Entering the film industry in 2003 as 'Curly' in the family adventure film Peter Pan, George MacKay is an English film actor. The film directed by P.J. Hogan was an adaptation of the classic play and novel, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. In 2004 Mackay made his debut on TV with the crime show Rose and Maloney (2002- ). Over the years Mackay has starred in TV shows and TV miniseries' like The Brief (2004-2005), Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006), Johnny and the Bomb (2006), Birdsong (2012), The Outcast (2015), and 11.22.63 (2016). Since making his film debut in 2003, Mackay has starred in movies like The Thief Lord (2006), Defiance (2008), The Boys Are Back (2009), Private Peaceful (2012), For Those in Peril (2013), Sunshine on Leith (2013), How I Live Now (2013), Pride (2014), and Captain Fantastic (2016).

Mackay's recently worked in the horror-thriller Marrowbone (2017), directed by Sergio G. Sanchez. He starred alongside Mia Goth, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Charlie Heaton. In 2018 Mackay starred alongside Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, Tom Felton, Dominic Mafham, and Daisy Ridley in romantic-drama Ophelia. The movie is director Claire McCarthy's re-imagining of William Shakespeare's classic play Hamlet, from Ophelia's point of view.