Who Is ‘Missing You’s Aqua? Get to Know Breakout Star Mary Malone

Netflix‘s adaptation of Harlan Coben’s Missing You arrived on Christmas Day, and Mary Malone has become a standout from the limited series. Malone plays Aqua in the five-episode drama led by Slow Horses‘ Rosalind Eleazar. Aqua is a close friend of Eleazar’s Detective Kat Donovan, the head of a missing persons unit in Manchester, England. Kat finds herself embroiled in her own missing-person case when her fiancé suddenly disappears and then reemerges on a dating app 11 years later.

Malone hails from the theater world and is a relative newcomer to onscreen work, but it’s possible you’ve seen her before on Doctor Who and other titles. Here, get to know Missing You‘s rising star.

Who is Aqua Vanech in Harlan Coben’s Missing You?

 

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Aqua is a yoga teacher and the reason Kat and Josh (Ashley Walters) met in the first place, as Aqua is Kat’s closest friend and was also Josh’s roommate. His disappearance leaves Aqua with her own unanswered questions, and Kat’s search for answers leads to Aqua confronting some hard truths as well.

Who is Mary Malone?

Malone is a UK-based trans actor who was most recently seen in the 2023 Doctor Who Christmas special before her role in Missing You. She played Trudy in the special titled “The Church on Ruby Road.” Trudy was one of Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) friends who performed in her band. Trudy was the singer in the band and Ruby played the keys (see Malone as Trudy in the Instagram post embedded below).

 

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Malone is also a singer, dancer, and fine artist (painting). She shares photos of her artwork on her Instagram from time to time, as well as photos from her work in theater. Malone appeared in a production of Fangirls in the West End in 2024, per her Spotlight profile.

Malone’s onscreen debut was in 2021 in an episode of The Girlfriend Experience, followed by some short films and guest roles in Chivalry, Vera, and The Prince. Playing Aqua in Missing You is her biggest onscreen role to date. It’s a gritty, dramatic role, one that Malone sees as a major moment in her acting career.

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As the trans actor told Pink News, seeing herself in the Coben series provided a moment of self-realization. “Watching it now, I really was able to see myself as a part of it, and not just this tick-box person,” she added. “So yeah, I think it’s sinking in that it’s a huge deal for me and my career.”

Aqua is a key part of Missing You‘s drama, and she gets involved in some of the season’s action stunts and has a particularly heartbreaking scene in Episode 5. “She is intertwined in the complex spider web that is Missing You,” Malone said of Aqua. “She’s woven in. She’s not this trans side character. She’s an essential part of the narrative.” She added that Aqua is “not all good, and she’s not all bad, and I think she’s a real human with a lot going on, which is really a joy to play.”

Coben’s Missing You novel, which was published in 2014, referred to Aqua as Kat’s “transvestite” friend, which is an outdated word. Aqua is a trans woman in the show, and Malone was able to bring a lot more depth to Aqua because of key changes to the character that improve upon the outdated source material.

Costar Richard Armitage told Pink News that working with Malone was a “revelation,” particularly that scene in Episode 5.

“It has been a revelation working with Mary,” The Hobbit star, who has appeared in three Coben adaptations prior to Missing You, said. “In the book, [Aqua] is a slightly less evolved character. [She] brings something incredible to a character we don’t often see on TV.”

“It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know her and chat to her about what her route through life and into drama [was],” he added. “There is a scene in Episode 5 where she is heartbreaking. So, kudos to Mary.”

Harlan Coben’s Missing You, Season 1 Available Now, Netflix