Nicola Walker

Nicola Walker (born 1970) is an English actress, best known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, particularly as Ruth Evershed in the spy drama Spooks. She has also worked in theatre, radio and film.

Early life

Born in Stepney in the East End of London, she has an older brother. Walker attended Forest School, Walthamstow, and undertook acting classes from age 12 to speak to boys.^[1] Walker then attended New Hall, Cambridge, where she started her acting career with the Cambridge Footlights. Her contemporaries included Spooks writer David Wolstencroft and comedienne Sue Perkins, who were all part of the 1990 national tour.^[2]

Career

Offered a place at RADA, on graduation from Cambridge she already had some roles and an agent, so decided to pursue her career. Based in London, she shared a flat with Perkins, Sarah Phelps and Emma Kennedy, acting at the Edinburgh Festival and the London Festival Fringe.^[1]

Her first major television roles were in 1997, as Gypsy Jones in Channel 4's adaptation of A Dance To The Music Of Time, and as English teacher Suzy Travis in two series of Steven Moffat's school-based sitcom Chalk.^[3] She has also appeared in guest roles in episodes of series such as Dalziel and Pascoe, Jonathan Creek, Pie in the Sky and Broken News.

She got the leading part of DI Susan Taylor in the ITV thriller serial Touching Evil in 1997, co-starring opposite Robson Green. She also appeared in its two sequel serials in 1998 and 1999. Also in 1999, she took the lead role in the post-apocalyptic drama serial The Last Train, also screened on ITV (and written by future Spooks writer Matthew Graham). Also in 2003, Walker played Molly in the BBC Radio adaptation of Neuromancer by William Gibson.

In 2003, with the production team of Kudos Television looking to replace the character played by Jenny Agutter in Series 1 of Spooks, the part of Ruth Evershed was specially written for her from Series 2.^[1] She remained with the show until the fifth series, during the production of which it was announced she was expecting her first child and would be leaving. She returned in 2009, and continued until the series ended in 2011. Benji Wilson of The Daily Telegraph praised Walker's performance stating "an actress who has squeezed every drop out of TV’s greatest ever largely dumbstruck doormat for the best part of a decade. Her scenes with Peter Firth, another fine player, have become self-contained little bubbles of weltschmerz within every recent episode".^[4]

In 2007 she had a prominent supporting role as a child snatcher in the ITV1 drama serial Torn and appeared in the BBC adaptation of Oliver Twist.

In film, her roles have tended to be smaller supporting parts. Her most prominent role has been as the irritating folk singer in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), who sings "Can't Smile Without You" at the first wedding. She also appeared in the feature film adaptation of the classic television series Thunderbirds (2004).

In 2009 she appeared as a maid in a new BBC adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, which also starred Michelle Dockery and Sue Johnston. In 2010 she appeared as a beleaguered wife (Linda Shand) of a murderer in an episode of the BBC1 crime thriller Luther.^[5]

In February 2011, she appeared as nervous social worker Wendy in the BBC TV series Being Human.^[6] In February 2012, she played a major character in one off BBC crime drama Inside Men.

In 2012 and 2013 she appeared alongside Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid and Sarah Lancashire, in two series of the BBC original drama Last Tango in Halifax.

In February and March 2013, Walker reunited with her former Cambridge Footlights colleague Sue Perkins in the BBC comedy Heading Out. She then appeared in the second series of Prisoners' Wives and the third series of Scott and Bailey.

Walker was nominated for and won an Olivier Award in 2013 for Best Supporting Actress in her role as the main character Christopher's mother, Judy, in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The play won seven Olivier Awards, equalling Matilda the Musical's record win in 2012.^[7]

Filmography

Theatre credits

• Relocated - Royal Court Theatre London (2008)
• Gethsemane - National Theatre London (2008/9)
• Season's Greetings - National Theatre London (2010/11)
• Di and Viv and Rose - Hampstead Theatre (Downstairs) London (2011)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - National Theatre London (2012) for which she won the 2013 Oliver Award in the category 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role'.

Personal life

She is married to actor Barnaby Kay. The couple have a son Harry (born 2006), who is named after Harry Pearce, the character of her co-star Peter Firth in Spooks.^[1]

References

External links

• Nicola Walker at the Internet Movie Database
• Nicola Walker profile on the Spooks website at bbc.co.uk.
• Nicola Walker profile on the bbc.co.uk Drama Faces website