Michaela Coel

Michaela Coel is an English actress, screenwriter, director, producer, and singer. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom Chewing Gum, for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance; and the BBC One/HBO comedy-drama series "I May Destroy You".

She is also known for her work in other Netflix productions, including guest starring in the series Black Mirror, starring as Kate Ashby in the series Black Earth Rising and starring as Simone in the film Been So Long.

Michaela was born and raised in London to Ghanaian parents. She took an interest to theatre at a young age and went on to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was the first black woman enrolled in five years.

Coel created, wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in the comedy-drama series "I May Destroy You", inspired by her own experience of sexual assault, for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in 2021 and is nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. The show launched on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US in June 2020 to widespread acclaim. Coel acknowledged refusing $1 million from Netflix after the streaming service declined to offer her intellectual property ownership of her show.

Coel was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020. She was also named as one of the breakout stars of 2020 for film. Coel also appeared in British Vogue's 2020 list of influential women. Furthermore, in the 15th annual Powerlist of the most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom, Coel was ranked fourth for the impact of her work on I May Destroy You.