Her first ever role was in Star Wars, but Maisie Richardson-Sellers is also fascinated by more down-to- earth stories about women, queer love and politics
Maisie Richardson-Sellers has often taken a leap of faith, and it’s nearly always paid off. Before the 30-year-old made her first ever on-screen appearance, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, no less, and before starring in megawatt franchises like Netflix’s The Kissing Booth and Legends of Tomorrow, she worked odd jobs, including for a London helicopter tour company. She would hand out flyers and take official photos when couples got engaged on the trips. Sometimes, when people failed to show up, she would ask if she could replace them in the helicopter. No use wasting an empty seat. “I’d try my luck and ask for a ride,” the actor says. It was always worth it. Every now and then Richardson-Sellers would be whisked high into the sky, to bear witness to the city she grew up in from dazzling new heights.
Richardson-Sellers (who uses both she and they pronouns) is calling from Miami, during a brief period of downtime while filming a “queer psychological thriller” about gaslighting and emotional abuse. She’s currently on screen in the cyberwarfare drama The Undeclared War, written by Peter Kaminsky, who also wrote Wolf Hall. She plays tech analyst Kathy, both tightly wound and smart enough to downplay her own shyness. In conversation, though, she has the quiet confidence of someone who knows they can ace the test, even if they don’t know the questions yet, and her black turtle-neck top and long braided hair gives her the fortified coolness of a gallery curator.
