Sophia McLean is a Scottish actor and whisky matchmaker based between London and Scotland. Originally from Grampian, she trained at Drama Studio London and was 1 of 20 graduate finalists to be part of the The Spotlight Prize; shortlisted from 70 nominations (Dir. Sarah Frankcom and Atri Banerjee).
She has worked internationally from the Norwegian Arctic Circle to Silesian coal-lands and the German city ‘that doesn’t exist’.
Theatre includes: ‘The Drop’ (Arcola Theatre; Dir. Jessica Dromgoole), ‘Hedda Gabler’ (Greenwich Theatre), ‘Lost at Sea’ (Perth Theatre & Tour; CATS Winner; Dir. Ian Brown), 'The Last Days of Mankind' with The Tiger Lillies in 3 English, German and Polish trilingual reworks (Theaterlabor Bielefeld / Leith Theatre / Teatr A Part Katowice) and ‘Invisible’ (Young Vic / CITWP / HoneyTongued / Tena Štivičić).
For TV: ‘Granite Harbour’ (BBC), ‘Annika’ (UKTV) and an award-winning US returning series due for release next year.
On the radio: ‘Knock of the Ban-Sìthe’ (BBC R4; BBC R4 ‘Drama of the Week’; BBC Audio Drama Awards Nominee 2023; Dir. Bruce Young), ‘Words and Music: Sir Walter Scott’ (BBC R3) and ‘Macbeth’ (Almost Tangible; New York Radio Awards Grand Prize Winner; OneVoice Awards 'Best Female Performance in a Radio Drama' Nominee; Dir. Carl Prekopp)
On the malts: she is a Scottish whisky host, speaker, and educator - with much love for slinging the idea of rules, stuffiness and stereotypes firmly into the tartan bin. She has studied with Edinburgh Whisky Academy, Wine & Spirits Education Trust, Institute for Brewing & Distilling and Aula del Jerez. Alongside whisky, she is also a Certified Sherry Wines Specialist with Highest Honours (Bodegas Lustau, Wine Scholar Guild). From tailored tastings to brand communication and education, Sophia is on the never-ending quest of connecting everyone with their perfect dram and having a damn good time.
Photo credit: Harry Livingstone