Sophie McShera

Sophie McShera (born 1985 in Holme Wood, Bradford, Yorkshire) is a British actress. At an early age she moved to Eccleshill, also in Bradford, where she attended St Joseph's College. Out of school she attended the Footsteps Theatre School before getting her stage break at the age of twelve in comedy The Goodbye Girl. She followed this up with a stint on tour with Annie before completing her GCSEs and A-levels and going to Brunel University, London, where she achieved a degree in drama.^[1]

McShera's television career started after university in 2007 with very minor roles in the soap operas Emmerdale and Doctors and the drama Survivors in 2008. In 2009 she gained her next part, a more substantial one, on the BBC school drama Waterloo Road. She played intelligent A-level student Ros McCain for the entirety of the fifth series before leaving the show due to Ros leaving the school. This was followed up a year later by a spot on the regular cast of the costume drama Downton Abbey as Daisy the kitchen maid.^[2] Her agents, London based Curtis Brown, describe her voice quality as 'bright' and her voice character as 'natural'. She is 5 ft 2in (157 cm) tall and weighs around 7.5 stone (48 kg).^[3]

Personal life

Whilst at university in 2004 McShera and her ex-boyfriend Tom Hatley won £100 in a competition run by Barclays bank for students with innovative business ideas. Their business, That Sweet Feeling, specialises in jars of romance themed confectionery, especially popular during Valentines Day.^[4] McShera's interests outside of acting include swimming and rollerskating and she sings soprano to a high standard.^[5]

Filmography

References