Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Macdonald made her film debut in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in the Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men (2007). During her career, she has taken roles in Elizabeth (1998), Gosford Park (2001), Intermission (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011), Anna Karenina (2012), T2 Trainspotting (2017), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). She voiced Princess Merida in the Disney Pixar animated film Brave (2012).
On television, she won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role in the BBC One film The Girl in the Cafe (2005). She was further Emmy-nominated for her portrayal of Margaret Thompson in the HBO period crime drama series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014). She also acted in Black Mirror's Hated in the Nation (2016), the limited series Giri/Haji (2019), Line of Duty (2021) and HBO superhero series Lanterns (2026).
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Early life
Kelly Macdonald was born on 23 February 1976 in Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in Neilston.
She attended Eastwood High School from 1989 to 1993.
Career
Macdonald's career began while she was working as a barmaid in Glasgow. She saw a leaflet advertising an open casting session for Trainspotting and decided to audition, winning the part of Diane, the underage seductress to Ewan McGregor's Renton. Other roles include Mary O'Neary in Two Family House, and an actress playing Peter Pan in Finding Neverland. She had major roles in Robert Altman's British period piece Gosford Park, where she played an aristocrat's maid, and in Intermission (2003), as Deirdre.
On radio she portrayed Mary in the 1999 BBC radio drama Lifehouse, based on Pete Townshend's abandoned rock opera, some of the songs for which were released on The Who's album Who's Next. On television, her highest profile roles have been in two BBC dramas, the Paul Abbott serial State of Play (2003), and the one-off Richard Curtis piece The Girl in the Café (2005). Both of these were directed by David Yates, and both also starred Bill Nighy. For her performance in The Girl in the Café, she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film in 2006, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.
Macdonald had a supporting role in the Coen brothers' Academy Award-winning film No Country for Old Men (2007), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. It was reported that she had to fight her agent to be considered for the role, but Macdonald later denied the story.
Other films where she had supporting roles include Choke (2008), adapted by Clark Gregg from the 2001 Chuck Palahniuk novel, as Paige Marshall; In the Electric Mist (2009) (based on James Lee Burke's In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead (1993), as Kelly Drummond, alongside Tommy Lee Jones and John Goodman; and Skellig (2009), as Louise. She played the lead in The Merry Gentleman (2008).
In 2011 she played the "Grey Lady" (revealed to be Helena Ravenclaw) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the final instalment of the Harry Potter film franchise. She replaced Nina Young, who originally played the role. In 2012, she provided the voice of Merida, the heroine of the Disney/Pixar film Brave, and played Dolly in Anna Karenina. She starred in the romantic comedy film The Decoy Bride, which was released in 2012.
Personal life
In August 2003 Macdonald married musician Dougie Payne, bassist of the band Travis. They have two sons. The couple moved back to their hometown of Glasgow in 2014 after living in London and New York City. They separated in 2017.
Filmography
Honours
Eastwood High School, where she was a pupil, has a drama studio and theatre named in her honour.
