Marisa Abela has steadily risen to stardom thanks to years of dedication. After landing her breakout role in Industry, she won a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress and was eventually chosen to play the late Amy Winehouse in Back to Black. Earning praise around the world for her portrayal, Marisa climbed the ranks in showbusiness and is now voicing the highly coveted role of Elizabeth Bennett in Audible’s Pride & Prejudice. Marisa is a major name in the cast, but she’s accompanied by several recognizable names in the adaptation of Jane Austen‘s work.
Next on Marisa’s lineup will be opposite Nicholas Galitzine in The Return of Stanley Atwell. Below, Hollywood Life has compiled five facts about Marisa and her film, television and audio projects.
Marisa Abela Is a British Actress
Marisa (born December 7, 1996) was born “to a stage actress mother and a comedian-turned-director father,” per W magazine. With such parents, she had a brief “rebellion” where she considered being a human rights lawyer before she relented and began to work in the family business. She attended the Roedean School before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She graduated in 2019 and experienced her breakout in 2020.
Marisa’s Breakout Role Was in ‘Industry’
“If you would have told me at the beginning of RADA that on my graduation day, I’d have gotten a train back that morning from Cardiff filming an HBO show,” she told The Cut. Marisa’s breakout came in 2020 when she landed the role of Yasmin Kara-Hanani in Industry, an HBO television drama (dubbed “The First Great Gen Z Workplace Drama” by GQ). Industry follows a group of young graduates competing for positions at a prestigious investment bank in London. Season 2 finished in September 2022, and HBO renewed it for a third.
“I love a show that doesn’t tell the audience how to feel,” Marisa told Complex following the end of Season 2. “I think that it’s really refreshing and nice. What it means is that the fans of the show, the people that enjoy it, have incredibly different opinions. … It just is what it is. I have my own personal opinions. As an actor, I can’t judge Yasmin as harshly as maybe an audience member might; I have to try and understand where she’s coming from and why she does what she does. It’s easier to play a character who was portrayed as a villain or a nice guy if they just do what they do. It’s up to everyone else to decide how they feel about that.”
Marisa Abela Voices Elizabeth Bennett in a New ‘Pride & Prejudice’ Adaptation
After getting her big break playing Amy in 2024, Marisa landed the role of Elizabeth Bennett in Audible’s adaptation of Pride & Prejudice alongside a star-studded cast featuring Harris Dickinson as Mr. Darcy, Will Poulter as Mr. Wickham, Jessie Buckley as Caroline Bingley, Glenn Close as Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Toheeb Jimoh as Mr. Bingley.
Audible is releasing the adaptation on September 9, 2025, in honor of the 250th anniversary of late author Jane Austen’s birth.
Marisa commented on the opportunity to voice Elizabeth in a statement provided by Audible. The actress said that her character “is one of the most fiercely intelligent and iconic characters in literature, and stepping into her shoes has been an incredible honour. What I love about this adaptation is how it lets us hear her inner world in such a vivid, intimate way — it feels both timeless and fresh. Recording this with such a phenomenal cast and team was a true joy, and I can’t wait for listeners to experience it.”
Marisa Abela Was Diagnosed With Thyroid Cancer in 2020
In 2020, Marisa was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was just 23. Doctors found a lump in her neck, she told The Guardian during a March 2025 interview.
“And I had my own teenage cancer nurse with me through everything. That was great because no one else could come to the hospital with me because it was COVID,” Marisa explained, adding that she underwent an eight-hour surgery to have the tumor removed. “Now, I go in every three months for my blood tests and my checkups.”
After getting the diagnosis, the actress recalled going into “game mode,” adding, “OK, what do we do? Let’s fix this as soon as possible.”
Marisa Abela Is Engaged
2024 was a busy year for Marisa! After playing Amy in the biopic Back to Black, the actress got engaged to her fiancé, Jamie Bogyo, a fellow actor.
