Trivia / Katie McGrath

• Awesome, Dear Boy: She was apparently super excited about the very elaborate way she got eaten in Jurassic World, as well as getting to do her own stunts for that scene.
• The Danza: She plays a woman named Kate in Dates.
• Dye Hard: She's naturally blonde but is brunette in most of her roles, except Dracula. She had to dye it brown for Merlin initially, overlapping with Dyeing for Your Art.
• Fake American: As Jules Daly in A Princess For Christmas, Gloria Miller in The Throwaways, Sarah Bennet in Slasher and Lena Luthor in Supergirl (2015).
• Fake Brit:
  • Morgana is a debatable example. She's British by birth but Katie uses her natural Irish accent.
  • Lucy Westenra in Dracula sees her adopting a full on English accent.
  • Zara in Jurassic World is also said to be British, though she doesn't have that many lines so it can be easy to miss.
  • Saskia in Secret Bridesmaids Business.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: It's not really noticeable unless the viewer themselves is British or Irish, but that minor Irish twang frequently rears its head whenever she's trying to adopt a foreign (read: American) accent. She's pretty good at sticking to RP, though.
• Playing Against Type:
  • A Princess for Christmas as a lower class American aunt who falls for a prince. Jules is notably sweeter than Katie's usual Aloof Dark-Haired Girl roles.
  • The Throwaways has her as an Action Girl spy.
• Playing with Character Type: She inverts her role on Merlin in Supergirl (2015). In the former she was the evil scheming sister of a benevolent prince, trying to seize power from him. In the latter she's the sister of a notorious villain and inherits his empire naturally, trying to prove to everyone that she is not the villain.
• Promoted Fanboy:
  • Initially as a history nerd to roles in period dramas, especially since DVD bonuses reveal her favorite character of the legend of Arthur is Morgan le Fey.
  • From superhero nerd to recurring role as Supergirl's best friend.
• Star-Making Role:
  • Needless to say, Merlin gave her some very immediate success as an actress and she's been working steadily ever since. Her character Zara in Jurassic World is a massive Ensemble Dark Horse, leading to a new level of attention for her as well.
  • In the US, it's probably as Lena in Supergirl (2015).
• Those Two Actors:
  • She's been seduced by Jonathan Rhys Myers both in an episode of The Tudors and Dracula.
  • She's played the sister of Emilia Fox in both Merlin and the miniseries The Queen (not that one).
• Typecasting:
  • Usually as an aloof, often evil, upper class lady in period pieces. Overlaps with Cast the Expert since she studied history at Trinity College - the most prestigious university in Ireland.
  "I guess I'm just more realistic in a corset and funny hairstyles."
  • She also tends to get cast as villains or morally grey characters
  • She has a reputation for playing lesbian characters, although in reality she has only played 3 in her career.
  • Katie herself says that most of her roles (Morgana, Lena, Kate and Lucy) are spoiled little rich girls rebelling against their parents.
• What Could Have Been: She almost didn't get the part of Morgana due to her Irish accent. Word of God is that with Colin Morgan being cast as Merlin, they didn't want two Irish characters on the show. Had Colin not been able to be a Fake Brit, Katie herself would have been required to do the accent - and if she hadn't, they wouldn't have cast her.