# Sarah Bolger
**Sarah Bolger** (born 1991) is an Irish actress from Dublin who began working in film as a child, won an Independent Spirit Award nomination at 12 for [Jim Sheridan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-sheridan)'s *In America*, and later became known on television for playing Princess Mary in *The Tudors* and Emily Thomas in *Mayans M.C.*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) • [2](https://www.abookof.us/openbook/sarah-bolger)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991, Dublin, Ireland[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) |
| Breakthrough | Christy, the eldest daughter in Jim Sheridan's *In America* (2002); nominated for Best Supporting Female at the Independent Spirit Awards[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) |
| Signature TV roles | Princess Mary in *The Tudors* (three seasons, IFTA win); Emily Thomas in *Mayans M.C.*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) • [2](https://www.abookof.us/openbook/sarah-bolger) |
| Notable films | *The Spiderwick Chronicles* (2008), *Emelie* (2015), *A Good Woman Is Hard to Find* (2019), *End of Sentence* (2019)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) |
| Rotten Tomatoes range | Highest rated: *A Good Woman Is Hard to Find* at 92%; lowest rated: *The Moth Diaries* (2011) at 11%[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) |
| Recent work | *Nervous* (2026), which opened London FrightFest; Bridget Walsh in the MGM+ crime series *The Westies*[3](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41906293.html) • [4](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/amp/story/english/news/2026/Jul/25/cooper-koch-sarah-bolger-join-hands-for-fog-city) |
## Early start in acting
Bolger has said she started acting at age five, and her first screen appearances came in late-1990s Irish productions: she played Eileen Cloney in *A Love Divided* (1999) and Helena Fitzgerald in *A Secret Affair* (1999).[5](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) In a 2007 interview she recalled that at six, while filming *A Love Divided*, she regarded acting as more of a hobby than a career choice.[6](https://cineuropa.org/en/interview/89527/)
## In America
At 12 she was cast as Christy, the eldest daughter of an Irish immigrant family in New York, in Jim Sheridan's *In America* (2002), appearing alongside her younger sister Emma, who played Ariel. The film was nominated for three Oscars, and Bolger won a Phoenix Award, a film critics' award for best young actress.[7](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/teen-idol/26428621.html) • [8](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/sarah-bolger-now-that-im-18-everyones-asking-me-about-sex/26532108.html) She also received a nomination for Best Supporting Female at the [Independent Spirit Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/independent-spirit-awards); at the 2004 ceremony's aftershow party, [Tom Cruise](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-cruise) sang Happy Birthday to her.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) • [8](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/sarah-bolger-now-that-im-18-everyones-asking-me-about-sex/26532108.html) Sheridan's account of her casting was that Emma, told she had the part of Ariel, said her sister was in the car and could be fetched; Christy had been written for a 14-year-old, but Sarah came in and was cast.[8](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/sarah-bolger-now-that-im-18-everyones-asking-me-about-sex/26532108.html)
## Family films and The Tudors
*In America* opened a run of family-oriented Hollywood work. She played Sabina Pleasure opposite [Mickey Rourke](https://www.edgepedia.org/mickey-rourke) in the spy film *[Stormbreaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/stormbreaker-film)* (2006), for which she trained in swordplay, and Mallory Grace in *[The Spiderwick Chronicles](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-spiderwick-chronicles-film)* (2008), shot in Montreal from August to December 2006 and directed by Mark Waters.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) • [8](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/sarah-bolger-now-that-im-18-everyones-asking-me-about-sex/26532108.html) • [9](https://www.iftn.ie/news/featureinterviews/?act1=record&aid=73&force=1&only=1&rid=4281065&tpl=archnewshome)
On television she played Mary Tudor, daughter of [Henry VIII](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-viii), in the historical drama *The Tudors* for three seasons, winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Irish Film & Television Awards in 2010 for the role and being nominated again the following year.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) • [10](https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/teenage-dreams-sarah-bolger-on-her-surprising-religious-side/26627960.html) In 2009 she took a serious dramatic role as a young Polish girl in the British drama *Iron Cross*, and she portrayed Kinsey Locke in the *[Locke & Key](https://www.edgepedia.org/locke-and-key-tv-pilot)* television pilot, which despite fan enthusiasm was not picked up by a major network.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger)
## Television and genre work in the 2010s
Bolger moved between fantasy and horror through the decade. She appeared in ABC's *Once Upon a Time* as Aurora, and in the Marvel series *Agent Carter*.[11](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Sarah-Bolger/) • [5](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker) In film she played the title character in the psychological horror *Emelie* (2015), a babysitter whose menace she developed with director Michael Thelin by creating the character's backstory herself, and appeared in *[The Lazarus Effect](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-lazarus-effect-2015-film)* (2015) opposite [Olivia Wilde](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivia-wilde) and [Mark Duplass](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-duplass).[12](https://www.themarysue.com/interview-emelie-star-sarah-bolger-on-playing-a-nightmare-worthy-babysitter/) • [5](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker)
Her best-reviewed work of the period came in independent film. *A Good Woman Is Hard to Find* (2019), a crime thriller directed by Abner Pastoll in which she played a widow investigating her husband's death, stands at 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, her highest-rated film, and *End of Sentence* (2019), a family drama in which she played Jewel, follows at 91 percent.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger) • [5](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker)
## Mayans M.C. and recent work
From 2018 Bolger was a main cast member of *Mayans M.C.*, FX's spin-off of *Sons of Anarchy*, playing Emily Thomas, the childhood sweetheart of EZ Reyes who later becomes the wife of his brother Miguel Galindo.[13](https://www.etonline.com/mayans-mcs-sarah-bolger-on-felipes-former-flame-my-mind-exploded-when-i-read-those-pages-exclusive) She described Emily as a pragmatic woman who married knowing what her husband's work was, and compared her situation to that of Kay Adams in *The Godfather*, while noting that Emily is not naive about it.[2](https://www.abookof.us/openbook/sarah-bolger)
She reunited with director Abner Pastoll for *Nervous* (2026), a Korean-set psychological thriller in which she plays an Irish woman living in Korea who loses the ability to hear men's voices. She was involved from before a script existed, workshopping the concept with Pastoll over video calls from Los Angeles, and the film opened the 2026 London FrightFest festival.[3](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41906293.html) • [5](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker) On television she plays Bridget Walsh in *The Westies*, MGM+'s New York crime drama starring J.K. Simmons, whose first season concluded in 2026.[4](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/amp/story/english/news/2026/Jul/25/cooper-koch-sarah-bolger-join-hands-for-fog-city) • [11](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Sarah-Bolger/) She has also joined the cast of *Fog City*, a drama set during the construction of the [Golden Gate Bridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-gate-bridge) in Depression-era San Francisco, playing [Dust Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/dust-bowl) transplant Liza Orr alongside [Cooper Koch](https://www.edgepedia.org/cooper-koch), Miranda Otto, and Carla Gugino.[4](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/amp/story/english/news/2026/Jul/25/cooper-koch-sarah-bolger-join-hands-for-fog-city)
## Career pattern
Across more than two decades Bolger has alternated between Irish and American productions and between genres: child drama (*In America*), period television (*The Tudors*), fantasy (*Once Upon a Time*), horror (*Emelie*, *Nervous*), and crime (*Mayans M.C.*, *The Westies*). She has described her method as evolving with age, saying that each character takes a different part of her and that knowledge is the most powerful tool she has as a performer.[3](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41906293.html) • [5](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker)
## References
1. [Sarah Bolger Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sarah_bolger)
2. [Mayans M.C.'s Sarah Bolger talks about the show's finale, her character Emily and her acting career, A Book Of](https://www.abookof.us/openbook/sarah-bolger)
3. [Sarah Bolger: Irish actress on her part in Nervous, the new Korean thriller, Irish Examiner](https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41906293.html)
4. [Cooper Koch, Sarah Bolger join hands for Fog City, Cinema Express](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/amp/story/english/news/2026/Jul/25/cooper-koch-sarah-bolger-join-hands-for-fog-city)
5. [The antithesis of a love story: Sarah Bolger on working with Abner Pastoll on Frightfest opener Nervous, Eye For Film](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2026-08-21-interview-with-sarah-bolger-about-nervous-feature-story-by-paul-risker)
6. [Sarah Bolger interview, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/interview/89527/)
7. [Teen idol, Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/teen-idol/26428621.html)
8. [Sarah Bolger: 'Now that I'm 18... everyone's asking me about sex', Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/sarah-bolger-now-that-im-18-everyones-asking-me-about-sex/26532108.html)
9. [Sarah Bolger on 'The Spiderwick Chronicles', Irish Film & Television Network](https://www.iftn.ie/news/featureinterviews/?act1=record&aid=73&force=1&only=1&rid=4281065&tpl=archnewshome)
10. [Teenage Dreams: Sarah Bolger on her surprising religious side, Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/teenage-dreams-sarah-bolger-on-her-surprising-religious-side/26627960.html)
11. [Sarah Bolger, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Sarah-Bolger/)
12. [Interview: Emelie Star Sarah Bolger on Playing a Nightmare-Worthy Babysitter, The Mary Sue](https://www.themarysue.com/interview-emelie-star-sarah-bolger-on-playing-a-nightmare-worthy-babysitter/)
13. ['Mayans M.C.' Star Sarah Bolger Talks Felipe's Former Flame](https://www.etonline.com/mayans-mcs-sarah-bolger-on-felipes-former-flame-my-mind-exploded-when-i-read-those-pages-exclusive)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Irish actors › Surnames A to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license