Katie McGrath

Katherine "Katie" McGrath (born 24 October 1983) is an Irish actress best known for playing Morgana in the BBC series Merlin and Princess Margaret in the 2009 TV docu-drama series The Queen. She has also appeared in The Tudors and the horror film Red Mist (or Freakdog as it was titled in the US.)

Originally, she worked behind-the-scenes as a wardrobe assistant on The Tudors. She was then tapped to be an extra in one scene, and... The rest may well be history, depending on how her career goes.

Named one of the 50 Hottest Irish Women by Complex Magazine in March, 2011.

And she really likes Nathan Fillion, really.

Her Films Include:

 * Red Mist (2008) - Harriet
 * W.E. (2011) - Lady Thelma Furnes
 * A Princess for Christmas (2011) - Jules Daly

Her Television Roles Include:

 * Damage - Rachel
 * The Tudors - Bess
 * The Roaring 20's - Vixen.
 * The Queen - Princess Margaret
 * Merlin - Morgana
 * Labyrinth (an up-and-coming mini-series) - Oriane

Tropes associated with this actress's work include:

 * Actor Shipping: Mostly with Colin Morgan, as many Merlin fans have taken a liking to Merlin/Morgana, especially since season 3. She's often shipped with Bradley James, as well.
 * Blue Blood: Not in real life, but her rather aristocratically pale good looks seem to make her a natural choice for such roles, to the extent that she has already played two British princesses (The Queen, Merlin) and a Viscountess (W.E.).
 * Dyeing for Your Art: Naturally fair haired, but dyed her hair dark for Merlin.
 * Fake Nationality: Her speciality. She hasn't actually played an Irish chararacter since The Roaring Twenties.
 * Fake American: Jules Daly in A Princess for Christmas.
 * Fake Brit: Most of her more widely seen roles so far, including Morgana, Princess Margaret and Lady Thelma Furnes.
 * Goth: In her earlier roles, most notably Vixen in The Roaring 20's.
 * Identical Stranger: Looks quite a lot like Jennifer Connelly in Creation
 * Mistaken Nationality: She's Irish but because she works on British TV and her accent isn't familiar outside Ireland a lot of people think she's British.
 * Names the Same: This particular Katie McGrath is not married to JJ Abrams.
 * Not Even Bothering With the Accent: Most of her roles though A Princess for Christmas sees her use an American accent.
 * One of Us: She has cheerfully confessed many times that's she's a huge fantasy and sci-fi geek, even going so far as to say that her favourite thing about the Morgana action figure is that it is exactly the right size to fit in her toy Millennium Falcon.
 * Playing Against Type: She is best known for playing morally ambigous/outright evil British aristocrats but A Princess for Christmas sees her playing a lower middle class American heroine.
 * Psychotic Smirk: Her defining facial expression as Morgana, at least in later episodes of Merlin.
 * Shiny Midnight Black: Her hair, at least in Merlin, though see Dyeing for Your Art above.
 * Star Making Role: Morgana in Merlin.
 * What the Hell Is That Accent: No one inside Ireland would mistake her accent for anything other than an Irish one (a slightly posh Wicklow/South County Dublin one to be specific), but since that accent is nearly totally unknown outside Ireland it is has left more than a few foreigners a bit puzzled.