Emily Beecham (born 12 May 1984) is an English and American actress. She is best known for her roles in the Netflix series 1899 in which she played the lead character, the AMC series Into the Badlands, the Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar!, and the title role in the 2017 film Daphne. She starred in the 2019 film Little Joe, for which she received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Early life and education Beecham was born in Wythenshawe, the daughter of an English father and American mother from Arizona. Her father is an airline pilot. She has dual British and American citizenship. In 2003, at the age of 18, she enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and graduated with a BA in 2006.
Career In her final year at LAMDA, Beecham started accepting professional acting opportunities, with her first appearances occurring in the thriller Bon Voyage and the supernatural TV series Afterlife. Her first feature film, Bon Voyage, premiered that October and received positive notices following its showing on ITV. It won the Golden Nymph award at the June 2007 Monte Carlo Television Festival.
In mid-2007, Beecham was chosen by the director Jan Dunn for the leading role in her independent film The Calling, for which she won the Best Actress Award at the London Independent Film Festival, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival Trailblazer Award. The film received mixed reviews; however, one commented that "newcomer Emily Beecham plays a young woman determined to take the veil and holds her own well against such stalwarts as Brenda Blethyn and Susannah York". Film columnist Hannah McGill, the Edinburgh Festival's artistic director from 2006 to 2010, decided that Beecham should be one of the recipients of the coveted Skillset Trailblazer Award. That year, Beecham gave her first professional stage performance in Ian McHugh's first play, How to Curse, at the Bush Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, directed by the theatre's artistic director Josie Rourke. In 2011, she received the Best Actress award at the London Independent Film Festival.
Beecham has appeared in numerous television series, including Agatha Christie's Marple, Tess of The D'Urbervilles, Silent Witness and The Street. She was listed in Nylon magazine's "Young Hollywood" issue as one of 55 "Faces of the Future", with the photograph captioned "Young Hollywood London". John Rankin, Esquire magazine's veteran glamour photographer, was quoted as saying that she has "that something special, that thing you just feel about someone... she's one of the most exciting actresses out there".
In 2013, Beecham starred as Caro Allingham in The Village, and as The Widow in the AMC martial arts action drama series Into the Badlands. In 2016, she had a supporting role in the Coen Brothers movie Hail, Caesar!. One year later she played the title role in Daphne, which earned her a nomination for the Best Actress award at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2019, she starred in the film Little Joe, for which she received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. She also appeared in the Netflix series 1899, created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar. A period mystery/horror blend, the series was cancelled after one season despite being one of the service's highest-rated shows at the time.
In March 2024 it was announced that she had joined the cast of the upcoming period drama series King & Conqueror as Edith Swan-neck.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes2007 28 Weeks Later Karen Rise of the Footsoldier Kelly 2009 The Calling Joanna 2010 Basement Pru2016Hail, Caesar!Diedre2017 DaphneDaphne Nominated—BIFA for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent FilmNominated—Evening Standard British Film Award for Best ActressNominated—Evening Standard British Film Award for Breakthrough of the YearNominated—Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer2019 Berlin, I Love You Hannah Little JoeAliceCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress2021 Outside the Wire Sofiya CruellaCatherine Miller2023 Guy Ritchie's The Covenant Caroline Kinley My Mother's Wedding Georgina Stockholm Bloodbath Christina Gyllenstierna2024 Slingshot Zoe William Tell Gertrude 2026 Supergirl Alura In-Ze Lucy Birley Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes2006 Afterlife Sash Episode: "Roadside Bouquets"2007 The Innocence Project Rachel 1 episode2007 Agatha Christie's Marple Elvira Blake TV movie2007 Party Animals Vienna Lurie 1 episode2007 New Tricks Laura Small 1 episode2007 The Bill Angela Myatt 1 episode 2008 Lewis Nell Buckley Episode: "And The Moonbeams Kiss The Sea" 2008 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Retty Priddle 2 episodes2009 Unforgiven Lucy Belcome 3 episodes2009 The Street Gemma 2 episodes2009 Merlin Emmyria 1 episode2010 Silent Witness Anna Flannery 2 episodes2012 Case Sensitive Mary Trelease 2 episodes2012 Damages Rutger's Daughter 1 episode2013 The Thirteenth Tale Isabelle Angelfield TV movie2013 Blandings Miss Younghusband 1 episode2013–2014 The Village Caro Allingham Main cast 2014 The Musketeers Adele Besset 1 episode 20152019 Into the Badlands The Widow Main cast 2021 The Pursuit of Love Fanny Logan Main cast (miniseries) 2022 1899 Maura Franklin Main cast 2025 King & Conqueror Edith Main cast
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2008 Mirror's Edge Celeste "Cel" Wilson Voice
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