Emilia McCarthy

Intro

Emilia McCarthy is a Canadian-Mexican actress known for Lacey in the Zombies films, Abby Ackerman in Max & Shred and Madison Van Camp in SkyMed. Her screen work includes children's comedy, musical films, supernatural drama and stories for adult audiences. She grew up in London, Ontario, and began working in film as a child. Later interviews describe an actress interested in both the craft of performance and the cultural messages her projects carry, particularly the ideas of inclusion and community explored through her work for younger viewers.

Career snapshot

McCarthy's earliest film experience was on Babel, where she worked as Elle Fanning's photo double. Recalling that production for Hollywood North Magazine, she described filming in Mexico with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and meeting Mexican filmmakers. The experience encouraged her to continue acting. Television roles followed, including Laura Westover in the Booky films, Alyssa Sworn in Hemlock Grove and Lauren in Bunks. She played Taylor Dean opposite Zendaya in Zapped and later became a regular on Max & Shred. These roles established a varied early career rather than a single route through one series.

The entry point

As Lacey, McCarthy appeared in Zombies in 2018, Zombies 2 in 2020 and Zombies 3 in 2022. In her Hollywood North interview, she described the films as demanding musical productions, with song recording and dance rehearsals before filming began. The third film also required extended night work for its alien-arrival sequence. She spoke of growing close to the cast over several years and of Lacey becoming more open to cooperation. That development connects the character's comic behavior to the broader story of different communities learning to live together.

Screen identity and style

SkyMed offered a different kind of performance. McCarthy plays Madison, a local woman whose relationship with a pilot brings her into the drama surrounding a northern medical-flight service. In a 2022 MickeyBlog interview, she welcomed the opportunity to film a Canadian story in Manitoba rather than use Canada as a stand-in for somewhere else. She also discussed the importance of the show's attention to Indigenous communities. Madison is a character within that fictional setting; the role should not be confused with the professional qualifications of the flight nurses depicted elsewhere in the series.

Collaborations and patterns

McCarthy's training and education extend beyond acting on set. MickeyBlog's profile describes work in voice and dance, fluency in English, Spanish and French, and university studies combining film and psychology. In the accompanying conversation, she expressed continuing enthusiasm for comedy while hoping to explore more dramatic material and roles connected to her Mexican heritage. Those were her stated ambitions at the time, rather than announcements of specific productions. Her discussion of Zapped, Bunks and Zombies also emphasized how much she valued the young audiences who followed those projects.

Era reflection

An AMFM profile accompanying Paul Salfen's 2022 interview placed McCarthy's cultural background alongside her interest in environmental awareness. It documented her participation in the 2019 World Is In Our Hands campaign with photographer Justin Wu, using public visibility to draw attention to climate issues. The same profile discussed how SkyMed and Zombies 3 gave her opportunities to communicate ideas about inclusion. These comments describe her own reasons for valuing the work, without treating a film's fictional events as evidence about real communities or attributing a character's beliefs directly to the performer.

Legacy and rediscovery

The gallery uses two independent source occasions separated by a decade. A frame from AMFM Studios' 2022 interview shows McCarthy discussing her work, while GabboT's photograph records her at an InStyle party during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. The festival image includes another attendee, with McCarthy identified at the left. Multiple crops and adjacent frames from these same sources are not presented as additional career moments. Their individual credits and licenses preserve the difference between a festival photograph and a later interview image.

Selected screen roles

• Hemlock Grove: Alyssa Sworn — 2013
• Zapped: Taylor Dean — 2014
• Max & Shred: Abby Ackerman — 2014–2016
• Zombies / Zombies 2 / Zombies 3: Lacey — 2018 / 2020 / 2022
• SkyMed: Madison Van Camp — 2022–2025

A career in pictures

Two distinct festival and interview sources, with individual attribution.

AMFM interview (2022)

Career interview

AMFM Studios interview frame, archived August 25, 2022.

Toronto festival appearance (2012)

InStyle party

GabboT photograph, September 11, 2012. McCarthy is at left.

Rewatch notes

• Played Lacey in the first three Zombies films.
• Played Abby Ackerman in Max & Shred.
• Plays Madison Van Camp in SkyMed.