[2][3] Her previous films included Philomena (2013), Mammal (2016), and The Secret Scripture (2016).

[2] McGuigan spent her early childhood in Clones, County Monaghan before the family settled in rural Kent, England near Whitstable.

She trained in Dublin, graduating from the Gaiety School of Acting in 2006, and The Factory (now Bow Street) in 2013 before moving to London.

[7] McGuigan was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at age 11 in 1997, but recovered from the illness after two years.

She was pulled out of school at the time for her treatment at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.