Katie McGrath

[Hartigan]

One cute one of her

[Hartigan]

[Hartigan]

She looks beautiful in these, her smile is so nice...I love her complextion as well, such a gothic beauty.

[thebelgianhare]

thanks for all of these updates! she gets such exciting and romantic roles

i love your avatar too hartigan

[Hartigan]

Thank you, I cant wait for the new season of it to come out...want more pics.

[Hartigan]

Made this just cause my sig was using paint and wanted to try and me more artistic

[Hartigan]

Some quick snaps of her at a recent press event

[Hartigan]

One of her onset in her lovely new dress

[Hartigan]

Only new one I could find at the moment...

[Hartigan]

She is too gorgeous for words...

[wickedcrazyness]

She's so pretty! I love her hair.

[Hartigan]

Glad you like her And yes, her hair is utterly amazing. She used to have blonde hair as well! But she looks brilliant with dark hair and her lighter complexion.

These open huge, so be careful

[Hartigan]

[Hartigan]

From Merlin Series 2

[Hartigan]

A bit of an interview with her...

Pity the pretty young actress who makes a name for herself in the world of TV costume dramas. First there is all that corsetry. Then there is the realisation that no floaty dress you wear in real life will ever compare.

'How am I ever going to find a wedding dress that can top this,' wails Merlin actress Katie McGrath, with just a touch of melodrama, while swishing several metres of satin around her legs.

'I'm doomed! When it comes to my big day, I'll have to go the other way and wear jeans and a T-shirt, just to get people going "Wow!"'

She has a point. The costumes in Merlin – the BBC's Saturday evening drama – are pretty magical in themselves, all flowing robes and velvet. And that's just the men.

Anthony Head as King Uther and Katie McGrath as Morgana in Merlin

Worldwide appeal: Anthony Head as King Uther and Katie McGrath as Morgana in Merlin

Anthony Head, who plays King Uther, can be seen on the set stomping about in black leather, twirling a scarlet cape.

'Tony's got the knack of marching along with his cape flowing behind him,' says Katie, 26, with considerable envy. 'I'm forever stepping on my skirts. I'm a nightmare for the wardrobe girls.'

It's probable that the wardrobe girls only have so much sympathy, however. Just a few years ago, she was one of them.

As one of the stars of Merlin – she plays Morgana – Katie's career is flying high. The TV drama was an unlikely hit – even in this country – but it's been picked up by 52 broadcasters in 180 countries, including China and the US.

This autumn, the tale of King Arthur will air on NBC, which is almost unprecedented on American TV – British series are usually remade for the US market.

The cast of Merlin are now set to become global stars, and even Merlin dolls will be hitting the shops in time for Christmas.

'We've heard that Colin [Morgan, who plays Merlin] has his face on crumpet packets – how amazing is that?' Katie giggles.

It's not nearly as amazing as Katie's own story, though. Just a few years ago she landed a job as a wardrobe assistant on the set of the BBC series The Tudors. That in itself was no mean feat, given that she had no experience.

'The joke was that I couldn't even sew on a button before I got the job,' she explains.

'I'd done a history degree, then worked on a fashion magazine for a bit, but it didn't work out and my mum's friend – who worked in wardrobe – offered to help out and give me a job. I was useless. On my first day they asked me to take up a hem and I was like, "God. How?"'

Still, she learned much on the job – and not just about ironing techniques, either. Her close scrutiny of the actors she was working with made her think about acting herself.

Extraordinarily pretty, it's no surprise others thought she should have a go in front of the cameras. What is remarkable is the speed with which that happened.

'It was partly driven by me just observing all these actors thinking, "God, I could do that". To be honest, I thought they had an easy life compared to me.

DID YOU KNOW?

The character Merlin first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 History of the Kings of Britain. He is said to have helped build Stonehenge

'They were sitting around under umbrellas and people would bring them cups of tea, whereas I was up at 5.30am, working my guts out. Now I see they did work hard – just in a different way. But I didn't see that at the time. I thought, "I'll have some of that." So I did.'

She convinced the director of The Tudors that she should come out from behind the camera, and promptly did so with a rather raunchy love scene with Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who played Henry VIII. Then, ambition whetted, she embarked on the next stage – convincing others that she was a bona fide actress.

'It was a bit cheeky, granted. What happened was that I obviously knew all the crew well, and one of the drivers gave me a confidential cast list with all the actors' agents' details on it, and I wrote to them. I got picked up from that, and Merlin came along just a few months later. So I won the lottery!

'I do feel quite bad when everyone talks about how difficult it is to get a foothold in this business. Most actors slog for years. For instance, everyone on Merlin did four years at drama school, but I just lucked out.'

So what's next for her?

'World domination,' she says, albeit tongue firmly in cheek.

Merlin is mostly filmed in a very unmagical industrial estate outside Cardiff – just down the road from the Doctor Who set. But for a few months, the cast all get to decamp to France, to – as 24-year-old Bradley James, who plays the young King Arthur, puts it – 'stomp around a chateau, doing a bit of archery and watching jousting contests.

'I'm given a sword and told to be a big kid all day. There's a certain fantasy element to my job, and I suppose they're not all going to be like that, so I'm going to enjoy this while it lasts.'

Interview with the Daily Mail Link

And new photos of her from Merlin Season 2

[Hartigan]

Tv Choice Awards photos and video...thanks to Katie-Mcgrath Source.

[scarlet shadow]

this thread is magical as merlin

i looked through the whole of it

[Hartigan]

Thanks, hope you like any more pics I post. Pretty big one, sorry.