Katie McGrath is an Irish actress best known for her roles in television such as Morgana
in the BBC One series Merlin, Sarah Bennett in the debut season of the Canadian horror
series Slasher, and as Lena Luthor in the American series Supergirl. Her popular film roles
include Zara Young in the sci-fi adventure film Jurassic World, Lady Thelma Furness in the
drama film W.E., and Elsa in the fantasy film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.
Katie was born and raised in Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland by parents Paul and Mary
McGrath. Her mother, Mary, works for an Irish fashion designer. Katie is the youngest of three
siblings, with two older brothers namely Sean and Rory McGrath. She took up the International
Baccalaureate, the equivalent of high school education at St. Andrew’s College and eventually
graduated from Trinity College in Dublin with a major in Russian history.

Unlike most actors who dreamt of an acting career from a young age, Katie originally
wanted to pursue a career in fashion journalism—eventually taking a job at Image magazine, an
Irish lifestyle and fashion magazine dubbed as “Ireland’s best-read glossy”. On the reference of
her mother’s best friend who was the assistant director for the historical series The Tudors, Katie
landed a gig as a wardrobe assistant on the set of the series. However, there was a shortage of
actors to do a sort of photoshoot while she was working on the set. Katie was asked to fill in and
was discovered to be a natural in front of the camera. She was then offered a small role in the
series and was suggested that she try a full-time career in acting, causing her to write to and send
her photographs to Irish agents.

Success eventually followed Katie as she was cast in Damage, an Irish TV-movie in
2007. She then starred in La Marea, a play at the Dublin Theater Festival the same year. She
made an appearance in feature films Eden and Freakdog in 2008 before finally being cast as the
evil Morgana Pendragon in Merlin, a role that will later on earn her wide recognition and
popularity. In 2009, she was cast as a young Princess Margaret in a five-part docudrama
exploring the life of Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen. She reunited with her fellow Merlin cast
member, Emilia Fox, who played as her sister Morgause in Merlin and as Elizabeth II in The
Queen. In 2010, she played Lady Thelma Furness in Madonna’s directorial debut W.E., a British
historical romance and drama film. Katie did voiceovers for characters in the Irish animated
short film Trid an Storm (Through the Storm) in September 2011. Later that year, she was set to
play Oriane Congost in Labyrinth. She landed a main role in the horror drama series, Dracula, as
Lucy Westenra. She reunited with her The Tudors co-star and close friend Jonathan Rhys
Meyers, who played Dracula himself. In 2015, Katie portrayed the supporting role of Zara
Young in Jurassic World and later on starred in the American spy-thriller The Throwaways as
Gloria Miller. In 2016, she played the recurring role of Lena Luthor, the sister of Superman’s
nemesis Lex Luthor, in the second season of Supergirl. She appeared as Elsa in the 2017 fantasy
film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. She then gave life to the character Saskia de Merindol,
an intelligent bisexual lawyer harboring a deep secret, in the 2019 series Secret Bridesmaids’
Business.

Katie was nominated twice for an Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her role as
Morgana in Merlin in the Monte-Carlo TV Festival Awards in 2009 and 2011. She was then
nominated as Choice Scene Stealer for her portrayal of Lena Luthor in Supergirl in the 2018
Teen Choice Awards.

Several rumors are speculating that Katie may be gay. This is attributed to some of the
gay roles she has portrayed such as Lucy in Dracula and Saskia in Secret Bridesmaids’
Business. Despite these allegations, there is no confirmation from Katie herself as she refused to
address these rumors and have never been publicly romantically linked with a woman offscreen.
Katie is also said to be dating her Merlin co-star, Colin Morgan, although neither of them has
publicly confirmed their relationship. Regarding marriage, she has once expressed in an
interview that she would one day love to settle down in a country house with chickens, dogs, and
kids.