Actress Mya-Lecia Naylor, of Cloud Atlas and Almost Never, Has Died at Age 16
On Wednesday, sudden news broke that the British actress Mya-Lecia Naylor died at age 16 earlier this month, ahead of a year in which she was set to both take her GCSE exams and debut in a new Netflix series, The Witcher. Naylor’s agency, A&J Management, confirmed the news in a statement: “It is with the deepest sorrow we have to announce that on Sunday 7th April Mya-Lecia Naylor, very sadly, died. Mya-Lecia was hugely talented and a big part of A&J, we will miss her greatly. Our love and thoughts are with all her family and friends at this difficult time.”
Born in England in 2002, Naylor began her career at just two years old, when she made a cameo as Edina’s granddaugther in Absolutely Fabulous. She also played Miro in the 2012 film Cloud Atlas, opposite Halle Berry and Tom Hanks. And while her most recent role was in the Netflix series The Witcher, which stars Henry Cavill and is set to premiere this fall, Naylor’s talent was most recognized in the realm of teen-oriented TV shows at the time of her death. Most recently, she starred in two series on the BBC’s children’s channel, the CBBC: Almost Never, which centers around an up-and-coming boy band, and Millie Inbetween, which was about growing up with parents who have recently divorced.
In real life, of course, Naylor was also a teen; she shared her plans to start posting more regularly on her YouTube channel, though only after she’d finished up with her GCSEs, in an interview with Tresa magazine, which was published just two days before her death, which took place after she collapsed. (Authorities in Croydon are reportedly still investigating her cause of death.)
In the early hours of Thursday, the BBC shared a guide of advice for parents on how to help children struggling with the news. Since then, a flood of remembrances have been shared on Instagram, from Naylor’s Mille Inbetween costar Millie Innes and her Almost Never costars Emily Atack, Tillie Amartey, Oakley Orchard, Kimberly Wyatt, Harry Still, and Nathaniel Dass. (Many noted that those looking to leave tributes of their own can do so via an online book of condolence that the CBBC has posted.)
Nathaniel Dass’s tributes to his late costa, Mya-Lecia Naylor.
The late actress also made an impact on Game of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel, who is also managed by A&J .”Although I did not know her personally, I wanted to send my condolences to her family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time,” Emmanuel wrote in a tweet about the “tragic news” that she posted on Wednesday.
