# Pearl Mackie

Pearl Mackie (born 29 May 1987) is a British actress. She is best known for playing Bill Potts in the long-running television series Doctor Who. Mackie is a graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her first major television role came in 2014, when she played Anne-Marie Frasier in BBC One soap opera Doctors.

## Early life

Pearl Mackie was born on 29 May 1987 in South London. She grew up in Brixton in south London and is of paternal West Indian and maternal English descent. She is the granddaughter of Philip Mackie, who wrote the screenplay for The Naked Civil Servant. She was educated at Burntwood School in Tooting. She earned a degree in Drama from the University of Bristol, and speaks English, French and Spanish. During her studies she went to workshops and took part in many extra-curricular plays.
In 2010 she graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In the same year Mackie was nominated for the BBC Carleton Hobbs Award for outstanding duologues in the school play Noughts & Crosses.

## Career

Mackie appeared in an early mainstream role as a front of house girl in the 2013 music comedy Svengali. In 2014, Mackie played Anne-Marie Frasier in Doctors and the young computer genius Mia in Crystal Springs at the Park Theatre in London. She could also be seen in the political satire Obama-ology at the Finborough theatre in west London, playing Cece and Caits, two young women finding their voice.
In 2015, she performed in the National Theatre's West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. In the same year Mackie appeared in the short film Date Aid by Bond, a satirical public service announcement. Mackie has also worked as an acting tutor for Troupers, a company that teaches theatre skills to children and young people.
On 23 April 2016, it was announced that Mackie would be playing Bill Potts, the companion of The Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who. It was also announced in March 2017 that Bill would be the first openly gay main companion in the series.
After production on Series 10 of Doctor Who had wrapped, Mackie joined a production of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party as Lulu. The production – costarring Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones, and Zoë Wanamaker – opened in January 2018 at London's Harold Pinter Theatre.
In 2020, she guest starred as Lucy 1 in Friday Night Dinner. Currently has a recurring role in "The Diplomat (American TV series)" on "Netflix" playing 'Alysse', likely returning next year to reprise the role.

## Personal life

On 28 June 2020, Mackie came out as bisexual in an Instagram post. She and her partner Kam Chhokar announced their engagement on 19 January 2022, and married on 4 May 2024.

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes productions that have not yet been released |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Svengali | Front of House girl | |
| 2015 | Date Aid | Sarah | Short film |
| 2018 | Origami | Heather | Short film |
| 2019 | Greed | Cathy | |
| 2020 | Horizon Line | Pascale | |
| 2020 | The Lennox Report | Tarnia | Short film |
| 2020 | Copycats | Lady Isabelle Sausage | Short film |
| 2022 | The Deal | Kabira | |
| 2023 | Your Move | Patricia | Short film |
| TBA | Tyger † | Sarah | completed |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Doctors | Anne-Marie Frasier | Episode: "Love Is Blind" |
| 2017 | Doctor Who | Bill Potts | 13 episodes |
| 2018 | The Crystal Maze | Sleeping Beauty | Episode: "Celebrity Christmas Special" |
| 2018 | Gods of Medicine | Elsa Powers | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Urban Myths | Kay | Episode: "Andy & The Donald" |
| 2019 | Pops and Branwell | Pops Popowski (voice) | Short animated film |
| 2020 | Friday Night Dinner | Lucy One | 2 episodes |
| 2021 | The Long Call | DS Jen Rafferty | 4 episodes |
| 2022 | Lloyd of the Flies | Gena (voice) | 17 episodes |
| 2022 | Best & Bester | Grafifi (voice) | 13 episodes |
| 2023 | Tom Jones | Honour Newton | 4 episodes |
| 2023-present | The Diplomat | Alysse | 12 episodes |

### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Production | Notes |
| 2013 | Great Expectations | Miss Havisham | BBC Radio 4 | |
| 2013 | Romeo and Juliet | Juliet | | |
| 2017 | Adulting | Charlotte | BBC Radio 2 | 6 episodes |
| 2018 | Proposal | Lucy | BBC Radio 2 | |
| 2019 | Prepper | Rachel | BBC Radio 4 | 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Forest 404 | Pan | BBC Radio 4 | 27 episodes |
| 2021 | Doctor Faustus | Wagner | BBC Radio 3 | |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Location |
| 2010 | The Comedy of Errors | Adriana | Circomedia | Bristol |
| 2010 | The Crucible | Tituba | Theatre Royal | Bristol |
| 2012 | Only Human | Nina | Theatre503 | London |
| 2012 | Home | Woman 1 / Pattie Mae | The Last Refuge | London |
| 2014 | Crystal Springs | Mia | Park Theatre | London |
| 2014 | Obama-ology | Cece | Finborough Theatre | London |
| 2014 | Disnatured | Regan | RIFT Theatre | London |
| 2014 | Hello Kind World | Unknown | The Drayton Arms | London |
| 2015 | The Helen Project | Helen of Troy | The Face to Face Festival | London |
| 2015 | A Mad World, My Masters | Truly Kidman | Theatre Royal | Brighton |
| 2015–2016 | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Punk Girl / Information Lady / No.40 | Gielgud Theatre | London |
| 2018 | The Birthday Party | Lulu | Harold Pinter Theatre | London |
| 2020 | Bubble | Ashley | Nottingham Playhouse | Nottingham |
| 2024-2025 | Ballet Shoes | Sylvia | National Theatre | London |

### Audio

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2017 | The Last Namsara | Asha | |
| 2019 | The Conception of Terror | Mika Chantry | |
| 2020 | Ladybird Stories for Rainy Days | Narrator | |
| 2020 | Beatrix Potter: The Complete Tales | Narrator | |
| 2020 | Paper Thin | Vanessa | |
| 2020 | Cold Comfort Farm | Narrator | |
| 2021 | Sour Hall | Ash | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Delphine Jones Takes a Chance | Narrator | |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Director | Role |
| 2014 | "Real" | Years & Years | Robert Francis Müller | Clubber |

### Commercials

| Year | Brand | Company |
| 2020 | Westgate Oxford | VCCP |
| 2020 | Uber | 72andSunny |
| 2020 | Barclays | Publicis |
| 2020 | Sainsbury's | Global Radio |
| 2020 | Diet Coke | Wieden+Kennedy |

## Accolades
### Awards

* 2018: Screen Nation Film & TV Awards – Female Performance in TV for Doctor Who

### Nominations

* 2010: BBC Carleton Hobbs Awards – Outstanding Duologues for the BOVTS play Noughts & Crosses (shared with Roddy Peters)
* 2017: TV Times Awards – Favourite Newcomer for Doctor Who
* 2017: Heat's Unmissables Awards – Best Actress for Doctor Who
* 2021: Critics' Choice Documentary Awards – Best Narration for The Real Charlie Chaplin
* 2022: DIVA Awards – Actor of the Year

### Honorable mentions

* 2020: Screen Nation Film & TV Awards – Female Performance in TV for various roles