Mia McKenna-Bruce on Getting Her Sleuth On in ‘Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials’ and Shooting the ‘Absolutely Next Level’ Beatles Biopics: ‘I Cannot Wait for People to See This’

Such is the secrecy behind Sam Mendes’ upcoming four-part biopic about the Beatles that the actors aren’t allowed to take hard copies of the scripts beyond the set.

Thankfully, Mia McKenna-Bruce can reveal that what she’s seen so far is “absolutely next level.” Even a read-through with Mendes and the actors playing the Fab Four — Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Barry Keoghan and Joseph Quinn — was “really emotional, because the scripts are so beautiful.”

In the hotly-anticipated films, shooting back-to-back since November 2025 and expected to carry on into late 2026, McKenna-Bruce plays Maureen Starkey, the late ex-wife of Ringo Starr (Keoghan). While she didn’t know much about her previously, she’s since learned she was “loved by all the Beatles boys” for having a big heart. “If she went into a room or party, she’d be the person that would go over to whoever was sat on their own — she wanted to make everyone felt included and was just a really good human,” she says. Starkey also “stayed out of the Beatlemania” and was happier at home.

There’s not much McKenna-Bruce is allowed to say about the production, but she does note that the first time she saw the four actors dressed as the Beatles with their mop top hairdos and “in all their bits and pieces” it blew her away.

“I didn’t even recognize them — it was phenomenal. They’ve done it beautifully in getting it bang on for the Beatles, but still holding on to the essences of the boys themselves as well. They’re all genius,” she says. “And the boys have gone tenfold into playing these roles and know them inside out and back to front — they will question everything in the scripts to make sure it tells the right story. And Sam knows everything there is to know about the Beatles.”

As McKenna-Bruce notes: “I just cannot wait for people to see this, because I really need to scream about it.”

Sadly, with Sony not releasing “The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event” until April 2028, she still has more than two years to wait. But there’s still plenty else for McKenna-Bruce to scream about.

This week sees the release of “Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials,” launching on Netflix Jan. 15. An energetic adaptation of the literary icon’s famed murder mystery novel, the three-part series marks McKenna-Bruce’s “first proper lead role,” fronting a pack of established actors including Helena Bonham-Carter (who she describes as “actual human gold”).

Set amongst the well-heeled classes of 1920s England, “Seven Dials” sees McKenna-Bruce play Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent, an witty and inquisitive lady who “fights against the grain” of the patriarchal time to investigate the tragic death of a dear friend at a lavish country house party. Adapted by “Broadchurch” creator Chris Chibnall, it has heavy Sunday evening, “Downton Abbey” (with killings) vibes — all livened up by its lead. And while it’s only three episodes long, McKenna-Bruce says there are “more books” by Christie about Bundle’s adventures, and would “love to be involved” if it was continued beyond a single season (which the finale indicates is a likely possibility).

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent in “Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials”

Simon Ridgway/Netflix

As it turns out, “Seven Dials” was the first job McKenna-Bruce took after her big screen breakout in “How to Have Sex,” the hit indie feature in which she starred as a British teen on a wild, booze-soaked, come-of-age holiday in a Greek holiday resort and a drama that turns into a cautionary tale about consent and peer pressure. Directed by Molly Manning Walker, the film made a major splash in Cannes 2023 (where it won the top Un Certain Regard honor) and landed McKenna-Bruce the BAFTA Rising Star award the following year.

At the time, she was keen to make sure whatever she did was different. Playing an aristocratic roaring 20s era sleuth that Christie loosely based on her younger self is certainly far removed from chugging shots on the shores of Malia — even the party scenes. “I definitely wasn’t made to stand on a podium and just dance like crazy in this,” she says.

Making “Seven Dials” was a “new challenge” for the 28-year-old. “It was the first time I had to learn lines, big chunks of dialog word for word,” she says. “Usually I just kind of go off on my own, but I had to make sure I didn’t slip into Mia, because we’re doing Agatha Christie!”

There was also etiquette to understand, not that it all made it in. Despite being repeatedly shown by an expert the “correct” order to make a cup of tea (water in first, apparently), McKenna-Bruce says she still couldn’t get it right. “I just ended up in a right state so we cut the whole thing,” she admits.

Etiquette was also at play in another project — and lead role — coming soon. In “The Lady” — from ITV, Britbox and “The Crown” producers Left Bank Pictures — she’s back in high-society, but this time with true crime elements, playing royal dresser Jane Andrews, who served Sarah Ferguson and was later convicted of murdering her lover.

“It’s an emotional roller-coaster, but also the responsibility of telling a real story is always at the back of your mind,” says McKenna-Bruce, who stars alongside Natalie Dormer as the — now-disgraced — former Duchess of York. Although documentaries are out there about Andrew, she claims she avoided any deep dives into the story.

“I just wanted to work on the material we had from the scripts so as not to be judgemental or biased. These are real people’s lives. So it did come with an extra layer to anything I’ve ever done before.”

And then, back to the world of film, there’s “The Fence,” which shot in late 2024 and took McKenna-Bruce to Senegal to be directed by French auteur Claire Denis.

Replacing Riley Keough, she played the young wife of Matt Dillon in a story set on a West African construction site and exploring the postcolonial themes Denis has visited previously. Based on the stage play “Black Battles With Dogs,” “The Fence” premiered in Toronto and although it received modest reviews (it’s still awaiting a U.S. distributor), it did give McKenna-Bruce the opportunity to watch a filmmaking icon in her element.

“Seeing her work was probably the most inspiring thing I’ve ever witnessed,” she says. “She’s nearly 80, but she’s swimming every day. And on set, she’s literally in amongst it — I’ve got pictures of her laying in the mud with her monitor.”

Mia McKenna-Bruce alongside Nabhaan Rizwan in ‘Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials’

Justin Downing/Netflix

While Denis’ exploits may be inspiring, it should be noted that McKenna-Bruce herself been navigating the intensity of the last two years since “How to Have Sex” as a first-time mother, having had a son in late 2023.

“Do you realize that the world isn’t cut out for working mums,” she says. But she’s tried as much as she can to bring him with her each step of the way. He was still a baby when they shot “Seven Dials” and became a fully-fledged toddler in Senegal during the making of “The Fence.” McKenna-Bruce does note that the “insane hours” on “The Lady” made that particular production difficult. “So I wouldn’t see him during the week — and then when he would see me at weekends, he’d freak out and not want to see him — and I thought ‘Oh my God, I’ve broken him!”

Thankfully, a close friend is currently studying for a Masters in child psychology and, having seen McKenna-Bruce and her son together, has “confirmed they have a healthy relationship.”

“But I’m teaching him that his mum can go out and chase her dreams — and I think that’s only going to be a good thing for him as person growing up,” she claims.

Sam Mendes’ Beatles biopics may sound like the peak of any actors’ dream, but there’s clearly much more to come from McKenna-Bruce, who for the first time in her career is going “from job to job to job.” And it’s clear she’s managed to take her big BAFTA-winning break and, as she hoped, head off on screen in several wholly different directions.

Sort of.

McKenna-Bruce was recently announced as part of the cast of Jonathan Schey’s comedy thriller “Everybody Wants to Fuck Me.”

“That’s a lot more in the region of ‘How to Have Sex’!” she says with a laugh. “My dad’s like, oh for God’s sake, that’s another one I can’t share on Facebook!”