Millie O'Connell

Emilia Rose O'Connell (born 18 January 1997), also known as Millie O'Connell, is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Anne Boleyn in the original UK tour and West End production of the musical Six. She is part of pop girl group SVN. She has received Laurence Olivier and WhatsOnStage Award nominations.

Early life
O'Connell is from Shanklin, Isle of Wight, England. She is of Maltese, Irish, and Italian descent. From the age of three, O'Connell took classes at the Gillian Cartwright School of Dance. She attended Christ the King College. After completing her GCSEs at 16, she won a scholarship to train at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, graduating in 2015, aged 18.

Career
O'Connell made her professional stage debut in the international revival of the show 42nd Street in 2016, in Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, forming part of the ensemble whilst understudying Peggy Sawyer. In 2017, she moved back to the UK, performing in the same show in Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, forming part of the ensemble whilst understudying Anytime Annie. In 2018 she joined the UK tour cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie, understudying Millie Dillmount.

Her rise to fame stemmed from her role of Anne Boleyn in the original UK tour cast of Six in 2018. The show's success gave it a permanent home in the West End's Arts Theatre, where she starred in the show until October 2019. Prior to leaving the show, Millie had played the most shows out of every actress in the original West End cast.

Late 2019 brought O'Connell the role of Velcro in Soho Cinders at Charing Cross Theatre. In 2020 she starred in Be More Chill as Chloe Valentine in The Other Palace. She left the show two weeks before its original closing date to rehearse for Hair at the Turbine Theatre, where she portrayed the role of Jeanie. Following this, Millie landed 'her dream role' of Maureen Johnson in Rent. She starred in this revival alongside Six cast alumna Maiya Quansah-Breed, portraying the leading role of Mimi Marquez. Due to COVID-19, the show only had five live performances before shutting due to government guidelines. In response to this, the team livestreamed a recorded version of the show during lockdown. They returned to the show in 2021, Millie returning to the role.

In 2021, Millie returned to the role of Chloe Valentine in Be More Chill, showing at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and then returned to the role of Jeanie in Hair, showing in the London Palladium.

In April 2022, it was announced that The Cher Show would be touring the UK. Millie took on the role of Babe (Cher) on the year long tour. The show launched at the Curve Theatre in Leicester. The creative team included director Arlene Phillips, choreographer Oti Mabuse and costume designer Gabriella Slade.

August 2022 brought the original cast of Six together to film a proshot, and Millie, reunited with her castmates, were granted the opportunity to reprise their roles once more at Hampton Court Palace in July.

SVN
Millie also forms a part of the pop girl group SVN (pronounced 'seven') alongside six former West End cast members of Six: Jarnéia Richard-Noel, Natalie May Paris, Alexia McIntosh (Lexi), Aimie Atkinson and Maiya Quansah-Breed, and Grace Mouat (former swing and dance captain of the original cast of Six). After a limited series of concerts in October 2020, their debut concert was rescheduled from February 2022 to 7 August 2022 at the O2 Academy Islington, with the group releasing singles such as Stars (2021) and Woman, Free, Boss and At Christmas (2022).

Personal life
O'Connell is openly queer.