Kellyman says it was intense to step back in time to 1920s Britain for writer/director Will Seefried’s upcoming film “Lilies Not for Me,” about a gay novelist (Fionn O’Shea) whose doctor prescribes a series of teatime “dates” with the psychiatric nurse she plays. “It was so emotional to see what people in our community would have gone through back in those times,” says Kellyman, who identifies as queer. “It came down on me like a ton of bricks.”
It’s a long way from the matter-of-fact acceptance the lesbian relationship between her character Jade and Princess Kit (Ruby Cruz) is greeted with in the 2022-2023 Disney+ fantasy series “Willow,” which still has people approaching her in public to tell her how much it means to them. “The fact that strangers are so open to talking about their personal life is so incredible and heartwarming,” says Kellyman.
A native of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Kellyman first earned global attention as Enfys Nest in 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” She went on to appear in the Marvel series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (2021) and Steve McQueen’s World War II drama “Blitz.”
This year will see Kellyman appear in Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later,” the anticipated follow-up to the iconic zombie pic. And she recently completed filming her role as a 19-year-old who befriends a 90-year-old woman (June Squibb) who’s moved to New York City to start a new life in “Eleanor the Great,” the feature directorial debut of actor Scarlett Johansson. “This is the first time where I felt a complete, almost overwhelming sense of trust,” says Kellyman. “If Scarlett was happy with it, I was happy with it, and I could go home and just relax rather than overthink and get myself into a hole where I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, I did a terrible job and everything’s going to be terrible.’”
— Todd Longwell
Reps Agency: CAA, Curtis Brown (U.K.); Legal: Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher
InfluencesJulie Walters, Alia Shawkat, the poetry of “Willow” co-star Dempsey Bryk, 2003’s “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Moonlight,” “This Is England,” “The Florida Project”