Nathalie Emmanuel

Nathalie Emmanuel was a British actress who was best known for playing Missandei on HBO's fantasy epic "Game of Thrones" (HBO, 2011-19). Born and raised in Southend-on-the-Sea, a seaside resort town in Essex, Emmanuel was drawn to performing from a very young age. Her mother quickly took notice, and when young Nathalie was three-years-old, her parents enrolled her in acting, singing and dancing classes. Emmanuel developed quickly as a performer, and by the late 90s she was playing young Nala in the West End production of the acclaimed musical "The Lion King." By the time she became a teenager, Emmanuel began auditioning for film and TV roles. She nabbed her first big break in 2007 when she began playing Sasha Valentine on the British soap opera "Hollyoaks" (Channel 4, 1995-). Emmanuel played the part for four years, eventually leaving the show in 2010. Emmanuel's next big break came three years later when she was cast as Missandei, the interpreter for the character Daenerys Targaryen (portrayed by Emilia Clarke), on HBO's "Game of Thrones." Emmanuel would go on to appear in each subsequent season of "Game of Thrones," all the way through the series finale in May of 2019. During her time on "Game of Thrones" Emmanuel still managed to appear in a few big movies, including "Furious 7" (2015), "The Fate of the Furious" (2017), and "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" (2018). "Game of Thrones" may have ended in 2019, but Emmanuel kept moving forward and quickly found work. A few months after the fantasy epic ended its eight-season run, Emmanuel began appearing on the Hulu series "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (Hulu, 2019-). The series, which was based on the 1994 British film starring Hugh Grant, premiered on the streaming network in July of that year, with Mindy Kaling serving as one of the show's executive producers.