Emma Mackey Age, Net Worth & Biography

Emma Mackey is 30 years old. Born Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey on January 4, 1996, in Le Mans, France, she is a French-British actress who became known around the world as Maeve Wiley in Netflix’s Sex Education. Her first professional acting role, Maeve made her a star overnight, and she has since built a film career that includes Emily Brontë in Emily (2022), a part in the record-breaking Barbie (2023) and the title role in Ella McCay (2025). She lives in London, and her net worth is approximately $2 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth (2026).

Emma Mackey Quick Facts

Full Name	Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey
Date of Birth	January 4, 1996
Age	30 years old
Birthplace	Le Mans, France
Citizenship	United Kingdom, France
Occupation	Actress
Net Worth	Approx. $2 million (Celebrity Net Worth, 2026)
Known For	Sex Education (Maeve Wiley), Emily (Emily Brontë), Barbie

Who Is Emma Mackey?

Emma Mackey is a French-British actress who went from an unknown drama graduate to one of Britain’s most in-demand young stars in the space of a single television series. Born in Le Mans, France, to a French father and an English mother, she grew up in France before moving to England to study at the University of Leeds. Her first professional acting role was Maeve Wiley, the sharp-witted, fiercely independent teenager at the heart of Netflix’s Sex Education, and the show’s success turned her into a household name almost overnight. In 2023, she won the BAFTA Rising Star Award, one of the industry’s most watched prizes for new talent.

What has defined Mackey’s career since Sex Education is her taste in material. Rather than staying in television, she moved quickly into film, choosing literary and period roles that show off her range — most notably playing the writer Emily Brontë in her first lead film role. She has worked with directors including Kenneth Branagh, Greta Gerwig and James L. Brooks, and her upcoming roles include the White Witch in Netflix’s Narnia adaptation. She keeps her private life out of the spotlight and lives in London.

Emma Mackey’s Early Life & Background

Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey was born on January 4, 1996, in Le Mans, France. Her father is French and works as a school headmaster, and her mother is English. She grew up in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, a town in western France, and attended school there, earning her baccalauréat in 2013.

After finishing school, Mackey moved to England to study English language and literature at the University of Leeds, graduating in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree. It was at university that she began acting in earnest, and after graduating she auditioned for roles in London. Sex Education was her first professional job — she had no screen credits at all before being cast as Maeve Wiley.

Emma Mackey’s Career

Mackey’s breakthrough came in 2019, when she was cast as Maeve Wiley in Netflix’s Sex Education, a comedy-drama about a teenager who sets up an underground sex therapy clinic at his school. Maeve, the quick-witted, tough-talking student who becomes the clinic’s co-founder, was the show’s emotional centre, and Mackey played her in all four seasons, from 2019 to 2023. The role earned her a BAFTA Television Award nomination for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2021 and a National Comedy Award win in 2022. Her Sex Education co-stars include Simone Ashley, who played Olivia Hanan in the show’s first three seasons.

While Sex Education was running, Mackey began building a film career. Her first film was Eiffel (2021), a French romantic drama about the engineer behind the Eiffel Tower, which took $13.6 million at the box office worldwide. She then played Jacqueline de Bellefort in Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile (2022), and in the same year took her first lead film role as the writer Emily Brontë in Emily, a partly fictional portrait of the Brontë sister’s early life that earned her a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Lead Performance. Like Lily James, who played Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Mackey has made a habit of bringing famous literary heroines to the screen. In 2023, she appeared in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie as Physicist Barbie, in what became the highest-grossing film of the year.

Since Barbie, Mackey’s film work has continued to grow. She starred in the drama Hot Milk (2025) and the French film Alpha (2025), and took the title role in Ella McCay (2025), the first film directed by James L. Brooks in 15 years, playing a young woman juggling a political career and a complicated family. She also became a brand ambassador for Burberry’s Goddess perfume in 2023. Her upcoming work includes the film Full Phil (2026), the role of the White Witch in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, and The Great Beyond (2027). She is also set to star in Peaked, an A24 comedy announced in January 2026.

Facts About Emma Mackey

• Her first professional acting role was Maeve Wiley in Sex Education (2019–2023).
• She won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2023.
• She was born in Le Mans, France, to a French father and an English mother, and is a dual French-British citizen.
• She played Emily Brontë in her first lead film role, Emily (2022).
• She has been cast as the White Witch in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is Emma Mackey?

Emma Mackey is 30 years old. She was born on January 4, 1996, in Le Mans, France.

What is Emma Mackey’s net worth?

Emma Mackey’s net worth is approximately $2 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth (2026).

What is Emma Mackey known for?

Emma Mackey is best known for playing Maeve Wiley in Netflix’s Sex Education, Emily Brontë in Emily (2022), and Physicist Barbie in Barbie (2023).

Where is Emma Mackey from?

Emma Mackey is from Le Mans, France, where she grew up before moving to England to study at the University of Leeds. She lives in London and is a dual French-British citizen.

What is Emma Mackey doing next?

Emma Mackey’s upcoming work includes playing the White Witch in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, the film Full Phil (2026), and The Great Beyond (2027). She also stars in the A24 comedy Peaked, announced in January 2026.

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