Keeley Hawes born 10 February 1976 is an English actress. Beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portrayal of Zoe Reynolds in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004), followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–2010), for which she won a Glamour Award for UK TV Actress.
Hawes is also well known for her appearances in Jed Mercurio’s Line of Duty as DI Lindsay Denton (2014–2016) and in BBC One drama Bodyguard in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague in 2018. Hawes is a three time BAFTA TV Award nominee, having been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for her roles as Lindsay Denton and Julia Montague, and a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Dorothy Wick in drama Mrs Wilson.
Hawes has had leading roles in the 2010 revival of Upstairs, Downstairs, the limited series The Casual Vacancy (2015), The Missing (2016), the ITV comedy-drama The Durrells (2016–2019), Honour (2020), and in the Russell T Davies drama serial It’s a Sin (2021). She also co-created and starred in ITV comedy-drama Finding Alice, which was broadcast in January 2021.
Hawes has appeared in films, including Death at a Funeral (2007), High-Rise (2015), Misbehaviour (2020) and To Olivia (2021), in which she portrays actress Patricia Neal. She has also provided the voice of Lara Croft in a series of Tomb Raider video games.
Early life
Hawes was born at St Mary’s Hospital, London, and grew up in a council flat in Marylebone. While in sixth form at school she was approached in Oxford Street by a modelling scout and signed up by Select Model Management. A few months later, she moved to the other side of the fashion industry by working at Cosmopolitan before obtaining a grant and enrolling in the Sylvia Young Theatre School. There she became friendly with Emma Bunton; they lived and travelled together for six months.
Career
Television
Hawes first came into the public eye in the 1990s, having supporting roles in Troublemakers, Dennis Potter’s Karaoke (1995), Heartbeat (1995) and The Beggar Bride (1997).
“We’re not an acting family, but my parents have always encouraged me. I’m sure my dad spreads the word about my programmes to everyone who gets in his cab, which must help the ratings!”
Hawes appeared in several BBC adaptations of classic and modern literature, including Our Mutual Friend (1998), Wives and Daughters (1999), Tipping the Velvet (2002) and as the young Diana Dors in the biopic The Blonde Bombshell (1999).
From 2002 to 2004, she appeared as Zoe Reynolds in the spy drama series Spooks. In 2003, she appeared in the BBC’s re-telling of The Canterbury Tales. From 2006 to 2007, she appeared as Rosie in the British comedy The Vicar of Dibley. She was also cast as Jane in the 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral. In February 2006, it was revealed that Hawes had replaced Jonell Elliott as the voice of Lara Croft.
Hawes in 2008
In 2007, Hawes was cast as Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes, the spin-off from the hit BBC series Life on Mars. It told the story of a female police officer in service with London’s Metropolitan Police, who, after being shot in 2008, inexplicably regains consciousness in 1981, having assimilated Sam Tyler’s fantasies after being imprisoned in a coma. The series, broadcast in 2008, follows her fighting to wake up from the world of 1981 so she can get back to the present day and save her daughter. She was awarded the Best UK Television Actress Award in 2008 by the Glamour Awards for her role. In September 2009, Hawes filmed the final series. The finale aired in May and gained over seven million viewers.
In April 2008, Hawes began filming the BBC drama Mutual Friends and she appeared in That Mitchell and Webb Look. In 2009, she portrayed Det Supt Martha Lawson in a six-episode ITV series, Identity. In December 2010, she starred as Lady Agnes Holland in the three-episode relaunch of Upstairs, Downstairs. On 25 April 2011, Hawes narrated the documentary Kate and William: A Royal Love Story on BBC One, prior to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. On 20 June 2011, she narrated the ITV1 documentary Four of a Kind as part of ITV’s Extraordinary Families season. She appeared as Catherine Mundi in the fantasy adventure film Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box.
In 2014, she guest-starred as Ms. Delphox in the eighth series of Doctor Who. Her performance as Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in the BBC Two drama Line of Duty (2014–2016), was described in The Daily Telegraph as “the performance of 2014”. Hawes was number 38 on the 2018 Radio Times TV 100 list, determined by television executives and broadcasting veterans. Hawes was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her performance in Line of Duty. She teamed again with Mercurio for the 2018 TV series Bodyguard in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague. Hawes was once again nominated for a BAFTA for this role. From 2016 to 2019, Hawes played the main role of Louisa Durrell in ITV comedy-drama The Durrells.
In 2018, Hawes also played Dorothy Wick in Mrs Wilson. She has since appeared in Traitors and Summer of Rockets, both in 2019. Hawes played Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode in the 2020 miniseries Honour which was based on the real life murder of Banaz Mahmod. Hawes portrayal was applauded by The Guardian. In 2021, Hawes co-created, served as an executive producer and starred in the ITV comedy-drama Finding Alice as Alice Dillion. She also appeared in the Russell T Davis five-part drama It’s a Sin as Valerie Tozer. The series follows five 18-year-olds who move to London in 1981 and have their lives turned upside down by the AIDS crisis. It aired on Channel 4 and on HBO Max in the United States. Critics and viewers described her performance in the final episode as “outstanding and magnificent” and a “masterclass. Similarly, the Radio Times described her performance as “stunning” and “heartbreaking”.
Film
Hawes first film role was in the 1998 film The Avengers in which she played Tamara. She has since appeared as Jane in Death at a Funeral in 2007 and in the 2020 films Misbehaviour and Rebecca. She also played actress Patricia Neal in 2021 film To Olivia, which revolves around her marriage to Roald Dahl and the death of their daughter.
Music videos
Hawes has featured in at least four music videos, for the singles “Saturday Night” by Suede, “Marvellous” by The Lightning Seeds, “Come Around” by The Mutton Birds, and “She’s a Star” by James.
Video games
She voiced the role in Tomb Raider: Legend, reprising her role in the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and again in 2008’s Tomb Raider: Underworld. She has also recorded her lines for the arcade-style Tomb Raider game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, released in 2010. She returned to voice Lara again in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light sequel Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, released in 2014.
Other ventures
In 2019, Hawes set up her own production company called Buddy Club Productions. The company later produced Honour in association with Hera Pictures and Finding Alice which was a co-production with Red Production Company. Both programmes aired on ITV in between 2020 and 2021.
Personal life
Hawes married the DJ Spencer McCallum in December 2001 when their son was almost two years old; they divorced in 2004. She married Matthew Macfadyen, her co-star in Spooks, in November 2004 and their daughter was born the following month. Their second child was born in September 2006.
Philanthropy
Hawes began working with UNICEF in 2012; in 2017 she became a UNICEF ambassador. Her main focus has been visiting Syrian refugee children and families living in the Za’atari refugee camp and host communities in Amman.
Awards
Hawes won the “Glamour Best UK Television Actress Award” in 2008 for her role in Ashes to Ashes. She was also nominated for a TV Choice Award for the same role, and for the Best Actress award at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. She received a Leading Actress nomination for her role on Line of Duty at the 2015 British Academy Television Awards. In 2019, she was nominated for the same award for Bodyguard and for Supporting Actress for Mrs Wilson.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Moonstone | Rachel | Television film |
| 1998 | The Avengers | Tamara | |
| 1999 | The Last September | Lois Farquar | |
| 2000 | Complicity | Yvonne | |
| 2001 | Othello | Dessie Brabant | Television film |
| 2003 | Chaos and Cadavers | Samantha Taggert | |
| 2005 | A Cock and Bull Story | Elizabeth | |
| 2007 | Death at a Funeral | Jane | |
| 2008 | The Bank Job | Wendy Leather | |
| Flashbacks of a Fool | Adult Jessie | ||
| 2013 | The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box | Catherine Mundi | |
| 2015 | High-Rise | Ann Royal | |
| 2020 | Misbehaviour | Julia Morley | |
| Rebecca | Beatrice | ||
| 2021 | To Olivia | Patricia Neal |