Céline Buckens (born 9 August 1996) is a Belgian-British actress. After appearing in the film War Horse (2011), she went on to play Mia MacDonald in the Netflix series Free Rein (2017–2019) and Sophie Mercer in the Cinemax series Warrior (2020). For her performance in the BBC drama Showtrial (2021), she was nominated for a British Academy Television Award and an International Emmy Award. She has also starred in the Paramount+ drama The Ex-Wife (2022).
Early life
Buckens was born on 9 August 1996 in Brussels and moved to England at a young age, where she grew up in Kensington, London. She attended Thomas's London Day School and St Mary's, Ascot. She then studied History at the London School of Economics and Political Science; she appeared in Free Rein while completing her course. Buckens was also a debutante at the Bal des débutantes in Paris.
Career
Buckens' acting career began when she portrayed Émilie in Steven Spielberg's 2011 film War Horse, a role she won after two auditions. The character is a young French girl who lives on a farm with her grandfather after she lost her parents in the war. In 2015, Buckens starred in a short film titled The Rain Collector, as Vanessa Kentworth. From 2017 to 2019, Buckens starred in the Netflix drama series Free Rein as Mia MacDonald. She also appeared in an episode of the ITV drama Endeavour in 2017, as Daisy Bennett.
In 2018, Buckens starred in Ne M'oublie Pas (English: Forget Me Not), a French short film, as the lead character Elsa. In November 2019, she appeared in the drama thriller film The Good Liar as Annalise. In May 2019, it was announced that Buckens had joined the main cast of the Cinemax action series Warrior. She portrays the role of Sophie Mercer from the second series onwards. In 2021, she portrayed Talitha Campbell in the BBC legal drama Showtrial. For her portrayal of the role, she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as being nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress. Buckens also made her directorial debut in 2021 after directing the short film Prangover, for which she was awarded Best Director at the 2021 North East International Film Festival. In 2022, she starred in the Paramount+ series The Ex-Wife. A year later, she signed on to star in the Paramount+ thriller series The Castaways.