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May 28, 2026 6:00am PT

Variety’s First Women’s Impact Report U.K. Celebrates Talent From on the Set to the Stage to the C-Suite

By

Jem Aswad , Leo Barraclough , Carole Horst , Angelique Jackson , Cynthia Littleton , Naman Ramachandran , Alex Ritman , Ellise Shafer , Jazz Tangcay , K.J. Yossman

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Variety ’s first-ever Women’s Impact Report U.K. showcases the executives and talent that led from across the pond, driving top features and television series, winning awards and leading companies to greater things.

Marisa Abela

Actor

“Industry” has catapulted several fresh faces into the mainstream, but none more so than Abela, whose BAFTA-winning turn as troubled heiress Yasmin in the wild, buzzy and water cooler show she hails for being “experimental, unselfconscious and unburdened by expectation,” has shot her to the top of casting lists. “From the inside, it hasn’t felt sudden at all,” says the star, who has since landed roles in “Back to Black” (playing Amy Winehouse), Steven Soderbergh’s “Black Bag” and the upcoming “Highlander” reboot. “Maybe it’s like aging or gaining weight: you don’t really notice yourself changing until you’re confronted with a high school photo or a pair of jeans you used to wear.” Next up for Abela is the fifth and final season of the series that made her name. “I can’t wait to work with everyone again and give it the send-off it deserves.”

Personal motto: “I was once talking with a great friend of mine about boring acting choices in film. He was saying there was a lack of ‘big swings,’ and I said, ‘Oh, I’ll swing, bitch.’ And ever since then, that kind of became my mantra: I’ll swing, bitch.”

_Originally reported by [Variety Music](https://variety.com/lists/varietys-first-womens-impact-report-uk/)._