Abela first appeared aged 11 as the character Alice in the thriller
Man in a Box (2008). After graduating from RADA, Abela made her television debut in 2020 with main roles in the
Sky One political thriller
COBRA as Ellie Sutherland. She gained prominence for her role as Yasmin Kara-Hanani in
BBC Two and
HBO office drama
Industry (2020–present). Maddy Mussen of
London Evening Standard praised her performance citing her as the "true star of
season three" adding, "Any Yasmin naysayers of seasons past will struggle to come out of this season with anything but a profound desire to watch more and more of her character." For her performance in the third season she earned the
British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. She appeared in the 2022 films
She Is Love and
Rogue Agent. In July 2022, Abela joined the cast of
Greta Gerwig's
Barbie (2023) in a minor supporting role as Teen Talk Barbie. She next starred as
Amy Winehouse in
Back to Black (2024), a biopic about the late singer directed by
Sam Taylor-Johnson. The film received mixed reviews but Abela's performance received positive notices from critics including
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian who wrote, "Abela conveys her tenderness, and perhaps most poignantly of all her youth, so tellingly at odds with that tough image and eerily mature voice." Damon Wise of
Deadline Hollywood wrote, "[Abela] excels when she’s free of delivering expositional biopic dialogue and just being Amy Winehouse". Leslie Felperin cites Abela as the film's highlight citing her "intensely physical performance" adding, "Much of the credit should go to its star Marisa Abela...who manages to project Winehouse’s distinctive blend of fragility, intelligence and cornered-wildcat self-destructiveness". In 2025 she was nominated for the
BAFTA Rising Star Award. That same year, she appeared in
Steven Soderbergh's spy drama
Black Bag starring
Michael Fassbender and
Cate Blanchett. It was announced that Abela would lend her voice and portray
Elizabeth Bennet in new adaptation of
Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice on
Audible. She will act alongside
Harris Dickinson as
Mr. Darcy,
Will Poulter as
Mr. Wickham,
Jessie Buckley as
Caroline Bingley,
Toheeb Jimoh as
Mr. Bingley and
Glenn Close as
Lady Catherine de Bourgh. ==Personal life==