Women reigning the silver screen in front of the camera and behind the scenes - Part one

From forward-thinking directors and emerging actors, to creative costume designers curating iconic fashion moments, every individual featured here adds a distinct colour to the tapestry of the entertainment industry. As we explore their narratives, applaud their achievements, and look forward to what they have in store, these dynamic personalities are unquestionably molding the modern entertainment landscape. 

 

Emily Beecham, actor

Being cast with Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller as siblings in Kristin Scott Thomas’ directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding felt like "a lot of pressure", admits Emily Beecham. The film, which comes out this year, draws on Scott Thomas’ real-life experiences of losing her father and then her step-father, "so we all wanted to do the story justice."

Luckily, the actor has a natural ability to bring complex characters to life with authenticity. After appearing in the Coen brothers’ blockbuster Hail, Caesar!, Beecham swapped the sheen of Hollywood for something altogether grittier. In the titular role of 2017’s Daphne, her performance as a troubled thirty-something revealed the gentle humanity of a character hell-bent on self-destruction. Other career highlights have included Netflix’s mind-bending mystery, 1899 and her thoughtful depiction of Fanny Logan in the 2021 BBC adaptation of The Pursuit of Love, starring opposite Lily James as her volatile cousin, Linda Radlett. "We all have people who bring out different qualities in us," says Beecham. "The girls had kind of a push and pull in their friendship, but always this real love for each other." With her intelligent take on emotional relationships, she’s sure to live up to the promise of Scott Thomas’ story.

Marisa Abela, actor

As the spoilt trainee banker, Yasmin Kara-Hanani in the BBC/HBO series, Industry, Marisa Abela was utterly magnetic. No wonder, she became the go-to pick for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic. 

Candice Carty-Williams, screenwriter

Having made her name as a novelist, Candice Carty-Williams is now deploying her dexterity with dialogue and skillful character writing in television scripts. As well as adapting her debut book, Queenie for Channel 4, Carty-Williams has created an original drama for BBC One. "Making Champion has been transformative for me," she says. "It’s an intense, emotional story, but it celebrates Black British music—I’m glad we’re putting that in the spotlight and on TV screens."

Nicôle Lecky, actor, writer, and producer

Dark yet glitzy, Mood was one of the BBC’s most original series last year, addressing the subjects of sex work and social media through the medium of musical drama. The London-born writer and actor, Nicôle Lecky stars in the show, which she adapted from her one-woman play Superhoe, and also composed its unforgettable soundtrack, featuring songs that punctuate the episodes in the form of music. She has drawn comparisons with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michaela Coel, and credits her ‘East End wheeler-dealer mentality’ with getting Mood off the ground. 

Cate Hall, make-up artist

As the make-up and hair designer for The Crown, Cate Hall has transformed many of today’s greatest actors into their royal alter egos, from Josh O’Connor as the young Prince Charles to Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth II. The series is punctuated with high-pressure moments, especially when recreating familiar visual tableaux such as Princess Diana’s Panorama interview, but Hall’s approach is always the same: she fashions an outline of each character that the audience will recognise. "We leave space for the viewer to fill in the gaps," she says. "That’s where you get the magic. We don’t make specific alterations to noses or lips or replicate all the detail, as the appearance can slip into parody."

Hall came from an independent-film background, so prior to joining The Crown, she was used to working with a much smaller cast. Running such a big operation gave her the chance to change the conventional structure in an industry that is notorious for its long hours. "The producers allowed me to set up the department so that I could be a parent of a small child and work in film," she says.

Hall shares that creating the looks for Princess Margaret, as portrayed by Lesley Manville, has been one of her favourite hair and make-up assignments. And when an actress like Lesley says, 'I love your work', you realise what a privilege it is having people’s trust before you even get going. It’s amazing.

Isobel Waller-Bridge, composer

Lauded for her versatility across electronica, jazz, and classical music, Isobel Waller-Bridge has created original scores for films including Emma, television series from Black Mirror to her younger sister Phoebe’s Fleabag, and productions such as Woyzeck at the Old Vic. She has also collaborated with Alexander McQueen and Simone Rocha on fashion shows, and released two EPs of string pieces. With an instinctive ability to tell stories through music, Waller-Bridge wrote the soundtrack to the screen adaptation of Charlie Macksey’s beloved tale, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, and composed for the dark drama, Embers and the thriller. 

This piece originally appeared in the February 2023 print edition of Harper's Bazaar USA.