Denise Gough

Early life

Gough was born on 28 February 1980. Born in Wexford and raised in Ennis, County Clare, Gough is the seventh of eleven siblings; her father was variously an electrician and a fisheries head, while her mother was a marriage counsellor. One of her younger sisters is the actress Kelly Gough. Gough was raised as a Catholic.

She trained as a soprano before leaving Ireland for London at 15, with a boyfriend, after which she became homeless for a while. She started using alcohol and drugs to block out the experience of being groomed from the age of 13 and raped twice at 14 by "a man in his 20s"; "At the time [Gough] thought it was love", but she later realised that she had been the victim of child abuse.

She was awarded a grant to study at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) in Wandsworth aged 18, and graduated from ALRA in 2003.

Theatre career

In 2012, she was nominated for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her performances in Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms at the Lyric Hammersmith and Nancy Harris Our New Girl at the Bush Theatre. In January 2014 she was Julia in The Duchess of Malfi, the inaugural production at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London. At the National Theatre, London, in September 2015 she presented an "electrifying" performance as a recovering substance user in Duncan Macmillan's People, Places and Things, directed by Jeremy Herrin.

She reprised the role when the production transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre in March 2016, and subsequently won the Olivier Award for Best Actress. She returned to the National Theatre in April 2017 playing the role of Harper in Marianne Elliot's revival of Tony Kushner's play Angels in America, for which she won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Gough then returned to People, Places & Things for its New York transfer. In February 2018, Gough returned to the role of Harper in the Broadway transfer of the National Theatre's production of Angels in America, alongside the majority of the London cast.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland. (2020-04-17). "From Isolation – Inspiration: Denise Gough".
2. "Jay Taylor on Instagram: "I usually only post pictures of her looking weird or crazy, but as it's her birthday I think we can allow one of her looking just 👌🏽Happy…"".
3. Aftab, Kaleem. (29 November 2017). "Denise Gough: "It feels like I need to hold back"".
4. (20 November 2012). "Bright young things".
5. (11 October 2017). "She Was About to Quit Acting. Then She Got the Role of a Lifetime.".
6. (18 November 2007). "Twins' kitchen sync drama".
7. Clapp, Susannah. (2017-11-19). "Denise Gough: the extraordinarily gifted actress on being the toast of New York". [[The Guardian]].
8. Rook, Olivia. (2024-05-01). "Denise Gough on returning to 'People, Places & Things' in the West End". LondonTheatre.co.uk.
9. (2023-04-25). "Denise Gough: 'I was homeless and a drug addict. It's a miracle I managed to get to where I am'". [[Irish Independent]].
10. Curtis, Nick. (2024-05-24). "People, Places & Things star Denise Gough: I can talk about my abuse and addiction now". [[Evening Standard]].
11. (29 October 2012). "London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2012 – Longlist revealed". Evening Standard.
12. Coveney, Michael. (16 January 2014). "The Duchess of Malfi (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)". What's On Stage.
13. (6 September 2015). "People, Places & Things review — a career-changing performance". The Observer.
14. Emmrich, Stuart. (3 May 2018). "Actress Denise Gough Pays Homage to Bygone Angels". [[The New York Times]].
15. (6 October 2018). "Denise Gough on Toxic and Progressive Masculinity at Toronto Film Festival".
16. Crossan, Ash. (24 August 2022). "Denise Gough & Kyle Soller Interview: Andor".
17. (16 April 2025). "The Stolen Girl review". [[The Guardian]].
18. (29 April 2025). "Yennefer voice artist doesn't yet know if she's back for The Witcher 4".
19. Billington, Michael. (20 June 2014). "Adler and Gibb review – a high-concept satire on the cult of the artist". The Guardian.
20. (15 May 2024). "People, Places & Things review at Trafalgar Theatre, London with Denise Gough". [[The Stage]].
21. (1 October 2024). "White Rabbit Red Rabbit Begins in London's West End". [[Playbill]].
22. (2 November 2015). "Evening Standard Theatre Awards: Full list of nominees".
23. (23 November 2015). "Evening Standard Theatre Awards: Who won and why".
24. (28 November 2016). "2015 Results".
25. "Olivier Winners 2016".
26. (22 February 2016). "Whatsonstage Awards – Winners 2016".
27. Lefkowitz, Andy. (3 June 2018). "SpongeBob SquarePants & More Win 2018 Drama Desk Awards".
28. (19 May 2018). "2018 Obies Winners and Performances".
29. Nyren, Erin. (11 June 2018). "Tony Award Winners 2018: The Complete List".
30. (9 April 2018). "Olivier Awards 2018: Winners in full". BBC News.
31. Lefkowitz, Andy. (7 May 2018). "SpongeBob SquarePants, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady & More Win 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards".
32. Lefkowitz, Andy. (8 May 2018). "Bravo! Winners Announced for the 2018 Theatre World Awards".
33. "Actress".
34. Voyles, Blake. (September 13, 2023). "83rd Peabody Award Winners".