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IMDbPro

Julie Hesmondhalgh

  • Actress
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Julie Hesmondhalgh and Ian Kershaw
An unexplained death - and five friends bound together by a fragile pact of silence. What really happened that night in the woods?
Play trailer1:01
The Pact (2021– )
3 Videos
37 Photos
Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh was born in Accrington, Lancashire, where she was involved in local amateur theatre and studied A-level Theatre Studies at Accrington and Rossendale College under Martin Cosgrif. Despite planning to go into social work, she won a grant to attend LAMDA, where she studied from 1988-91. After graduating she was part of the theatre company, Arts Threshold, and with her teacher and mentor Brian Astbury and a group of friends, built a theatre in a basement in Paddington.

This led to roles on television in, among other programs, The Bill (1984), The Dwelling Place (1994), Pat and Margaret (1994), and an episode of Dalziel and Pascoe (1996). She was spotted by the casting crew for Coronation Street (1960) while appearing in "Much Ado About Nothing" in the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester. She played "Hayley" in Coronation Street (1960), the first trans-character in a UK soap, from 1998 to 2014, when she left, winning a National TV Award for her performance in her exit storyline, which she shared with her screen husband, David Neilson. The couple also won Best Actor and Actress at the Soap Awards that year, as well as Best Onscreen Partnership.

She returned to work extensively in theatre, radio and television, with roles in Russell T. Davies's Cucumber (2015), Happy Valley (2014) (series 2), Doctor Who (2005), Catastrophe (2015), Inside No. 9 (2014), The Trouble with Maggie Cole (2020), and The A Word (2016) (series 3). The BBC4 film, Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster (2015), in which she reprised her stage role as the mother of a murdered teenager, won her a Best Performance in a Single Drama Award from the Royal Television Society. Her role as a rape survivor in series 3 of Broadchurch (2013) earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2018.

Hesmondhalgh lives in Manchester with her family and is a founding member of political theatre collective, Take Back. In 2019, her book, Working Diary, was published by Methuen.
BornFebruary 25, 1970
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BornFebruary 25, 1970
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  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award

Photos37

Julie Hesmondhalgh and Olivia Colman in Broadchurch (2013)
Julie Hesmondhalgh in The A Word (2016)
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Julie Hesmondhalgh and Jack Whitehall
Dawn French and Julie Hesmondhalgh
Vincent Franklin, Julie Hesmondhalgh, James Murray, Cyril Nri, Con O'Neill, Ceallach Spellman, Freddie Fox, and Fisayo Akinade in Cucumber (2015)
Julie Hesmondhalgh, Ceallach Spellman, and Eleanor Worthington-Cox in Cucumber (2015)
Julie Hesmondhalgh in Coronation Street (1960)
Julie Hesmondhalgh and Alison King in Coronation Street (1960)
Julie Hesmondhalgh and Jennie McAlpine in Coronation Street (1960)
Julie Hesmondhalgh and Katherine Kelly in Coronation Street (1960)
Julie Hesmondhalgh in Coronation Street (1960)

Known for

David Tennant and Olivia Colman in Broadchurch (2013)
Broadchurch
8.4
TV Series
  • Trish Winterman
Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant, and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)
Coronation Street
5.6
TV Series
  • Hayley Cropper
  • Hayley Patterson
Lee Ingleby, Morven Christie, and Molly Wright in The A Word (2016)
The A Word
7.8
TV Series
  • Heather
Bradley Walsh, Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill in Doctor Who (2005)
Doctor Who
8.6
TV Series
  • Judy Maddox

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • You & Me
    • In Production
  • Julie Hesmondhalgh and Valerie Bundy in What Would Julie Do? (2022)
    What Would Julie Do?
  • The Outing (2022)
    The Outing
  • The Pact (2021)
    The Pact
  • Julie Hesmondhalgh and Connie Hyde in The Importance of Being Honest (2020)
    The Importance of Being Honest
  • Lee Ingleby, Morven Christie, and Molly Wright in The A Word (2016)
    The A Word
  • The Trouble with Maggie Cole (2020)
    The Trouble with Maggie Cole
  • Help (2019)
    Help
  • Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney in Catastrophe (2015)
    Catastrophe
  • Bradley Walsh, Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill in Doctor Who (2005)
    Doctor Who
  • Esme Creed-Miles in Pond Life (2018)
    Pond Life
  • Little Star
  • Peterloo (2018)
    Peterloo
  • Kayode Ewumi in Talking with Angels (2017)
    Talking with Angels
  • David Tennant and Olivia Colman in Broadchurch (2013)
    Broadchurch
  • Tom Frederic in Boys on Film 15: Time & Tied (2016)
    Boys on Film 15: Time & Tied

Videos3

Official Trailer 2
Trailer 1:01
Official Trailer 2
Trailer
Trailer 1:02
Trailer
The Trouble with Maggie Cole
Trailer 0:31
The Trouble with Maggie Cole

Personal details

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    • February 25, 1970
    • Accrington, Lancashire, England, UK
    • Ian KershawJune 2003 - present (2 children)
  • Performed in the stage production of "Blindsided", alongside Katie West, at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Julie's surname is pronounced "Hesmondhalsh", with the stress on the first and third syllables.
  • Quotes
    The LGBT world is one that I'm familiar and comfortable with.

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