Michelle Fairley

Early life

Fairley was born in Coleraine to parents Brian and Teresa Fairley, the second eldest of six children. Her father was a popular publican, owner of Fairley's Bar and several off-licences, in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, when Fairley remembers both Catholics and Protestants frequenting the pub.

Career

Fairley appeared in a number of British television shows, including The Bill, Holby City and Casualty. Some of her earlier roles were as Cathy Michaels on ITV1's Inspector Morse in the episode titled "The Way Through the Woods", and as Nancy Phelan in Lovejoy in the episode 9 of Season 3 titled "Smoke Your Nose".

She took over the role of Mrs. Granger from Heather Bleasdale (who had played Mrs. Granger in Chamber of Secrets) in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films. From 2011 to 2013, Fairley starred as Catelyn Stark (née Tully) in the first three seasons of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, replacing Jennifer Ehle who played the character in the original, unaired, pilot episode.

Fairley joined the cast of the USA Network series Suits for its third season, playing the recurring role of Dr. Ava Hessington, a chemical engineer and oil CEO accused of bribery, and after that, accused for murder. She played Margot Al-Harazi in 24: Live Another Day on Fox. Her film roles included The Invisible Woman (2013) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015). In 2014, Fairley was cast as Margaret Langston in the ABC TV Series Resurrection (2014–2015).

In 2017, it was announced Fairley would appear in a revival of Jim Cartwright's play Road at the Royal Court Theatre In 2018, she played Cassius in Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, alongside David Calder, David Morrissey and Ben Whishaw. In 2019, Fairley led the Virgin Media and Amazon Prime science fiction series The Feed as Meredith Hatfield. As of June 2020, Fairley stars as Marian Wallace in the Sky Atlantic crime drama Gangs of London. She starred as Millie in the 2021 film Nobody Has to Know, alongside Bouli Lanners. In 2023, Fairley starred as Princess Augusta in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story on Netflix. She also contributed to The Gone, a TVNZ and RTÉ co-production.

Personal life

Fairley has been based in London since 1986, and keeps a low public profile. She said in an interview with The Telegraph in 2015, that she made the decision to separate from her boyfriend of seven years, in 2012. Since then, Fairley has had no known partners. Fairley said, in the same interview, that she "missed the gene" for motherhood. She never had the desire to have children like some of her siblings did.

While Fairley has worked on various American projects in the past, she has no love for Hollywood, and the West End theatres remain her home. She said that while television and movies provide a new challenge by making her "use a different muscle", theatre is where she feels her best work is done, where she started her career, and where she hopes to "end up".

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

References

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3. "Game of Thrones star in mourning as she prepares to lay father to rest in Coleraine". belfasttelegraph.
4. "Game of Thrones star Michelle Fairley in mourning after mum dies in Coleraine". belfasttelegraph.
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6. Armitage, Hugh. (27 January 2018). "12 stars you totally forgot were in the Harry Potter movies".
7. (22 March 2010). "Showbiz people briefs". Reuters.
8. Bricker, Tierney. (4 June 2013). "Game of Thrones Star Michelle Fairley Joins Suits, Maisie Williams Posts Reaction to Red Wedding Deaths". E! Online UK.
9. Goodykoontz, Bill. (10 December 2015). "Review: 'In the Heart of the Sea' an uneven trip". [[The Times Herald]].
10. (25 June 2017). "Royal Court Theatre announces cast for Jim Cartwright's play Road".
11. (19 April 2017). "Game of Thrones actress to appear in Julius Caesar at Bridge Theatre".
12. "Gangs of London the new TV Series {{!}} Sky.com".
13. "Nobody Has To Know".
14. Cordero, Rosy. (23 March 2023). "'Queen Charlotte': 'Bridgerton' Prequel Spinoff Trailer & First-Look Photos Revealed".
15. (12 September 2022). "Richard Flood & Acushla-Tara Kupe to Lead 'The Gone' for RTÉ and TVNZ with 'GOT's Michelle Fairley Also Aboard".
16. Davies, Serena. (2015-07-25). "Michelle Fairley interview: 'Hollywood? I hate everything about it'".
17. (7 September 2015). "GoT's Michelle Fairley goes back to theatre".
18. "Michelle Fairley: "Theatre's where I do my best work"".
19. "Olivier Winners 2008". [[Society of London Theatre]].
20. (10 January 2012). "IFTA 2012 Winners Announced".
21. (29 January 2012). "The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards".
22. (5 April 2014). "IFTA ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE 11TH ANNUAL IRISH FILM & TELEVISION AWARDS". IFTA.ie.
23. (11 December 2013). "SAG Awards Nominations: '12 Years A Slave' And 'Breaking Bad' Lead Way".
24. "IFTA 2016 Nominees and Winners".
25. (7 February 2019). "Michelle Fairley and Irfan Shamji honoured at Clarence Derwent Awards".
26. "Hamilton and Aidan Turner among winners at 19th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards {{!}} WhatsOnStage".
27. "Festival Award Winners 2021".