Seven Days of Streaming: The Polite Charm of George MacKay

In Seven Days of Streaming, we guide you in curating your own mini film season based around a particular actor, director, or notable film person, spun over seven days of programming.

Though not yet a household name, George MacKay has been quietly making himself essential in roles small and substantial, discreet and electric, for almost 20 years. The actor is quintessentially British – polite, reserved, eager to please. But he’s also one of the most hardworking people out there, furiously metamorphosing across genres, always with a smile on his face.

It all began with a cherrypicked role as Curly, one of the Lost Boys, in the 2003 adaptation of Peter Pan, which has now seen his career to date come full circle. A six-month shoot in Australia at the age of 11 led to, 15 years later, another, as MacKay prepared for his most recent role as another lost boy of sorts – Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang.

Along the way, without a fuss, MacKay seems to have done it all, working almost consistently since the late 2000s. He certainly has an affinity for soldier characters – his body of work currently counts half a dozen war movies – but there’s also a fair few musical numbers and comedic turns as well, not to mention a chance to discover a considerable number of emerging women filmmakers who directed him.

The past 12 months alone have seen MacKay make great leaps into the spotlight, with leading roles in Oscar vehicle 1917, the star-making True History of the Kelly Gang, and humble rom-com A Guide to Second Date Sex. And he’s certainly not slowing down anytime soon. Here are seven key titles to get a grasp on the great George MacKay…

Day 1: Peter Pan (2003)

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video (rent)

While MacKay is far from the centre of attention in Peter Pan, PJ Hogan's adaptation of JM Barrie's classic deserves a mention to understand just how far the actor has come. As Curly, MacKay plays sixth, or seventh, fiddle to Jeremy Sumpter’s title character – he is one of the Lost Boys, the kids informally mothered by Peter and Wendy. The film leans into the idea of the family unit, forsaken in some adaptations for a greater focus on Peter and Wendy’s more individual plights. Here there are sporadic moments of brotherhood, of maternal love, and a sense of loyalty among children that clearly set MacKay on an admirably wholesome path.

Day 2: How I Live Now (2013)

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video (rent)

Arguably the role that put MacKay on the map, the actor plays Saoirse Ronan’s love interest in the fiery, apocalyptic coming-of-age-drama How I Live Now. For fans of Lady Bird or Little Women this will feel like a pretty jarring look at what once was – emo haircuts and brooding stares galore. MacKay is Eddie, the eldest of three British cousins to Daisy, Ronan’s neurotic American teen spending the summer in the countryside. He begins full of dramatic silences and poetic gestures – spot him whispering to cows, supporting eagles and fighting off dogs – but is quickly forced to take greater action to protect the ones he loves. With hindsight it’s an awfully, almost laughably serious role, but notable for his sturdy resilience and commitment in a world gone somewhat mad.

Day 3: Ophelia (2019)

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video (rent)

While the focus here should be on Daisy Ridley, playing Hamlet’s wife-to-be in this subversive Shakespeare adaptation, MacKay ends up outshining her as Hamlet himself. His clipped English suits the part perfectly, playing the quietly charming young Prince who loses it all in a couple of brief spurts of anger. The actor had previously auditioned for Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth (he’d go on to work with the director on Kelly Gang), and his affection for the Bard shows. MacKay is respectful and romantic at first, generous in his eye contact and physical touches. But as we know, things don’t end well for Hamlet. This trajectory suits MacKay as an actor well – a timid, sometimes intense, sometimes just polite young man, comes into his own as a burgeoning individual with desires and angers of his own, before it all unravels. Performances like this, reminiscent of How I Live Now in particular, are enough to make the viewer recoil. You just didn’t think he had it in him.

Day 4: Pride (2014)

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video (rent)

MacKay’s Britishness here makes him stand out in the historical comedy-drama reframing the 1984 British miner’s strike and the creation of the Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners alliance. His discreet supporting role as Joe “Bromley” Cooper shows his subtleties in discovering a whole new world. His character is a creative and stifled young man grappling with his purpose and desires in life, at once gaining a political education and sexual enlightenment as he struggles to come out as gay. There’s a tremendous sense of community here, as MacKay learns from a number of veteran actors, including Andrew Scott, who he’d meet again in 1917, plus Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine, and Bill Nighy. But he really suits the traits of the boy next door, the one nobody quite knows but always notices. It’s the kind of character, and performance, to make your mum ask: who’s that nice young man?

Day 5: Sunshine on Leith (2013)

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video (rent)

Dexter Fletcher’s feelgood jukebox musical Pride presented MacKay with two pivotal challenges: Could he sing? Could he do a Scottish accent? It’s a resounding yes to both, as the actor plays Davy Henshaw, one of two soldiers returning home to Edinburgh after fighting in the Afghanistan war. Very little of the film is sombre though – the musical numbers are entirely taken from the Proclaimers’ back catalogue – and MacKay plays Davy with optimism and tenderness. It’s a rewarding part for the actor, full of romantic intrigue, and an arc wedded to family and friendship dynamics – not to mention mild post-traumatic stress. His chemistry with Antonia Thomas is warm and believable, and he bounces off Kevin Guthrie as his fellow veteran Ally with ease. In a harmless and earnest film, MacKay earns his stripes and then some.

Day 6: Been So Long (2018)

Where to watch it: Netflix (stream)

In an entirely different register to everything he’d done so far, MacKay has a small but strangely astonishing role in Camden-based modern musical Been So Long. He plays Gil, a roaming young man given erratic physicality and bad skin. He’s framed as a drug addict in his behaviour but this is never confirmed, and his revenge-based storyline is so overdramatic that it’s ridiculously funny and worryingly sinister at the same time. Still, MacKay plays the part with his usual steadfast determination. His body language is the most pantomimic and gangly it’s ever been, and his skill for accents extends to the most theatrical Cockney you’ll ever hear. There’s a grace note in his rendition of the song that clearly gives the film its name – there’s no taking his crystal-clear talent away. Even if it’s an unevenly drawn character, there’s still satisfaction in the wicked stubbornness that MacKay feeds into the project.

Day 7: Captain Fantastic (2016)

Where to watch it: Netflix (stream)

Captain Fantastic might offer the greatest rewards for both MacKay’s performance and the film around him – rather than the former outshining the latter, as is the case on a lot of his jobs. Here he plays Bodevan Cash, the eldest of six siblings raised by a widowed Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen). The film is heartbreaking and enlightening in turn, seeing every actor (most are unknowns) finding immediate chemistry with one another as a family living deeply bonded to one another while rejecting a capitalist world. Here MacKay rises to the occasion as a protective father-type figure for his siblings, once again bringing to mind How I Live Now. But there’s also humour – the way Bodevan navigates having a teenage crush for the first time with blank cluelessness is endlessly endearing. If you take a chance on just one title to stream, make it this one.