Bel Powley

Bel Powley (born Isobel Dorothy Powley on 7 March 1992) is an English actress whose career has spanned television, film, and stage since she debuted as a teenager. Raised in the Hammersmith borough of London, she is the daughter of actor Mark Powley and casting director Janis Jaffa, and she grew up with a rich cultural heritage that includes Jewish roots from Russian‑Empire immigrants who settled in Dublin’s Little Jerusalem. Powley attended Holland Park School and, despite being accepted to study history at the University of Manchester and deferring a place at University College London, she chose to pursue acting full‑time, landing her first major role on the CBBC adventure series M.I. High (2007‑2008). Over the next few years she accumulated credits in productions such as Little Dorrit, The Bill and The Whistleblowers, gradually building a reputation for nuanced performances and a willingness to tackle diverse genres. In 2015, Powley attracted critical acclaim for playing Princess Margaret in A Royal Night Out and for her breakout lead as Minnie Goetze in The Diary of a Teenage Girl, a role that earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination and the prestigious Trophée Chopard at Cannes. She continued to expand her repertoire with indie hits like Carrie Pilby (2016), period pieces such as Mary Shelley (2017), and genre work in horror (Wildling, 2018) and crime drama (White Boy Rick, 2018). On television she made memorable appearances in The Morning Show (Apple TV+, 2019‑2021) and the BBC series Everything I Know About Love (2022), while her recent turn as Miep Gies in A Small Light (2023) secured nominations for a Critics’ Choice Television Award and a SAG Award. In 2024 she appeared in the World War II series Masters of the Air, and in 2025 it was announced she will portray Petunia Dursley in the forthcoming Harry Potter television adaptation. Off‑screen, Powley married fellow actor Douglas Booth in October 2023, a ceremony that honored her Jewish heritage with a chuppah crafted by Booth’s sister.