EXCLUSIVE: English actress Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) is the latest to join Throttled, the new Amazon MGM romance based on the first book in Lauren Asher’s Dirty Air series.
Joining the previously announced Nicole Wallace, Josh Heuston, and Julio Peña, McKenna-Bruce plays Sophie Mitchell, the daughter of a powerful figure in the racing world. Sophie is a fan favorite from Asher’s series who leads its second entry, Collided.
Directed by Nzingha Stewart, Throttled centers on Wallace’s Maya Alatorre, an ambitious woman who joins her older brother (Peña) on the Formula One racing circuit and falls into a forbidden, high-stakes romance with his ruthless teammate and fiercest racing rival, Noah Slade (Heuston).
Melissa Osborne adapted the screenplay. Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks of Brownstone Productions are producing along with Ethea Entertainment’s Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, as well as Garrett Grant. Alison Small of Brownstone and Asher are exec producing. Amazon MGM announced its acquisition of the project for streaming earlier this month.
A BAFTA Rising Star Award winner, McKenna-Bruce broke out with her lead performance in Molly Manning Walker’s critically acclaimed debut feature How to Have Sex, a coming-of-age drama that won the Un Certain Regard prize in its 2023 premiere at Cannes. For her work on the film, released stateside by Mubi, she was honored with the Lead Performance award at the 2023 BIFAs, where she was also nominated for Breakthrough Performance. She was nominated for Best European Actress at the 2023 European Film Awards and won Breakthrough Performer of the Year at the 2024 London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
Next up, McKenna-Bruce will be seen starring opposite Taron Egerton in the dark comedy Everybody Wants to F*ck Me, which is coming off its TIFF premiere. She also plays Maureen Starkey, the first wife of Barry Keoghan’s Ringo Starr, in Sam Mendes’ upcoming The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event.
McKenna-Bruce is repped by CAA, 42, Luber Roklin Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.