Keeley Hawes

Keeley Hawes

Keeley Hawes, April 2008
Born Claire Hawes
10 February 1976 (1976-02-10) (age 36)
Marylebone, London, England, UK
Occupation Actress
Years active 1989–present
Spouse Spencer McCallum (2001-02)
Matthew Macfadyen (2004-present)

Keeley Hawes (born 10 February 1976) is an English actress and model, known for many television roles. She is best known for her roles as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks (2002–04) and Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–10) and Lady Agnes in the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs (2010). Hawes is also known for voicing various roles in video games, such as the iconic Lara Croft from the long-running Tomb Raider series. She is also well known for the charity work she does for CHASE hospice care for children in Surrey.

Hawes first came into the public eye in the early 1990s, in 1990's Troublemakers and the 1992 BBC costume drama, The Moonstone. She has since appeared in many other television dramas, including Dennis Potter's Karaoke (BBC One/Channel 4, 1995), Heartbeat (ITV1, 1995), The Beggar Bride (BBC, 1997), as the young Diana Dors in the biopic, The Blonde Bombshell (ITV, 1999), Othello (ITV, 2001), A Murder is Announced (ITV, 2005), ITV drama After Thomas (2006) and BBC drama Spooks. She is currently the face of Boots No 7 cosmetics and has appeared alongside David Mitchell and Robert Webb in the BAFTA award winning That Mitchell and Webb Look.[1] In 2010 she appeared in a 6-part drama for ITV called Identity as Detective Superintendent Martha Lawson; and as the leading role 'Lady Agnes Holland' in the re-launch of Upstairs, Downstairs for the BBC.

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Early life

Hawes was born Claire Julia Hawes in Marylebone, London, England. The daughter of a London cab driver, she was trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, which included ten years of elocution lessons.[2] Prior to leaving school, Hawes worked in a casino until she was spotted by a modelling scout on Oxford Street.[3]

Acting career

Music videos

Early on in her career, she starred in at least four music videos, for the singles "Saturday Night" by Suede, "Marvellous" by the "Lightning Seeds", "Come Around" by "The Mutton Birds" and "She's a Star" by James.

Television

Hawes has appeared in several adaptations of classic and modern novels: Tipping the Velvet (BBC Two, 2002), Wives and Daughters (1999), Our Mutual Friend (1998), and Under the Greenwood Tree (2005), to mention a few.

From 2002-04 she appeared as Zoe Reynolds in the spy series Spooks. Among her co-stars was future husband Matthew Macfadyen.

In 2003, she appeared in the BBC's re-telling of The Canterbury Tales alongside John Simm, Billie Piper and Julie Walters.

In 2006, she appeared in the long-running British comedy, Vicar of Dibley, (2 episodes 2006-07). She played Rosie, the sister of Harry (Richard Armitage), Geraldine's (Dawn French) love interest who she eventually marries. She was also cast as Jane in the 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral, where she plays the supportive wife of her off-screen husband Matthew Macfadyen, whose father's funeral turns into a disaster.

In 2007, she was cast as Alex Drake in the Ashes to Ashes, the spin-off to the hit BBC series to Life on Mars. It told the story of a female police officer in service with London's Metropolitan Police, who, after being shot in 2008, inexplicably regains consciousness in 1981, having assimilated Sam Tyler's fantasies after being imprisoned in a coma. The series, broadcast in February 2008, follows her fighting to wake up from the world of 1981 so she can get back to the present day and save her daughter, Molly. She starred along with Philip Glenister who played the TV's iconic Gene Hunt. Hawes was awarded the "Best UK Television Actress Award" in 2008 by the Glamour Awards for her role. In September 2008, she began filming the second series of Ashes to Ashes, later broadcast in early 2009. In September 2009, Hawes filmed the final series of Ashes to Ashes along with Philip Glenister. The last ever episode was aired in May and gained more than seven million viewers.

In April 2008, Hawes began filming the BBC TV drama, Mutual Friends, which was then aired later in 2008.

She has also appeared in the BAFTA award winning That Mitchell and Webb Look and in 2010, was a guest on the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? hosted by comedian Rob Brydon.

Hawes signed up to play DSI Martha Lawson in a new six-part ITV series, Identity.

In December 2010, Keeley Hawes starred in the 3-episode re-launch of Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played the leading role of Lady Agnes Holland.

On 25 April 2011, Keeley Hawes narrated the documentary "Kate and William: A Royal Love Story." on BBC One, in honour of the April 29th 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

On 20 June 2011, Hawes narrated the ITV1 documentary "Four Of A Kind" as part of ITV's Extraordinary Families season.

Computer games

On 23 February 2006, it was revealed that Hawes had replaced Jonell Elliott as the voice of Lara Croft. She voiced the role of Eidos Interactive's globe-trotting adventurer in Tomb Raider: Legend, now under the reins of Crystal Dynamics. She reprised her role in the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and again in 2008's Tomb Raider: Underworld. She has also recorded her lines for the arcade-style Tomb Raider game, titled Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, released in August 2010.

Personal life

Hawes has three children. She had her first son, Myles, with cartoonist Spencer McCallum, whom she started dating in 1995 and married in December 2001 in Westminster when Myles was 20 months old. They separated eight weeks later, when Hawes started a relationship with Spooks co-star Matthew Macfadyen. She married Macfadyen on 8 October 2004 in the Richmond-upon-Thames Register Office, and their first child, Maggie, was born two months later. Their second child, Ralph, was born in September 2006.

In 2002, after working on the television adaptation of Tipping the Velvet, Hawes was quoted in interviews with Diva magazine and Radio Times as saying she is bisexual.[4][5] Later, in a Daily Mail article, she explained the comments, saying "[w]hat I actually said was that everybody is probably perfectly capable of finding somebody of the same sex attractive, but I certainly haven't had any lesbian relationships"[6] and in the Radio Times, "Maybe what I meant is that everyone is a little bit bisexual. I've been married twice, both times to men."[7]

Hawes is a keen supporter of CHASE hospice care for children. She filmed a video introduction and recorded voiceovers for a Virtual Tour of Christopher's, the CHASE Children's Hospice in Surrey.

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989
Forever Green Carol (Season 1, Episode 3)
1990
Troublemakers Mandy (Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode 6)
1992
Ruth Rendell Mysteries Sarah Mabledene (Season 6, Episode 12) Talking to Strange Men
1996
Pie in the Sky Stella Jackson (Season 4, Episode 1 and Episode 2)
Karaoke Linda Langer (Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode 4) Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Heartbeat Michelle (Season 6, Episode 7) Snapped
1997
The Beggar Bride Angela Harper
1998
Our Mutual Friend Lizzie Hexam (Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode 4 )
The Cater Street Hangman Charlotte Ellison
1999
The Blonde Bombshell Younger Diana Dors
Wives and Daughters Cynthia Kirkpatrick (Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode 4 )
2001
Hotel! Tricia
Murder in Mind Deborah (Season 1, Episode 7) Sleeper
Othello Dessie Brabant
2002
A Is for Acid Gillian Rogers
Me and Mrs Jones Jane
Tipping the Velvet Kitty Butler
Spooks Zoe Reynolds (Season 1, Episode 1 - Season 3, Episode 6)
2003
Lucky Jim Christine Callaghan
The Canterbury Tales Emily
2004
Sex & Lies Kate
The Murdoch Mysteries Dr. Julia Ogden (Season 1, Episode 1 and Episode 2)
2005
ShakespeaRe-Told Ella Macbeth (Season 1, Episode 2)
Marple: A Murder Is Announced Philippa Haymes
Under the Greenwood Tree Fancy Day
The Best Man Kate Sheldrake
2006
After Thomas Nicola Graham
The Vicar of Dibley Rosie Kennedy (Season 5, Episode 1)
2007
The Vicar of Dibley Rosie Kennedy (Season 5, Episode 2)
2008
Ashes to Ashes DI Alex Drake Series 1
Mutual Friends Jen Series 1
2009
Ashes to Ashes DI Alex Drake Series 2
2010
Identity DSI Martha Lawson
Ashes to Ashes DI Alex Drake Series 3
That Mitchell and Webb Look Herself Episode 1
Would I Lie To You? Herself (Series 4, Episode 3)
Upstairs, Downstairs Lady Agnes Holland[8] Series 6
2011
Kate & William: A Royal Love Story Narrator Documentary on the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Four Of A Kind Narrator
2012
Upstairs, Downstairs Lady Agnes Holland Series 7; in production

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Avengers Tamara
1999 The Last September Lois Farquar
2000 Complicity Yvonne
2003 Chaos and Cadavers Samantha Taggert
2005 A Cock and Bull Story Elizabeth
2007 Death at a Funeral Jane
2008 The Bank Job Wendy Leather
Flashbacks of a Fool Adult Jessie

Video games

Year Title Voice Notes
2006 Tomb Raider: Legend Lara Croft
2007 Tomb Raider: Anniversary
2008 Tomb Raider: Underworld
2009 Tomb Raider: Underworld - Beneath the Ashes
Tomb Raider: Underworld - Lara's Shadow Lara Croft and Doppelgänger
2010 Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Lara Croft

Awards

Hawes was awarded the "Best UK Television Actress Award" in 2008 by the Glamour Awards for her role in Ashes to Ashes. She was also nominated for a TV Choice Award for the same role, and for the Best Actress award at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards.[9]

References

External links