Mia McKenna-Bruce: ‘I was on painkillers thinking my foot might fall off’

The turning point came in December 2021, when writer-director Molly Manning Walker cast her in How to Have Sex. The role almost didn’t happen—McKenna-Bruce, disheartened by the industry’s challenges, had been considering giving up. “I’ve had many a moment where I’ve gone, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’” she admits. “And even the year that we shot How to Have Sex, I was like, ‘I’m gonna give it this year. And then, if not, I think I need to do something else.’