Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV Spotlight

We look back at Kaya Scodelario’s 10 most pivotal roles before Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials hits theaters!

Next month, WCKD is good… but Kaya Scodelario is better! Scodelario was one of the breakout stars of The Maze Runner last year, and she’ll be back for the sequel, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials on September 18.

Scodelario was the only female lead in The Maze Runner, and she’ll have an even bigger role in the second movie. If the franchise continues, then it’s likely that she’ll also return for The Death Cure, the final novel in James Dashner’s original Maze Runner trilogy.

Hollywood reacted to Scodelario’s turn in The Maze Runner as if she was an overnight success, and she was promptly given the female lead in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film. But it’s not as if Scodelario came out of nowhere. Scodelario got her start in British television and movies, where she was recognized as an emerging star long before The Maze Runner!

Ahead of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, ComingSoon.net is taking a look back at the ten most important films and television series of Scodelario’s career.

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Skins (2007)

The first big break of Scodelario’s career came in the original UK version of “Skins” as Elizabeth “Effy” Stonem. Scodelario’s Effy was around since the very first episode of “Skins” as a supporting player, but she became a leading character in the third and fourth series (seasons),

Effy is a very tragic character in the world of “Skins,” as she battles crippling depression and psychosis. The fourth series included the bizarre twists of Effy’s psychiatrist becoming obsessed with her and murdering her boyfriend! Scodelario returned to “Skins” for two episodes in the seventh and final series, which once again placed Effy on a self-destructive path.

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Moon (2009)

Scodelario’s first feature film was Moon, the sci-fi drama directed by Duncan Jones. Scodelario played Eve, the daughter of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), an astronaut assigned to the far side of the moon who could only communicate with his family through recorded messages.

While the focus of Moon was largely on Sam Rockwell’s character, it was still an important step for Scodelario’s career. Moon was also a modest hit for a low budget film, as it grossed nearly $10 million worldwide.

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Wuthering Heights (2011)

The 2011 adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights was Scodelario’s first leading role in a feature film. She portrayed Catherine Earnshaw after Natalie Portman reportedly dropped out of the film. As with the novel, the story of Wuthering Heights is the doomed relationship between Catherine and her adopted foster-brother, Heathcliff (James Howson).

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Twenty8k (2012)

Scodelario’s next role was in the British thriller Twenty8k, which featured Parminder Nagra as Deeva Jani, a woman forced to play detective to clear her brother of a crime he didn’t commit. Scodelario co-starred in the film as Sally Weaver, a prostitute and one of the film’s more tragic characters.

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Southcliffe (2013)

After largely moving into film, Scodelario returned to British television for the miniseries “Southcliffe.” She played Anna Salter, a young woman preparing to move overseas before tragedy strikes her small town in the form of a mass shooting. And one of the victims was Anna herself…

So far on this list, Scodelario has portrayed four tragic characters! We’re sensing a trend here…

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: The Truth About Emanuel (2013)

Scodelario’s next starring role was another dark film, The Truth About Emanuel (which was formerly titled Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes). Scodelario replaced Rooney Mara as Emanuel, the title character who becomes a little bit too attached to Linda (Jessica Biel), a young mother living next door who looks uncannily like Emanuel’s dead mother.

Did I say “a little bit too attached”? I meant WAY too attached. And the film quickly becomes a question of which character is crazier: Emanuel or Linda?

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: The Maze Runner (2014)

Sometimes, one film is all it takes to reinvent a career. As Teresa, Scodelario was not only the female lead of The Maze Runner, she had the only major female role in the movie! While the Maze Runner movie dumped the idea of a telepathic bond between Teresa and Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), their enigmatic connection didn’t go become a trite YA romantic courtship.

Incidentally, the whole telepathy thing is not a spoiler. Maze Runner director Wes Ball has made it pretty clear that he’s not going to use that in his adaptations for the big screen.

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Tiger House (2015)

Tiger House is Scodelario’s next film, and it will be out on demand this month! It’s a low budget movie about Kelly, a young woman (an injured gymnast) who breaks into her boyfriend’s home shortly before an armed gang of killers arrives to take her boyfriend and his family hostage. That leaves only Kelly to save the day!

Think of it as a darker version of Home Alone with more home invasion and actual threats!

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)

Scodelario reprised her role as Teresa in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the Maze Runner sequel that is hitting next month. Although Teresa arrived with Thomas and the surviving Gladers in a potential sanctuary, she is quickly separated from them in this movie. And there are several twists and turns ahead for Teresa before the story is over…

Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Largely because of The Maze Runner, Scodelario was offered the female lead of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. She’ll be playing Carina Smyth, a scientist…but beyond that, nothing is known about Scodelario’s new character. We don’t even have a picture of her yet!

What is known is that Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is still trying to restore the Black Pearl and its crew to their rightful size. But first, he’ll have to get past his old enemy, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and the deadly ghost pirates led by Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem).

Fortunately for Captain Jack, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally) will also be making their return in the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.