George Andrew J. MacKay (; born 13 March 1992) is a British actor. He began his career as a child actor in Peter Pan (2003). He had starring roles in the British war drama Private Peaceful (2012), the romantic film How I Live Now (2013), For Those in Peril (2013), for which he won a BAFTA Scotland Award and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and Marrowbone (2017). He garnered recognition for his leading role in 1917 (2019) which received critical acclaim and numerous awards. Early life and education MacKay was born in Hammersmith, London to Kim Baker, a British costume designer from London, and Paul MacKay, an Australian working in lighting and stage management. He grew up in Barnes with his younger sister. He is of Irish descent on his mother’s side, his maternal grandmother being from Cork. MacKay attended The Harrodian School, a private school in London. When he was 17, he unsuccessfully auditioned for entrance to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In early January 2023 Mackay became 1 of almost 100 famous figures in the UK to sign a letter to the National Government in order for them to take "immediate action" against Iran's Executions. Career 2002–2012: Child acting In 2002, MacKay was spotted at school by an acting scout who asked him to audition for a role in P. J. Hogan’s 2003 film adaptation of Peter Pan. He attended a workshop and won the role of one of the Lost Boys, Curly, in what was his first professional acting job. In 2005, at the age of 13, he won the role of Riccio in The Thief Lord, the film adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s best-selling children’s novel. He was also cast in the lead role in Johnny and the Bomb, a BBC three-part television drama adapted from Terry Pratchett’s novel of the same name. MacKay also had some work in television, including roles in Rose and Maloney, Footprints in the Snow and The Brief. In the 2008 film Defiance, MacKay played Aron, the youngest of the four Bielski brothers. In 2009 he portrayed Harry in The Boys Are Back starring Clive Owen. MacKay co-starred in the Marc Evans-directed musical film Hunky Dory opposite Minnie Driver, Aneurin Barnard and Kimberley Nixon, which is set in 1970s Swansea. 2012–present In 2012, he played the main character, Private