Macdonald has continued having starring roles in horror films, portraying Adelaide in Mutant Chronicles (2008), Kate in Howl (2015), Dana in Nails (2017), and Dr. Elle Chrysler in White Chamber (2018), for which she won the Scottish BAFTA Award for Best Actress.
She is also known for her roles as Carole Robertson in the film Filth (2013), Agnes Muncie in the television series In Plain Sight (2016), a pilot in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and as psychiatrist Dr. Wallace in the critically acclaimed miniseries The Cry (2018).
At 14, Macdonald landed the lead role in the theatre's production called Earth Crack, where she starred alongside singer and actor David Sneddon and McAvoy.
[5] After graduating from school, she studied acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow,[6] where she was two years below James McAvoy.
[7][8] At the age of 17, Macdonald was cast in and then made her screen debut in the film The Debt Collector (1999), opposite Billy Connolly.
[9][10] She next made appearances in the films Daybreak (2000)[11] and Late Night Shopping (2001)[12] and guest starred in the series Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes (2000)[13] and Taggart (2002).
During this time she starred as Catherine in A View From A Bridge (2003) in a co-production of both the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse.
[4] She gained further recognition and critical praise after starring as the lead role Sarah Carter in the horror film The Descent (2005).
[38][39][40] The next year Macdonald received recognition for starring opposite her friend and former classmate, James McAvoy, as his character's wife, Carole Robertson, in the film Filth (2013).
[41] In 2015 Macdonald began voicing the role of Professor Squawkencluck in the animated television series Danger Mouse (2015–present), and returned to the horror genre with the film Howl (2015).
[42][43] In 2016 Macdonald had starring roles as Agnes Muncie in the series In Plain Sight,[44] and as Jodie, a veteran struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder, in the short film Soldier Bee.
[52] In 2019 she appeared alongside Laura Harrier in the film Balance, Not Symmetry as Catherine,[53] and had a recurring role as Georgie, the estranged daughter of James Cosmo's character, in the series Hold the Sunset (2019).
[60] Macdonald is married to Scottish actor Cal MacAninch,[61] whom she met after relocating to London after graduating from college.