Michaela Coel
Biography
Michaela Coel is a British and Ghanaian writer, actress and television director who began by performing poetry at open mics and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2012. Her graduation play Chewing Gum Dreams became the E4 sitcom Chewing Gum, which she wrote and starred in, winning BAFTAs for Best Female Comedy Performance and Breakthrough Talent. I May Destroy You, a comedy-drama she co-directed, wrote, produced and starred in, aired in 2020 and earned her a British Academy Television Award as best actress in 2021 and a Primetime Emmy for writing, making her the first Black woman to win that award. Her screen work includes Black Mirror, Been So Long (2018), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and Mother Mary (2026), and she published Misfits: A Personal Manifesto in 2021.
39years old
Turns 40 on October 1in 325 days
- Born Aldgate
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
- Michaela-Moses Ewuraba O Boakye-Collinson (birth name)Also credited as Michaela Ewuraba O Collinson, Michaela Collinson, Michaela The Poet and Michaela-Moses Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson
Movie Career
- Films
- 5
- Career span
- 12 years2014 to 2026
Every film, newest first
- 2026Mother MaryIMDb rating 5.4
- 2026The ChristophersIMDb rating 6.8
- 2022Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverIMDb rating 6.6
- 2018Been So LongIMDb rating 5.5
- 2014Monsters: Dark ContinentIMDb rating 4.3
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A first
Coel won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special thanks to her work on I May Destroy You, and she was the first Black woman to do so.
Early training
Coel's senior graduation project at Guildhall was the play Chewing Gum Dreams, a one-woman show in which she played a 14-year-old girl named Tracey.
Early training
While doing open mics, Coel was urged to apply to Guildhall by Ché Walker, a director and actor who had seen her perform at the Hackney Empire.
About the name
Coel performed poetry under the name Michaela The Poet and released an album, Fixing Barbie, featuring her work as a poet and musician.
Early training
Coel moved to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2009, becoming the first black woman enrolled there in five years. She also received the Laurence Olivier Bursary Award, which aided her in paying for her studies.
Michaela Coel movies on Netflix
Worked with
Michaela Coel shares two films with Joe Dempsie, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Joe Dempsie's page
Angela Bassett's page
Ian McKellen's page
Anne Hathaway's page
James Corden's page
Martin Freeman's page
All films by Ryan Coogler
All films by Tom Green
All films by David Lowery
Awards
Four awards and honors from 2016 to 2022, one of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAFTA | |||
| 2016 | Best Female Comedy Performance | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 2022 | Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature | Won | |
| 2022 | Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award | Won | |
| 2017 | OkayAfrica 100 Women | Won | |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.