Michelle Fairley

Michelle Fairley is an actress from Northern Ireland, best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2013), as well as her roles in USA Network series Suits (2013), and Fox series 24: Live Another Day (2014).[1]

Michelle Fairley
Fairley in 2013
Born	Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present

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".[2]

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. She played the role of Catelyn Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones, replacing Jennifer Ehle who played the character in the original pilot episode.[3]

She joined the cast of the USA Network series Suits for its third season, playing the recurring role of Ava Hessington.[4]

In 2017, it was announced that Fairley would appear in a revival of Jim Cartwright's play Road at the Royal Court Theatre[5] In 2018, she played Cassius in Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, alongside David Calder, David Morrissey and Ben Whishaw.[6] As of June 2020, Michelle Fairley's most recently released work is her role as Marian Wallace in the new Sky Atlantic series, Gangs of London.[7]

Personal life

Fairley was born in Coleraine to Brian and Teresa Fairley, and is the second oldest of six children. Her father was a popular publican, owner of Fairley's Bar and several off-licenses, in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, but Michelle remembers both Catholics and Protestants frequenting the pub.[8][9] 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. Michelle 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.[10]

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.[11] She said that television and movies challenge her in a different way and make her "use a different muscle," but theatre is where she feels her best work is done, where she started her career, and where she hopes to "end up."[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Hidden Agenda	Teresa Doyle
1998	A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries	Miss O'Shaunessy
	Suffering	Patricia
2000	The Second Death	Aisling	Short film
2001	The Others	Mrs. Marlish
2002	Shearing	Yvonne	Short film
2010	Cup Cake	Annie McNabb
	The Duel	Marya
	Chatroom	Rosie
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Mrs. Granger
2013	The Invisible Woman	Caroline Graves
	Philomena	Sally Mitchell
	Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart	Brigitte Helm	Voice only
2014	Ironclad: Battle for Blood	Joan De Vesci
	Montana	DCI Rachel Jones
	I Am Here	Mother	Short film
	Common	Shelagh	TV movie
2015	In the Heart of the Sea	Mrs. Nickerson
2016	Edith	Shelia	Short film
2019	The Trap	Michelle	Short film
	Responsible Child	Kerry	TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Saracen	Maeve	Episode: "Starcross"
1990	4 Play	Maureen	Episode: "Valentine Falls"
	Theatre Night	Ruth	Episode: "Pentecost"
1991	Children of the North	Kate	Episodes: "The Killing of Yesterday's Children", "City of Maloch"
	Casualty	Kathy Emerick	Episode: "Judgement Day"
1992	Lovejoy	Nancy Phelan	Episode: "Smoke Your Nose"
	Screenplay	Jenny	Episode: "Force of Duty"
	Screen Two	Sharon	Episode: "Flea Bites"
1993		Fiona Gibbons	Episode: "The Long Roads"
	Casualty	Kate Maguire	Episode: "No Place to Hide"
	Comics	Nula O'Reilly	TV film
1994	Cardiac Arrest	Karen Teller	Episodes: "You Can't Make an Omelette Without Breaking Legs", "The Edge"
1995	Life After Life	Roisin Donaghy	TV film
	The Bill	Beth Spence	Episode: "No Choice"
	Inspector Morse	Cathy Michaels	Episode: "The Way Through the Woods"
1996	A Mug's Game	Kathy Cowan	TV film
	Safe and Sound	Eleanor Delaney	Main role (6 episodes)
	The Precious Blood	Jean McBride	TV film
1997	The Broker's Man	Gabby Rodwell	Main role (6 episodes)
	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling	Mrs. Harriet Fitzpatrick	TV miniseries
1999	Births, Marriages and Deaths	Pat	Main role (4 episodes)
	Vicious Circle	Frances	TV film
2000	McCready and Daughter	Bernadette	TV film
2001	In Deep	Eva / Phoebe	Episodes: "Blue on Blue: Parts 1 & 2"
	Rebus	Janice Mee	Episodes: "Dead Souls", "Mortal Causes"
2003	Holby City	Heidi Drury	Episode: "Keep It in the Family"
	The Clinic	Shirley	Episode: "1.6"
2005	Ahead of the Class	Sonia Venning	TV film
	The Golden Hour	Julia Harper	Episode: "1.4"
2006	The Catherine Tate Show	Rosemary	Episode: "Mum, I'm Gay"
	Strictly Confidential	Carol Machin	Episode: "1.2"
2007	Trial & Retribution	Mrs. Jenkins	Episode: "Mirror Image: Part 1"
2009	A Short Stay in Switzerland	Mrs. Savery	TV film
	Lark Rise to Candleford	Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson	Episode: "2.10"
	Best: His Mother's Son	Ann Best	TV film
	Taggart	Joan Revie	Episode: "So Long Baby"
	Misfits	Louise Young	Episodes: "1.1", "1.2"
2010	Midsomer Murders	Iris Holman	Episode: "The Noble Art"
2011	Silent Witness	DI Suzy Harte	Episodes: "First Casualty: Parts 1 & 2"
2011–2013	Game of Thrones	Catelyn Stark	Main role; 25 episodes (seasons 1–3)
2012	Coming Up	Jen	Episode: "Colour"
2013	Suits	Ava Hessington	Recurring role (8 episodes)
2014	24: Live Another Day	Margot Al-Harazi	Recurring role (8 episodes)
	Common	Shelagh	TV film
	Resurrection: A Second Chance	Margaret Langston
2014–2015	Resurrection	Margaret Langston	Recurring role (13 episodes)
2015	The Lizzie Borden Chronicles	Aideen Trotwood	Episode: "Capsize"
	Crossing Lines	Sophie Baines	Recurring role (Season 3)
2016	Rebellion	Dolly Butler	Season 1
2017	Fortitude	Freya Lennox	Recurring role (Season 2)
	The White Princess	Margaret Beaufort	Main Role
	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	Queen Igneous (voice)	Episode: "Rockullan, Papyron, Scissorian"
2019	The Feed	Meredith Hatfield	Main role (10 episodes)
2020	Gangs of London	Marian Wallace	Main role (8 episodes)

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Oleanna	Carol	Royal Court Theatre
1998	Never Land	Elisabeth	Royal Court Theatre
1999	The Weir	Valerie	Walter Kerr Theatre
2003	Scenes from the Big Picture	Helen Woods	National Theatre
	Loyal Women	Brenda	Royal Court Theatre
2004	Ashes to Ashes	Rebecca	Lyric Theatre
2006	The Wild Duck	Gina	Donmar Warehouse
	Gates of Gold	Alma	Trafalgar Studios
2007	Othello	Emilia	Donmar Warehouse
	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth	West Yorkshire Playhouse
2009	Dancing at Lughnasa	Kate	Old Vic
2010	Greta Garbo Came to Donegal	Paulie Hennessy	Tricycle Theatre
2011	Remembrance Day	Sveta	Royal Court Theatre
2015	Splendour	Genevieve	Donmar Warehouse
2017	Road	Helen/Marion/Brenda	Royal Court Theatre
2018	Julius Caesar	Cassius	Bridge Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2008	Oliver Awards	Best Performance in a Supporting Role	Othello	Nominated
2011	Irish Film & Television Award	Best Actress - Television	Game of Thrones	Nominated
	Scream Award	Best Ensemble		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2013	Irish Film & Television Award	Best Actress - Television		Won
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2016	Irish Film & Television Award	Best Supporting Actress - Television	Rebellion	Nominated
2019	Clarence Derwent Award	Best Female in a Supporting Role	Julius Caesar	Won
	WhatsOnStage Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Play		Nominated

References

1. "Michelle Fairley". IMDb. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
2. "Michelle Fairley". IMDb. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
3. "Showbiz people briefs". Reuters. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
4. Bricker, Tierney (4 June 2013). "Game of Thrones Star Michelle Fairley Joins Suits, Maisie Williams Posts Reaction to Red Wedding Deaths". E! Online UK. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
5. "Royal Court Theatre announces cast for Jim Cartwright's play Road". British Theatre. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
6. "Game of Thrones actress to appear in Julius Caesar at Bridge Theatre". BBC News. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
7. "Gangs of London the new TV Series | Sky.com". www.sky.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
8. "Game of Thrones star in mourning as she prepares to lay father to rest in Coleraine". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
9. "Game of Thrones star Michelle Fairley in mourning after mum dies in Coleraine". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
10. Davies, Serena (25 July 2015). "Michelle Fairley interview: 'Hollywood? I hate everything about it'". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
11. "GoT's Michelle Fairley goes back to theatre". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
12. https://www.brackets.digital, {digital} ·. "NEWS | Michelle Fairley: "Theatre's where I do my best work" | Theatre.London · The official home of London Theatre". www.theatre.london. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

External links

• Michelle Fairley at IMDb