Nathalie Emmanuel

Nathalie Joanne Emmanuel is an English actress who began her career on stage before transitioning to television and film. She achieved widespread recognition for her portrayal of Missandei in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, as well as her recurring role as the computer hacker Ramsey in the Fast & Furious action film franchise.

Born on 2 March 1989 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, Emmanuel is of Dominican heritage through her mother, while her father is of half-English and half-Saint Lucian descent. She was raised alongside an older sister. Her mother encouraged her interest in performance from an early age, enrolling her in acting, singing, and dancing classes when she was three years old. She attended St Hilda's School and later Westcliff High School for Girls. At the age of ten, she performed on stage as Young Nala in a West End production of the musical The Lion King.

Emmanuel made her on-screen debut in 2006, playing Sasha Valentine in the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, a role she held until 2010. She subsequently appeared in various television projects, including presenting the BBC Three documentary Websex: What's the Harm? in early 2012. Later that year, she made her feature film debut in the thriller Twenty8k.

In 2013, Emmanuel was cast as the interpreter Missandei in Game of Thrones, becoming a regular cast member on the series in 2015. Her role as the show's main woman of colour drew notable attention, and her character's death in the final season sparked significant public commentary regarding representation in television drama.

Alongside her television work, Emmanuel joined major global film franchises. She debuted as Ramsey in the 2015 action movie Furious 7, earning a Screen Nation award for Best Female Performance in Film. She returned to the role in The Fate of the Furious, F9, and Fast X. Additionally, she portrayed the character Harriet in the science fiction adventure films Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials in 2015 and Maze Runner: The Death Cure in 2018.

Emmanuel has continued to take on varied television and film projects. In 2019, she starred as Maya in the romantic comedy series Four Weddings and a Funeral and voiced the character Deet in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. She co-starred in the action-comedy series Die Hart in 2020, and subsequently took on lead feature roles in Army of Thieves, the horror film The Invitation, and Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis.