Ella May Bruccoleri is a British actress and musician. On television, she is known for her roles as Sister Frances in the BBC One drama Call the Midwife (2018–2022) and as Mary Bennet in The Other Bennet Sister (2026).
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Early life
Bruccoleri was born to an Italian family and grew up in Scarborough. She graduated from the Oxford School of Drama in 2017. She has previously lived in Paris, where she attended a mime school.
Career
Her television roles have included Call the Midwife, in which she played Sister Frances between 2018 and 2022, and Winifred Barragan in Bridgerton. She also had roles in television series Back to Life, The Chelsea Detective, and Hotel Portofino. She also co-runs a spoof influencer Instagram account, @etoztravel, with her comedy soulmate Zoe Dunn.
In 2023, she appeared as Rebecca in comedy super power series Extraordinary for Disney+. Later that year she was cast in Channel 4 romantic drama series Alice & Jack.
In 2024, she appeared in ITV drama Passenger, and BBC One mystery crime series Ludwig. Bruccoleri also appeared on the podcast Have You Got Your Sh*t Together? with host Caitlin O’Ryan.
Her film roles have included Polite Society, Joy, and The Strangers: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3, in which she portrayed Jasmine who was also the masked stranger, Dollface, although most of her scenes were cut due to reshoots. In 2024, she was cast in a lead role in the British film Go Away! alongside Hugh Bonneville and Michael Socha. She also appeared in the Apple TV+ series Down Cemetery Road, and Mark Gatiss mystery drama Bookish, as well as the film Paddington in Peru.
In 2026, Bruccoleri starred as Mary Bennet in The Other Bennet Sister, airing on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. For her role in the series, she was nominated in the Drama Performance category at the 31st National Television Awards.
Music
Marry Me Emelie!
Alongside her acting career, Bruccoleri is the lead vocalist of the dream pop band Marry Me Emelie!, formed with musician Yoan Segot. The pair first met on the open-mic circuit in Paris before relocating to London, where they began their musical collaboration. Their work as a duo continued despite the end of their 13-year romantic relationship, with their debut recordings drawing directly on that experience. The band later expanded to a five-piece, with singer-songwriter Adam Gardner joining as second guitarist and backing vocalist, followed by singer-songwriter Chloe Foy on bass.
Their sound has been described as drawing on influences including Mazzy Star, Cigarettes After Sex, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, Stevie Nicks, and the Norman Fucking Rockwell-era of Lana Del Rey, with Plastic Mag describing their music as "songs that flicker between dream and memory" that feel "equally delicate and devastating."
In late 2024, Marry Me Emelie! independently released their debut single, "I Have a Lark," accompanied by a music video depicting a romantic relationship between a woman and a Eurasian skylark. Glide Magazine praised the track as a "spellbinding listen" and "a statement piece," adding that the band "sounds like veterans" and that their songwriting "quickly separates the band from their peers."
The duo released their debut EP, the distance makes the mountains blue, on 18 April 2025. An entirely bedroom-produced project, the EP takes its name from an Icelandic expression meaning that distance makes mountains appear more blue and men seem more mighty, and explores themes of deliberation, parting, and returning home. The release was accompanied by a sold-out show at Walthamstow Trades Hall in London, and the band received their first BBC Radio 2 play on Jo Whiley's show, with Edith Bowman sitting in and describing the music as "absolutely beautiful."
In June 2026, the band released "Flowers," their first single since the EP. Indie Dock Music Blog described it as "less a song than a held breath that finally, reluctantly, lets go," adding that it is "the sound of two people who once made noise together and have since learned, the hard way, exactly how little they need to say." Mystic Sons called it "a mesmerising release that deepens the band's reputation for crafting music rich in atmosphere, emotion and cinematic beauty," while Unrecorded praised Bruccoleri's "commanding voice with its bruised and breathy tones."
Personal life
Bruccoleri was raised in an Italian Catholic family but became agnostic at 18.