# Francesca Mills

Francesca Mills (born 1996 or 1997) is a British actress, most known for playing Cherry Dorrington in the television series Harlots (2019–2020), Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge (2021) and Meldof in The Witcher: Blood Origin released by Netflix.

## Early life

Mills was born with the genetic disorder achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism.
As of 2021, Mills lives in London, but was brought up in Loggerheads, Staffordshire. Mills learned to dance at the Jill Clewes Dance School in Bradwell, Staffordshire, and first acted in a production of Oliver! at the age of nine. Mills was a student at Madeley High School in Madeley, Staffordshire. She also travelled to London to attend the Urdang Academy in Islington, and was a student at the Academy of Theatre Arts in Worcester.

## Career

In 2014, Mills joined Warwick Davis's Reduced Height Theatre Company for its first production, a revival of See How They Run, at the Richmond Theatre. In 2017, Mills was nominated for the Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Maria in The Government Inspector at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The same year, Mills played a seamstress in the Timothy Sheader directed production of A Tale of Two Cities at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. In 2019, Mills played multiple roles in The American Clock at The Old Vic in 2019. The same year, Mills was in a national tour production of the Emma Rice version of the Malory Towers musical. From 2018 to 2019, Mills starred as Cherry Dorrington in series 2 and 3 of Harlots with co-stars Eloise Smyth and Samantha Morton, and as Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge alongside Mackenzie Crook.
In August 2021, Mills began filming the Netflix miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin, set in a time 1,200 years before The Witcher. Mills appears as Meldof, an assassin, in a cast which includes Lenny Henry and Michelle Yeoh. The miniseries aired on Netflix on 25 December 2022.
In 2024, Mills voiced Bethany in series four of the audio play Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures.
In January 2025, Mills made her first appearance in episode 2 of series 28 on the BBC TV forensic crime series Silent Witness as Kit Brookes, a crime analyst.

## Filmography
### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Company/Theatre/reference |
| 2014 | See How They Run | Ida | Reduced Height Theatre Company, Richmond Theatre |
| 2016 | The Government Inspector | Maria | Ramps on The Moon/Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 2017 | A Tale of Two Cities | Seamstress | Regent's Park Open Air Theatre |
| 2017 | Cyrano de Bergerac (play) | UK tour | Northern Broadsides |
| 2018 | The Two Noble Kinsmen | Jailer's Daughter | Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2019 | The American Clock | Multiple roles | The Old Vic |
| 2019 | Malory Towers | Sally Hope | Wise Children - UK tour |
| 2022 | All of Us | Poppy | Royal National Theatre |
| 2023 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Hermia | Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2024 | The Duchess of Malfi | Duchess | Shakespeare's Globe |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2016 | Zoolander 2 | Elfin Huntress |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018–2019 | Harlots | Cherry Dorrington | 15 episodes |
| 2020 | Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After | Butcher | TV film |
| 2020 | Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical | Thing | TV musical film |
| 2019–2021 | Worzel Gummidge | Earthy Mangold | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Pistol | Helen of Troy | 5 episodes |
| 2022 | Sneakerhead | Jemma | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | The Witcher: Blood Origin | Meldof | 4 episodes |
| 2023 | BBC Comedy Singles: Kirkmoore | Chloe | |
| 2023 | Boat Story | Belinda | 1 episode |
| 2024 | Time Bandits | Detective | 5 Episodes |
| 2025 | Silent Witness | Kit Brookes | Ongoing, Series regular |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Role | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2016 | Ian Charleson Awards | Maria | The Government Inspector at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre | Nominated | |
| 2024 | Ian Charleson Awards | Hermia | A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe | Won | |