Francesca Mills (born 1996) is a British actress having played roles as Cherry Dorrington in television drama series Harlots (2019-2020) as Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge (2021) and as Meldof in The Witcher: Blood Origin (2021).
Francesca Mills | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francesca Mills 1996 (Age 26)[1] |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Madeley High School, Urdang Academy, Jill Clewes Academy for Theatre Arts |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2014–present |
As of 2021, Mills lives in London (2021),[3] but was brought up in Loggerheads, Staffordshire.[2] Mills learned to dance at the Jill Clewes Dance School in Bradwell, Staffordshire,[2] and first acted in a production of Oliver! at the age of nine.[4] Mills was a student at Madeley High School in Madeley, Staffordshire.[2] She also travelled to London to attend the Urdang Academy in Islington, and was a student at the Academy of Theatre Arts in Worcester.[3]
Mills was born with the genetic disorder Achondroplasia,[5] a common form of dwarfism.
In 2014, Mills joined Warwick Davis's Reduced Height Theatre Company for its first production, a revival of See How They Run, at the Richmond Theatre.[1] In 2017, Mills was nominated for the Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Maria in The Government Inspector at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.[3] The same year, Mills played a seamstress in the Timothy Sheader directed production of A Tale of Two Cities at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.[6] In 2019, Mills played multiple roles in The American Clock at The Old Vic in 2019.[4] The same year, Mills was in a national tour production of the Emma Rice version of the Malory Towers musical.[7] From 2018 to 2019, Mills starred Cherry Dorrington in series 2 and 3 of Harlots with co-stars Eloise Smyth and Samantha Morton, and as Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge alongside Mackenzie Crook.[3]
In August 2021, Mills began filming the Netflix miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin,[8] set in a time 1200 years before The Witcher. Mills will appear as Meldorf, an assassin, in a cast which includes Lenny Henry and Michelle Yeoh.[9] The Witcher: Blood Origin will be aired by Netflix on 25 December 2022.[10]
| Year | Title | Role | Company/Theatre/reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | See How They Run | Ida | Reduced Height Theatre Company, Richmond Theatre[1] |
| 2016 | The Government Inspector | Maria | Ramps on The Moon/Birmingham Repertory Theatre[3] |
| 2017 | A Tale of Two Cities | Seamstress | Regent's Park Open Air Theatre[6] |
| 2017 | Cyrano de Bergerac (play) | UK tour | Northern Broadsides[11] |
| 2018 | The Two Noble Kinsmen | Jailer's Daughter | Shakespeare's Globe[11] |
| 2019 | The American Clock | Multiple roles | The Old Vic[4] |
| 2019 | Malory Towers | Sally Hope | Wise Children - UK tour[7] |
| 2022 | All of Us | Poppy | Royal National Theatre[12] |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Zoolander 2 [11] | Elfin Huntress |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-2019 | Harlots | Cherry Dorrington | 15 episodes |
| 2020 | Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After | Butcher | TV film |
| 2020 | Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical | Thing | TV musical film |
| 2019-2021 | Worzel Gummidge | Earthy Mangold | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Pistol (miniseries) | Helen of Troy | 5 episode |
| 2022 | Sneakerhead | Jemma | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | The Witcher: Blood Origin | Meldof | 6 episodes |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ian Charleson Awards | Best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30 | The Government Inspector at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre | Nominated | [3] |