Bel Powley

Isobel Dorothy Powley Booth, known professionally as Bel Powley, is an English actress. Born in the Hammersmith borough of London, England, she was raised in London and attended Holland Park School. She is the daughter of British actor Mark Powley and casting director Janis Jaffa. Her maternal lineage traces back to Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who settled in Little Jerusalem in Dublin, Ireland. Although she was accepted to study history at the University of Manchester and deferred a place at University College London, she ultimately pursued her acting career.

Powley began acting on television as a teenager, starring as one of the lead characters in 23 episodes of the CBBC action series M.I. High from 2007 to 2008. During her early screen career, she also made appearances in television productions such as The Whistleblowers, Little Dorrit, The Bill, and Murderland, before joining the cast of the ITV series Benidorm for its sixth series in 2013.

In 2015, Powley gained wider attention for two major film performances. She portrayed Princess Margaret in the biographical comedy-drama A Royal Night Out and played the lead role of Minnie Goetze in the comedy-drama film The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Her subsequent feature film credits include taking over the title role in Carrie Pilby (2016), appearing in Mary Shelley (2017) and Ashes in the Snow (2018), starring opposite Liv Tyler in the horror film Wildling (2018), and appearing in the crime drama White Boy Rick (2018). She later played a prominent role in The King of Staten Island (2020).

Powley has maintained a varied career across television and theatre. On television, she played lead character Holly Morten in the BBC One drama Informer (2018), appeared in the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show (2019–2021), and starred as Birdy in the BBC series Everything I Know About Love (2022). In 2023, she starred as Miep Gies in the National Geographic miniseries A Small Light, followed by an appearance in Masters of the Air (2024). She was also announced to play Petunia Dursley in an upcoming Harry Potter television series.

On stage, Powley appeared in Tusk Tusk at the Royal Court Theatre in 2009 and performed as Tilly in Jumpy at both the Royal Court Theatre and its West End transfer to the Duke of York's Theatre. Her Broadway credits include playing Thomasina in the 2011 revival of Arcadia at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and starring as Dawn in the 2018 revival of Lobby Hero at the Hayes Theatre.

Powley's work has earned critical acclaim and multiple accolades. For A Royal Night Out, she was nominated for the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Her role in The Diary of a Teenage Girl brought her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead and the Trophée Chopard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. For her performance in A Small Light, she earned nominations for a Critics' Choice Television Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.