It’s fairly unusual — make that highly unusual — when an apparently gifted actress comes along who qualifies as (am I allowed to even say this?) strikingly beautiful.

Like Emma Mackey, I mean — 26 years old, most recently seen in Eiffel (’21) and Death on the Nile (’22), and soon to be appreciated in Emily, an Emily Bronte biopic that will debut at TIFF ’22.

Captivating brunette actresses were standard issue throughout the 20th Century (they were often favored for their looks back then…a tactic of sexist oppression) but that aesthetic began to fade 10 or 15 years ago. Or so it seemed to me. I won’t argue about this.

To my eyes Mackey is one-third Jamie Pressly, one-third Jaqueline Bisset in her ’70s heyday and one third Lesley-Anne Down as she appeared in the ’70s.

Jodie Comer may or may not be a better actress than Mackey, but she’s cut from a similar cloth.