Nathalie Emmanuel

 Nathalie Joanne Emmanuel (born 2 March 1989) is an English actress. Emmanuel started her career in acting appearing in theatre in the mid 1990s as she was offered roles in various West End productions such as the musical The Lion King. In 2006, she began her screen career as Sasha Valentine in soap opera Hollyoaks following which she was a part of a variety of British television series until her first film appearance in Twenty8k.Emmanuel gained international recognition for her role as Missandei in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2013-2019) and she continued her career as a supporting actress in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and its sequel Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), the Fast & Furious films Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), as well as F9 (2021), and was a character in Army of Thieves (2021).Emmanuel was born on March 2nd, 1989 in Southend-on-Sea which is a city located in Essex, England. Her mother is Dominican. Her dad is half Saint Lucian, half English. She has an older brother. Emmanuel remembers that her mom was the first to notice her interest in acting when she attended St Hilda's School. It ended in 2014. The Westcliff High School For Girls grammar school followed. In an interview with The New York Daily News, she explained, "When my mom was three, she always caused drama, so she suggested that I channel it properly, so I began studying acting, singing and dancing classes." At 10 years old she was cast as Young Nala, the West End's production of The Lion King. Then she was cast as Missandei in HBO's fantasy drama series Game of Thrones. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she confirmed that she was informed that she had been cast in the role, while she was working at a store selling clothes as shop assistant. Emmanuel was elevated to an actor on the regular roster of the show in 2015. Missandei is the sole prominent female persona on the show was a woman of color. The scene where she was chained to death was unpopular with fans. It was also called an example of fodging and was evoked with images of slavery. Emmanuel later stated to The Guardian: The response to her death was overwhelming because she was not alone. I'm sure a lot of those who felt excluded or marginalized had connected with her, or felt that they were represented by her especially women of color. It was difficult to be able to let people see her go, especially when it happened in the way that she did. They're going after the one woman of color.