballygowan "Be the Face of MTV" competition. Twenty finalists would be able to attend MTV Lick Party at the Tivoli.

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.

In 2011, McGrath appeared with Roger Moore in the comedy-drama film A Princess for Christmas, a Hallmark Channel Original Movie shot mainly at the Peleş Castle in Romania. In September 2011, McGrath voice-acted the characters in the Irish animated short film Tríd an Stoirm (Through the Storm). 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 maintained this role until the show's end in 2021. She appeared as Elsa in Guy Ritchie's fantasy film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, 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.

In September 2023, she had a supporting role in The Continental as the Adjudicator.

In April 2025, she replaced Janet Montgomery as Jen in The Ex-Wife.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "What Katie's doing next". [[The Times]].
2. "Katie McGrath Birthday".
3. "Katie McGrath superstar in waiting". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk.
4. Carey, Anna. (October 2008). "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". The Gloss Magazine.
5. "Jessie a face of MTV finalist".
6. (4 October 2008). "She's magic". Sunday Herald Salon.
7. [http://www.bedrockproductions.com/productions/la-marea/ bedrockproductions] {{webarchive. link. (5 September 2011)
8. (4 December 2012). "'Merlin' Katie McGrath final series Q&A".
9. (27 January 2009). "Five actresses to play the Queen for C4". The Guardian.
10. Love, Ryan. (8 October 2010). "Katie McGrath praises 'fantastic' Madonna". [[Digital Spy]].
11. Blaga, Lulia. (25 February 2011). "PRODUCTION: Christmas at Castlebury Hall Will Shoot in Romania". Film New Europe.
12. (8 January 2014). "Short Film of the Week: Watch Tríd an Stoirm by Fred Burdy {{!}} Film Ireland".
13. (20 December 2011). "Katie McGrath: 'Labyrinth is gritty'".
14. (4 February 2013). "Victoria Smurfit To Sink Teeth into Jonathan Rhys Meyers' 'Dracula'". [[Irish Film and Television Network.
15. (26 June 2013). "New Channel 4 series "Dates" features gorgeous, complex lesbian couple - AfterEllen".
16. (19 November 2014). "Hozier releases new video for 'From Eden' featuring Katie McGrath". [[Irish Independent]].
17. Kit, Borys. (3 April 2014). "Judy Greer Joins ''Jurassic World''". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
18. (30 January 2015). "Crackle Premieres Jeremy Renner-Produced Movie 'The Throwaways'". [[Videoink]].
19. "'Slasher' star Katie McGrath's character gets a bloody good welcome". Toronto Sun.
20. Ausiello, Michael. (4 August 2016). "''Supergirl'' Lands ''Merlin''{{'s}} Katie McGrath as Lex's Sister Lena Luthor". [[TVLine]].
21. Bernstein, Elizabeth. (4 August 2016). "''Supergirl'' Finds Its Lena Luthor in ''Jurassic World''{{'s}} Katie McGrath". Nerd Much?.
22. Saclao, Christian. (12 September 2016). "'Supergirl' Season 2 Spoilers: CW Releases First Official Photos Of Katie McGrath As Lena Luthor". [[IBT Media Inc.]].
23. Andreeva, Nellie. (22 March 2017). "'Supergirl': Katie McGrath Promoted To Series Regular For Season 3". Deadline.
24. "Katie McGrath - Hamilton Hodell - CV".
25. Yang, Rachel. (8 May 2019). "Abbie Cornish-Led Thriller Series 'Secret Bridesmaids' Business' Begins Production (EXCLUSIVE)".
26. Petski, Denise. (2022-02-08). "'The Continental': Katie McGrath, Ray McKinnon Among 5 Cast In Starz's 'John Wick' Prequel Series".
27. Tartaglione, Nancy. (2012-11-26). "'Merlin' To End After 5 Seasons; Spinoffs Being Explored".
28. Hale, Mike. (2014-05-21). "Medieval Secrets Whispered in Caves". The New York Times.
29. Andreeva, Nellie. (2013-01-30). "Katie McGrath & Nonso Anozie Join NBC's 'Dracula' Series".
30. "'Slasher' star Katie McGrath's character gets a bloody good welcome". torontosun.
31. Uhlich, Keith. (2016-03-02). "'Slasher': TV Review".
32. Andreeva, Nellie. (2017-03-22). "'Supergirl': Katie McGrath Promoted To Series Regular For Season 3".
33. Rosario, Alexandra Del. (2021-11-10). "'Supergirl' Finale: Empowering The Powerless Is Key In Supe Series Ender Full Of Familiar Faces".
34. Andreeva, Nellie. (2020-09-22). "'Supergirl' To End With Upcoming Season 6 On The CW".
35. Liu, Stephanie. (2018-11-28). "Bland Storytelling Skins Return of Fur Trade Drama 'Frontier'".
36. Petski, Denise. (2017-12-14). "'Frontier' Renewed For Season 3 By Netflix".
37. Yang, Rachel. (2019-05-08). "Abbie Cornish-Led Thriller Series 'Secret Bridesmaids' Business' Begins Production (EXCLUSIVE)".
38. (2019-09-09). "New Romantic Thriller 'Secret Bridesmaids' Business' Is About To Be Your New Obsession".
39. Petski, Denise. (2022-02-08). "'The Continental': Katie McGrath, Ray McKinnon Among 5 Cast In Starz's 'John Wick' Prequel Series".
40. Patten, Dominic. (2023-09-20). "'The Continental' TV Review: 'John Wick' Prequel Drenched In Disco, Heroic Bloodshed & Mel Gibson".
41. (14 July 2024). "Paramount+ U.K. and Ireland Commissions 'The Ex-Wife' Season 2 Led By 'Supergirl' Star Katie McGrath".
42. "Irish Film & Television Network {{!}} IFTN {{!}} Company Directory, Irish film Locations, Actors, Crew, Industry events, Jobs {{!}} The Irish Film & Television Network".
43. (20 April 2011). "In Full: Monte Carlo TV Festival fiction nominees".
44. (2012). "20th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry Winners List".
45. "IMDB: Merlin Awards".
46. "Teen Choice Awards 2018: Here's the Full List of Nominations". Moviefone.