Millicent Simmonds
- Actress
- Producer
Millicent (Millie) Simmonds is a BAFTA nominated American actress from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania best known for Wonderstruck (2017), A Quiet Place (2018), A Quiet Place Part II (2020), and Helen & Teacher. She made her Broadway debut 2023 starring opposite Laurie Metcalf in Levi Holloway's Grey House, directed by Joe Mantello.
Millicent originally hails from Bountiful, Utah and grew up performing and telling stories in American Sign Language. A self described class clown, at the age of nine Millicent joined the drama club at her elementary school, where she fell in love with acting, playing Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2016 her drama teacher received an email with a casting call for a Deaf actress wanted for the part of Rose in a film adaption of Brian Selznick's award winning novel Wonderstruck. She quickly thought of Millie and encouraged her to try out. Millie, then twelve, sent in a one-take audition that brought the film's director Todd Haynes to tears, winning her what would become a stunning breakout role. Millicent and Wonderstruck made their debut at Cannes and the New York Film Festival. She was named one of the Breakthrough Entertainers of 2017 by AP, and Time Magazine listed Rose as one of the Top 10 Movie Performances of the year.
Millicent landed her next major film role as Regan Abbott in John Krasinski's horror-thriller A Quiet Place, working alongside Emily Blunt and Noah Jupe. Krasinski brought was adamant about casting a Deaf actress to play Regan, wanting to use accurate, researched American Sign Language, with the help of Deaf ASL experts and advisers including Douglas Ridloff. Her experiences became resources and inspiration for the script, story, and sound design of the film, which would go on to receive an Oscar nomination in the latter category. A Quiet Place was a surprise critical darling, debuting at the South By Southwest Film Festival where it received a standing ovation.
In 2017, Millicent became the first ever Deaf actor nominated for a Critics' Choice Award with her work in Wonderstruck, and was nominated a second time only a year later, in 2018, for her critically acclaimed performance in A Quiet Place. In 2021 she reprized her role as Regan in the sequel A Quiet Place Part II. Her reprisal of the character Regan in A Quiet Place's sequel outing earned her a historic BAFTA Rising Star nomination, and the coveted Chainsaw Award.
In 2021 it was announced she would be taking a major creative leap, both executive producing and starring as Charlie Serrano in an adaptation of the New York Times Best Selling novel True Biz Project by Sara Novíc. Millicent's prolific career has opened the door for more new, authentic representations of Deaf American culture, and the wider disability community, in film, TV, and media.
Millicent is one of five siblings, and loves to spend time with her family and friends. An avid reader and writer, she enjoys the outdoors, rock music, spoon collecting, painting, and riding her motorcycle. She hopes to continue acting, writing, and filmmaking for as long as she can.