Who is Nicola Walker? Star of The Split has also starred in Spooks, Collateral, Unforgotten and much more
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The Split is the latest drama from the BBC and shows the life of high-flying divorce lawyer Hannah Stern both at work and at home.
In her professional world, Hannah, along with her two lawyer sisters is a glamorous, well heeled professional, who has left the family firm Defoe because her mother refused to give her control, now working at the bigger Noble & Hale’s.
But in her personal life, her world is in chaos and her marriage struggling after she and her husband have neglected each other thanks to the pressures of career and three kids.
The lead role of Hannah is played by Nicola Walker , who you will definitely recognise from many a TV role, even if they were a lot less glamorous than her most recent one in The Split.
Here’s what you need to know about Nicola.
What is Nicola’s background?
(Image: BBC)
She was born in Stepney, east London to a scrap metal dealer husband and interior designer mother – she has one older brother.
After she went to a local youth theatre in Essex, her mum encouraged her to pursue acting because she couldn’t think of what else she wanted to do – her dad wasn’t quite so keen.
However she started acting classes at the age of 12 and started her career at the Cambridge Footlights.
After graduating in English, she was offered a place at RADA and moved to London where she lived in a flat with actress and comedian Sue Perkins and writers Emma Kennedy (The Kennedys and Celebrity Masterchef champion 2012) and Sarah Phelps (Ordeal by Innocence and other Agatha Christie adaptations).
It was a wise move all round – as well as a lot of boozy fun – they have remained firm friends and still work together, with Nicola appearing in Sue and Sarah’s future works Footlights, Heading Out and Oliver Twist.
What else is Nicola famous for?
(Image: ITV)
Nicola has an extensive list of TV, theatre and a couple of films to her name. In 1994 she played the annoying folk singer in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
In 1997 she landed the leading part of DI Susan Taylor in Touching Evil alongside Robson Green and most viewers will remember her from Spooks, in which she played Ruth Evershed, a senior intelligence analyst seconded to MI5.
She started in the role, which was her first major one, in 2003, left in 2006 to have her first child but returned in 2009 and remained until her character’s death at the end of the 10 series.
(Image: BBC)
(Image: BBC)
Other memorable parts include playing Gillian Greenwood in the BBC’s hit Last Tango in Halifax alongside Sarah Lancashire , Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid – a role for which she was BAFTA nominated for best supporting actress.
She also starred in Prisoner’s Wives, Scott & Bailey, Luther, The Turn of the Screw, Collateral and many more, including DCI Cassie Stuart in ITV’s Unforgotten.
She won an Olivier Award for her role as the main character Christopher’s mother in play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Is Nicola married?
Yes - she met her husband, actor Barnaby Kay in 1994, during a production of The Libertine and nearly 20 years later, in 2003, they finally got hitched, to give their son Harry 11 security.
She told the Radio Times: “It doesn’t sound very romantic. I find the whole ceremony of marriage a bit like going to work.
“Putting on a lovely dress and make-up, learning lines, someone doing your hair… I can see that would be really appealing if you don’t do it for a living.
“Though we had a really lovely day because we didn’t do that. We had a tiny family thing."
The Split starts on Tuesday April 24 on BBC1 at 9pm and continues for six weeks.