Lucy Halliday

Lucy Halliday grew up in Paisley, Scotland, a town near Glasgow. When she was eight years old, her parents enrolled her in youth theater after she spent considerable time writing short stories and mailing them to the BBC. She developed an interest in character study while training with PACE Youth Theatre in Paisley, though she initially did not view acting as a viable long-term career path.

Influenced by her mother's career as a nurse, Halliday decided to pursue medicine and was accepted into medical school. Shortly after beginning classes, she reconsidered her career path after spotting an open casting call on Instagram for an independent feature film.

Halliday made her screen debut in Georgia Oakley's 1980s-set drama Blue Jean (2022). Despite having no formal representation, having never auditioned professionally, and failing to match the initial casting brief requesting an experienced soccer player from Newcastle, she submitted an email application. Following an audition and a chemistry read with lead actress Rosy McEwen, she was cast as secondary school student Lois Jackson.

Her performance earned critical recognition and launched her professional career. Halliday received nominations for Best Supporting Performance and Best Ensemble Performance at the 2022 British Independent Film Awards. In November 2023, she won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Actress Film for her work on the production.

In 2025, Halliday appeared in the biographical musical film California Schemin', which dramatized the story of the Scottish rap duo Silibil N' Brains. Directed by fellow Paisley native James McAvoy in his feature directorial debut, the film featured Halliday as Mary Boyd alongside cast members Samuel Bottomley and Seamus McLean Ross.

Working closely with McAvoy on the production served as a major formative experience for Halliday. She credited his on-set guidance, character direction, and mentorship with shaping her professional confidence ahead of larger television projects.

Halliday secured her first major television role playing Daisy, also known as Marguerite, in Hulu's series The Testaments (2026). The production, serving as a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, adapted Margaret Atwood's 2019 novel. During the audition process, the production used disguised sides featuring character pseudonyms, though Halliday identified the project from her familiarity with the source material before pitching her interpretation to showrunner Bruce Miller.

Her character serves as one of the central narrators, portraying a Toronto teenager who operates as an undercover agent in Gilead. Halliday starred in the series alongside Chase Infiniti and Ann Dowd, filming in Toronto and forming a close professional network with her co-stars across the demanding shoot.