Keeley Hawes

Clare Julia "Keeley" Hawes (born 10 February 1976) is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portrayal of Zoe Reynolds in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004), followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–2010). She is also known for her roles in Jed Mercurio's Line of Duty as DI Lindsay Denton (2014–2016) and in BBC One drama Bodyguard (2018), in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague.

Keeley Hawes
Hawes in 2024
Born	Clare Julia Hawes (1976-02-10) 10 February 1976 (age 49) Paddington, London, England
Alma mater	Sylvia Young Theatre School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1989–present
Spouses	Spencer McCallum ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2004)​ Matthew Macfadyen ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	3

Hawes is a three-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, having been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for her roles as Lindsay Denton and Julia Montague, and a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Dorothy Wick in the drama Mrs Wilson.

Hawes has had leading roles in the 2010 revival of Upstairs, Downstairs, the limited series The Casual Vacancy (2015), The Missing (2016), the ITV comedy-drama The Durrells (2016–2019), the Russell T Davies drama serial It's a Sin (2021), The Midwich Cuckoos (2022) and BBC America/AMC science fiction thriller Orphan Black: Echoes (2023). She has also acted as an executive producer on ITV drama Honour (2020) and comedy-drama Finding Alice (2021), starring in them both.

Hawes's film appearances include Death at a Funeral (2007), High-Rise (2015), Misbehaviour (2020) and To Olivia (2021), in which she portrays actress Patricia Neal. She has also provided the voice of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider video games, including Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Tomb Raider: Underworld, and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

Early life and education

Clare Julia Hawes was born on 10 February 1976 at St Mary's Hospital, London^{[citation needed]}, and grew up in a council flat in Marylebone.^[1] She is the youngest of four children.^[2]

Hawes attended Sylvia Young Theatre School,^[3] where she became friends with singer Emma Bunton and actress Kellie Bright.^[4][5][6] In her teenage years she worked in various part-time jobs including at Sainsbury's and McDonald’s.^[7] At age 17 she was approached on Oxford Street by a modelling scout, and signed up by Select Model Management.^[8] After numerous features for teen magazine Shout, Hawes became a fashion intern for Cosmopolitan. During this period, she was first asked to audition for a film.^{[citation needed]}

We're not an acting family, but my parents have always encouraged me. I'm sure my dad spreads the word about my programmes to everyone who gets in his cab, which must help the ratings!^[9]

Career

Hawes first came into the public eye in the 1990s, having supporting roles in Troublemakers, Dennis Potter's Karaoke (1995), Heartbeat (1995) and The Beggar Bride (1997). Hawes's first film role was in the 1998 film The Avengers, in which she played Tamara.

Hawes appeared in several BBC adaptations of classic and modern literature, including Our Mutual Friend (1998), The Cater Street Hangman (1998), Wives and Daughters (1999) and as the young Diana Dors in the biopic The Blonde Bombshell (1999).

In the late 1990s, Hawes featured in four music videos, "Saturday Night" by Suede, "Marvellous" by The Lightning Seeds, "Come Around" by The Mutton Birds, and "She's a Star" by James.^{[10][11][12][13]}

In 2002, Hawes appeared in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet.^[14] From 2002 to 2004, she appeared as Zoe Reynolds in the spy drama series Spooks. In 2003, she appeared in the BBC's re-telling of The Canterbury Tales. In 2006, Hawes replaced Jonell Elliott as the voice of Lara Croft in the action-adventure video game, Tomb Raider: Legend. She appeared as Rosie in the British comedy The Vicar of Dibley from 2006 to 2007. Also in 2007, Hawes appeared as Jane in the comedy Death at a Funeral.^[15] She reprised her voiceover role as Lara Croft in the video games Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a remake of the original Tomb Raider, released in 2007, followed by 2008's Tomb Raider: Underworld.

Hawes in 2008

In April 2008, Hawes began filming the BBC drama Mutual Friends, and appeared in That Mitchell and Webb Look. From 2008 to 2010, she appeared in Ashes to Ashes, the spin-off from the hit BBC series Life on Mars, as Alex Drake, a police officer in London's Metropolitan Police.^[16][17] For her portrayal of Alex Drake, Hawes was granted the Best UK Television Actress Award in 2008 by the Glamour Awards.^[18]

In 2009, Hawes portrayed Detective Superintendent Martha Lawson in a six-episode ITV series, Identity. The 2010 release of the isometric Tomb Raider spin-off game, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, again featured Hawes as the voice of Lara Croft. In December of that year, she starred as Lady Agnes Holland in the three-episode relaunch of Upstairs, Downstairs.^[19]

On 25 April 2011, Hawes narrated the documentary Kate and William: A Royal Love Story on BBC One, prior to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.^{[citation needed]} That June, she also narrated the ITV1 documentary Four of a Kind as part of ITV's Extraordinary Families season.^{[citation needed]}

Hawes appeared as Catherine Mundi in 2014's fantasy adventure film Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box.^[20] She also guest-starred in 2014 as Ms. Delphox in the eighth series of Doctor Who,^[21] and returned as Lara Croft in the voiceover role for that year's release of the game Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. Her performance as Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in the BBC Two drama Line of Duty (2014–2016), was described in The Daily Telegraph as "the performance of 2014",^[22] and garnered her a nomination for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress.^[23] In October 2014, Hawes was made an Honorary Graduate by the University of Suffolk.^[24]

From 2016 to 2019, Hawes played the main role of Louisa Durrell in ITV's popular comedy-drama The Durrells.^[25] She appeared in 2018's TV series Bodyguard, in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague, and was nominated for a BAFTA for the role. Also in 2018, Hawes also played Dorothy Wick in Mrs Wilson, opposite Iain Glen.^[26] Hawes came in at number 38 on the 2018 Radio Times TV 100 list, determined by television executives and broadcasting veterans.^[27] She has since appeared in Traitors and Summer of Rockets, both in 2019.^[28][29]

Hawes later played Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode in the 2020 miniseries Honour which was based on the real life murder of Banaz Mahmod.^[30] She also appeared in the films Misbehaviour and Rebecca that year.^[31][32] In 2021, Hawes co-created, served as an executive producer and starred in the ITV comedy-drama Finding Alice as Alice Dillion. It was later announced that there would be a second series. In 2021, Hawes appeared in the Russell T. Davis five-part drama It's a Sin as Valerie Tozer.^[33] The series follows five 18-year-olds who move to London in 1981 and have their lives turned upside down by the AIDS crisis. It aired on Channel 4 and on HBO Max in the United States. Critics and viewers praised her performance in the final episode as "outstanding and magnificent" and a "masterclass".^[34][35] Similarly, the Radio Times described her performance as "stunning" and "heartbreaking."^[36] Critics and viewers also expressed their desire for Hawes to win BAFTAs for her performance.^[37] The following month, Hawes appeared as actress Patricia Neal in 2021 film To Olivia, which revolves around her marriage to Roald Dahl and the death of their daughter.^[38]

In June 2022, Hawes appeared in a leading role as Dr. Susannah Zellaby in Sky Max science fiction horror drama The Midwich Cuckoos based on the novel of the same name.^[39]

Philanthropy

Hawes began working with UNICEF in 2012; in 2017 she became a UNICEF ambassador.^[40] Her main focus has been visiting Syrian refugee children and families living in the Za’atari refugee camp and host communities in Amman.^[41][42]

Personal life

Hawes married the disc jockey Spencer McCallum^[43] in December 2001 when their son was almost two years old; they divorced in 2004.^[44] She married Matthew Macfadyen, her co-star in Spooks, in November 2004^[45][46] and their daughter was born the following month.^[47] Their second son was born in September 2006.^[48]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	The Moonstone	Rachel	Television film
1998	The Avengers	Tamara
1999	The Last September	Lois Farquar
2000	Complicity	Yvonne
2001	Othello	Dessie Brabant	Television film
2003	Chaos and Cadavers	Samantha Taggert
2005	A Cock and Bull Story	Elizabeth
2007	Death at a Funeral	Jane Howells
2008	The Bank Job	Wendy Leather
	Flashbacks of a Fool	Adult Jessie
2013	The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box	Catherine Mundi
2015	High-Rise	Ann Royal
2016	Never Land	Sarah	Short film
2020	Misbehaviour	Julia Morley
	Rebecca	Beatrice
2021	To Olivia	Patricia Neal
2024	Scoop	Amanda Thirsk[49]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Forever Green	Carol	Episode 3 (Series 1)
1990	Troublemakers	Mandy	6 episodes
1992	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Sarah Mabledene	"Talking to Strange Men"
1996	Pie in the Sky	Stella Jackson	"Devils on Horseback: Parts 1 & Part 2"
	Karaoke	Linda Langer	4 episodes; supporting role
	Heartbeat	Michelle	"Snapped" series 6 episode 7
1997	The Beggar Bride	Angela Harper
1998	Our Mutual Friend	Lizzie Hexam	4 episodes
	The Cater Street Hangman	Charlotte Ellison
1999	The Blonde Bombshell	Younger Diana Dors
	Wives and Daughters	Cynthia Kirkpatrick	4 episodes
2001	Hotel!	Tricia
	Murder in Mind	Deborah	"Sleeper"
2002	A Is for Acid	Gillian Rogers
	Me and Mrs Jones	Jane
	Tipping the Velvet	Kitty Butler	Miniseries
2002–2004	Spooks	Zoe Reynolds	Main role
2003	Lucky Jim	Christine Callaghan
	The Canterbury Tales	Emily
2004	Sex & Lies	Kate
	Murdoch Mysteries	Dr. Julia Ogden	Episodes: "Except the Dying" & "Poor Tom Is Cold"
2005	ShakespeaRe-Told	Ella Macbeth	"Macbeth"
	Agatha Christie's Marple	Philippa Haymes	"A Murder Is Announced"
	Under the Greenwood Tree	Fancy Day
	The Best Man	Kate Sheldrake
2006	After Thomas	Nicola Graham
2006–2007	The Vicar of Dibley	Rosie Kennedy	"The Handsome Stranger" & "The Vicar in White"
2008–2010	Ashes to Ashes	DI Alex Drake	Main role
2009	Mutual Friends	Jen Grantham
2010	Identity	DSI Martha Lawson
2010–2012	Upstairs, Downstairs	Lady Agnes Holland	Main role
2013	The Lady Vanishes	Mrs Todhunter	Television film
	The Tunnel	Suze Harcourt
	Ambassadors	Jennifer Davis
2014	Doctor Who	Ms. Delphox/Madame Karabraxos	"Time Heist"
2014–2016	Line of Duty	DI Lindsay Denton	Main role
2015	The Casual Vacancy	Samantha Mollison	Miniseries
2016	Fungus The Bogeyman	Wendy Snow	Sky One Miniseries
	The Hollow Crown	Queen Elizabeth	"Henry VI Part 2" & "Richard III"
	The Missing	Gemma Webster	Main role
2016–2019	The Durrells	Louisa Durrell	Main role
2017	Inside No. 9	Louise	"Diddle Diddle Dumpling"
2018	The Coronation	Narrator	Voice role
	Bodyguard	Julia Montague	Main role
	Mrs Wilson	Dorothy Wick	Miniseries
2019	Traitors	Priscilla Garrick	Main role
	Summer of Rockets	Kathleen Shaw	Miniseries
	Year of the Rabbit	Lydia	Main role
2020	Honour	Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode	Miniseries, also executive producer
2021	Finding Alice	Alice Dillon	Main role; also executive producer[50]
	It's a Sin	Valerie Tozer	Channel 4 drama
2022	The Midwich Cuckoos	Dr. Susannah Zellaby	Sky Max original programme
	Crossfire	Jo Cross	Three-part drama[51]
2023	Stonehouse	Barbara Smith/Stonehouse	Main role[52]
2023	Orphan Black: Echoes	Kira Manning	Main role
2025	Miss Austen	Cassandra Austen	Main role; also executive producer [53]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2011	Rocket to the Moon	Belle	Royal National Theatre
2013	Barking in Essex	Chrissie	Wyndham's Theatre
2024	The Human Body	Iris Elcock	Donmar Warehouse

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2006	Tomb Raider: Legend	Lara Croft
2007	Tomb Raider: Anniversary
2008	Tomb Raider: Underworld
2010	Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
2014	Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
2021	Tomb Raider Reloaded
2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2008	Crime Thriller Awards	Best Actress	Ashes to Ashes	Nominated	[54]
2009	NAVGTR Awards	Lead Performance in a Drama	Tomb Raider: Underworld	Nominated	[55]
	Crime Thriller Awards	Best Actress	Ashes to Ashes	Nominated	[56]
2010			Ashes to Ashes and Identity	Nominated
2014			Line of Duty	Won	[57]
2015	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress		Nominated	[58][59]
	Broadcasting Press Guild Awards	Best Actress		Nominated	[60]
2017			The Durrells, The Missing and Line of Duty	Won	[61]
2019			Bodyguard and Mrs. Wilson	Nominated	[62]
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress	Bodyguard	Nominated	[63]
		Best Supporting Actress	Mrs. Wilson	Nominated
	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actress in a TV Series – Drama	Bodyguard	Nominated	[64][65]
2021	Edinburgh International Television Festival	Best TV Actor - Drama	It's a Sin	Nominated	[66]
2022	RTS Programme Awards	Actor (Female)		Nominated	[67]