As Pride month continues, Nine Perfect Strangers actor Maisie Richardson-Sellers joins GLAMOUR’s 2025 Beauty of Pride line-up – following on from Olympic Gold medal winner Tom Daley.
Tasked with painting a self-portrait while answering Beauty of Pride questions, the London-born actor is halfway through her portrait before making a poignant realisation.“It’s interesting with paint because you have to go bold, you’ve got to commit,” she says, and she would know – her mother is a painter. “That’s also a beautiful life lesson. Sometimes you’ve just got to dive in and hope for the best. Let yourself have room to mess up, to get it wrong, to explore and to play rather than trying to aim for perfection.”
For GLAMOUR's Beauty of Pride series, the star diver talked redefining success and who his ultimate queer icon is.
You’ll recognise the burgeoning actor from Netflix’s The Kissing Booth 2 and most recently as Wolfie – the girlfriend of musician Tina, played by King Princess, in season two of Nine Perfect Strangers.
In portraying a toxic lesbian love story, Maisie learned a lot about her own relationship to queer love. “Queer love has taught me how to love myself better and how to show up for others in a way that feels genuine and caring,” she shares. “Through all of the trials and tribulations, it showed me that those hard times are lessons if we let them be and that’s what I always try to remember.”
Here, Maisie Richardson-Sellers opens up to GLAMOUR about her favourite on-screen LGBTQ+ character, why queer representation in film and TV is still so important and why she’s showing up 100% for the trans community.
What does Pride mean to you?
Maisie: I’m so happy it's Pride. Growing up, it was this special thing that was quite exclusive to the queer community and now I feel like so many people get involved and enjoy it. It feels like we can share Pride with others in a way that wasn't really accessible when I was younger.
Both of my parents have been very supportive of my queer journey, but I remember my mum used to take me to the Pride parade when I was three or four, so I grew up seeing it and being completely intrigued and fascinated by the range of humans, colours, and the spectacle. It’s always been a part of me, but it wasn’t until I was 14 that I first started exploring my own sexuality. I’ve been celebrating Pride ever since.
How do you like to celebrate Pride?
Maisie: For me, Pride is an act of resilience. It’s an act of rebellion. It’s an act of self-determination. It’s really important for me to celebrate the things that make me unique and different. So often we’re forced – especially when we’re younger – to fit into the expectations of society and growing up, being gay wasn’t one of those things. I held onto it though and refused to let it be stamped out or feel too much shame about it.
Obviously I felt shame growing up, but once I found that pride and joy, I protected it fiercely and I do that so people who are not as fortunate as me can have access to queer joy and not feel like they’re alone.
That was one of the big reasons why I came out. I was really nervous about it as I was only 20 and just starting my acting career. I was convinced that if I came out, I might never be seen as a female lead and only be typecast in queer roles – which there weren’t that many back then. I thought: ‘I don’t care, this is too important. I don’t want to be someone who dims their light and truth for the comfort of others.’ It was one of the best decisions I ever made and I feel so lucky and proud to be my true self.
What would be a message to your younger self about your journey as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Maisie: Go easy and be kind to yourself. It’s so easy to lean into the frustrations of where you’re not and what you’re not rather than what you are. Don’t try and fit in or conform because your individuality makes you stand out and is your greatest superpower, so lean into it.
What you are is absolutely enough already, so enjoy the journey. There’s a quote by Traci Ellis Ross that I love: “May the space between where you are and where you want to be inspire you” and I remember it a lot.
What was your relationship with beauty like growing up?
Maisie: Beauty has been a beautiful journey of self-discovery and self-celebration and realising that I don’t have to tame my hair in order to fit into Western beauty standards. I’ve had an afro or had it really short and I’m loving these cornrows I just had done a couple of days ago.
Finding the authentic heart of what makes you feel beautiful and embracing it and accentuating it. Some days I feel super masculine and lean into it, other days I feel hyper femme and want to have a full face of makeup and that makes me feel beautiful too. Being free to move and go with the waves of my ever-evolving identity is what beauty means to me.
What's the most radical thing you have done in the name of beauty?
Maisie: The biggest one for me was cutting my hair off. I’ve never had short hair but three years ago I didn’t feel like myself anymore with long hair so I cut it all off and went really short. It was so empowering.
The day I cut it off was the day I did the first interview for Nine Perfect Strangers. It could have been a total mess, but I felt great and I think it was partly the energy that helped me get the job. I leaned into my butch side more and got to embrace the masculine and know what that feels like.
What’s the best beauty advice you have been given?
Maisie: Wash your face. When I was a teenager, I would come home from the club and go straight to bed. Now, I’m very firm on my process of cleansing, washing, hydrating, moisturising and exfoliating once a week. Also: water. I drink two litres a day and it makes a huge difference to so many aspects of life. Mental health, skin health, and your whole body functioning. Don’t sleep on water!
What is one rule that you live by to take care of your mental wellbeing?
Maisie: Walking is a huge one for me. Hampstead Heath is one of my favourite places to go with my dog and it just makes me feel so free to be able to stop and look at the plants and soak it all in. There’s so much beauty around us when you just stop and look and it brings you back into the small things instead of focusing on the big things we can’t control in the world.
I’m also learning to talk and share my feelings and learning to lean on those I love and to be vulnerable – there’s incredible strength and power in vulnerability. As queer people, your online community or chosen family are just as valid as your blood or adopted family. Talking and sharing with the people who want to be there for you has been a big lesson I’ve learned over time.
Your beauty cabinet catches fire. What are the three products you save?
Maisie: I would definitely save this gel I use to make my ringlets pop when my hair’s natural called Kinky-Curly Curling Custard. I would also save my Glow Minerals Perfecting Powder. My facialist once told me that mineral powder is a lot better for the skin because it doesn’t clog your pores. The third one would be highlighter. I’m a big highlighter fan and I love a gentle dewy glow.
Are there any scents that evoke personal memories for you?
Maisie: I’m half Guyanese, my mum’s family is Guyanese. The smell of chicken curry simmering on the fire and roti cooking, these familial scents bring a lot of comfort. In terms of scents that I use daily, I wear Terre d'Hermès and I’ve used it for 10 years. That scent is me now and it’s the one I stick with so when people smell it, they know I’m coming.
Why do you think it's important for you to use your platform to show up for the LGBTQ+ community?
Maisie: Growing up, I remember when I discovered The L Word and I saw Bette Porter on it played by Jennifer Beals and I was shocked. It was the first time I’d seen a cool, successful, gorgeous lesbian on screen – who happened to be mixed race and was a powerhouse.
The idea of being able to contribute to positive representation so that young people can see themselves reflected on screen and for other people to see me and know that we’re not so bad, hopefully they will have more empathy and compassion when they next meet somebody who is LGBTQ+.
It’s incredibly important to me but also an honour. I wouldn’t be sharing my personal life in the same way if I was heterosexual as I’m quite private, but I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone because I know how much it can mean to other people and how much I wanted to see that growing up.
Why do you think it’s still important now, 2025, for there to be on screen LGBTQ+ representation?
Maisie: In 2025, the queer representation that I’m craving to see goes beyond just queer trauma and representation where queerness is not the main part of the storyline. We are multifaceted, complex humans with many issues and parts of our identity that go beyond our sexual orientation or gender. When you see a heterosexual person on camera, you’re not thinking ‘Oh that’s because they’re straight’, you’re thinking about their job, their love, their family struggles and we deserve the same representation. I’m excited for that shift and to see complex, three-dimensional queer characters more frequently – ideally played by queer people because it makes a difference.
It’s a tumultuous time for the LGBTQ+ community globally at the moment, are there any misconceptions that you want to address?
Maisie: With the trans community there’s a complete and utter misrepresentation and a lack of listening. Rather than letting people identify and speak for their own experiences, words are being put in their mouths and creating very toxic and abusive rhetoric. I’m 100% a supporter and advocate for the trans community and we’re so lucky to have them as part of our society. It’s heartbreaking to see the way they’re being treated in the news and legally at the moment.
My message would be to lean into empathy within yourself and treat others how you want to be treated because their identities are just as valid and just as real as yours. Their hopes, dreams and rights to a safe, prosperous and free life are just as important as your own.
Lead with empathy and compassion and listen. There’s a lot of pain at the moment within the community, so reach out and check in on your friends and be as supportive and loving as you possibly can because this is the time where we need to show up for each other. Use your voice and stand up for them. It’s time to really step it up with our support and love.
