Keeley Hawes

Keeley Hawes (born Clare Julia Hawes on 10 February 1976) is an English actress whose career spans over three decades, marked by a blend of literary adaptations, gritty police dramas and high‑profile genre productions. Raised in a council flat in Marylebone as the youngest of four children, she attended the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School where she formed early friendships with future stars such as Emma Bunton and Kellie Bright, and began working part‑time jobs to support herself before being scouted for modelling at age 17. Her first on‑screen appearances came in the mid‑1990s with roles in Heartbeat and The Beggar Bride, and she quickly moved into period pieces, starring in BBC adaptations of Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Wives and Daughters (1999). A breakthrough arrived when she was cast as Zoe Reynolds in the spy thriller series Spooks (2002‑2004), a role that introduced her to a wider audience and led to a high‑profile marriage to co‑star Matthew Macfadyen. She continued to diversify, portraying the time‑travelling detective Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008‑2010) and earning the Glamour Award for Best UK Television Actress in 2008. Her performance as DI Lindsay Denton in Line of Duty (2014‑2016) was hailed by The Daily Telegraph as “the performance of 2014,” securing a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress. In recent years Hawes has anchored several acclaimed dramas, including the political thriller Bodyguard (2018) as Home Secretary Julia Montague, the period comedy‑drama The Durrells (2016‑2019), and the sci‑fi horror series The Midwich Cuckoos (2022). She also expanded into production, co‑creating and executive‑producing ITV’s Finding Alice (2021). Her film work ranges from the ensemble comedy Death at a Funeral (2007) to the biopic To Olivia (2021), where she portrayed actress Patricia Neal. Beyond acting, Hawes has voiced Lara Croft in multiple Tomb Raider video games and serves as a UNICEF ambassador, frequently visiting Syrian refugee camps. Across television, film, theatre and interactive media, Keeley Hawes remains a versatile and respected figure in contemporary British entertainment.