Rachel Leskovac

Rachel Leskovac (born 5 June 1976) is an English actress and singer, known for her roles as hairdresser Natasha Blakeman in Coronation Street and lawyer Joanne Cardsley in Hollyoaks. She has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.[1]

Rachel Leskovac
Born
Rachel Leskovac

(1976-06-05) 5 June 1976
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
OccupationActress
TelevisionCoronation Street (2008–2010, 2020–)
Hollyoaks (2015–2016)

Early life

Leskovac was born in Bradford, England. Her mother is English and her father is of Croatian descent.[2] Leskovac has a younger sister, Sophie, and an older sister, Kate. Leskovac attended St Joseph's Catholic College in Bradford and during her youth was a member of local theatre group Scala Kids. She later trained at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, graduating in 1998.[3]

Acting career

Leskovac received critical acclaim for her performance as the young Viv in the musical Spend Spend Spend and was nominated for the Best Actress in a Musical Olivier.[1] She played serial killer nurse Kelly Yorke on Holby City. In 2003, she played Ciara Pickering in the fourth series of At Home with the Braithwaites.[4] In 2006 she also starred in a TV movie called Losing Gemma for Granada TV. In April 2008, Leskovac was signed up to play Natasha Blakeman, a hairdresser on the ITV soap Coronation Street. She left the soap in 2010.[5] In July 2020, it was announced that Leskovac would be reprising her role as Natasha.[6]

Leskovac played Margaret, sister of Betty in the 1950s drama A Passionate Woman alongside Billie Piper in 2010.[7] In 2011, Leskovac starred in an episode of the Sky 1 sitcom Trollied as Leanne the deputy manager who was on maternity leave. In 2012, Leskovac played teacher Lara Heaton in the Channel 4 TV comedy drama series Shameless, and she played Karen, a beauty therapist, in an episode of the Jimmy McGovern drama series Accused. In 2013 she appeared in Last Tango in Halifax. In 2014, she played Susie Nightingale in the second series of WPC 56.[8] She also appeared in the 2014 crime drama Happy Valley as Julie, the wife of drug dealer-turned-kidnapper Ashley Cowgill.[9] In 2015, she returned to the role of Susie in the third series of WPC 56. In September 2015, she joined the cast of teenage soap opera Hollyoaks as regular Joanne Cardsley. Leskovac received critical acclaim for her role in Hollyoaks. She left the role in December 2016 concluding a dramatic storyline with her.

References
  1. "20 Questions With...Rachel Leskovac". What's On Stage. 11 March 2002. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  2. "Rachel Leskovac profile". Interview. Digital Spy. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  3. "From the West End to Weatherfield". See Me Now: Graduate Newsletter. Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts. Summer 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  4. "Corrie actress comes to Barnsley for stage role". The Star. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  5. "A new Corrie crimper arrives in the Street". Corrie Blog. 24 April 2008. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  6. "Natasha Blakeman is Back!". www.itv.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  7. Clayton, Emma (8 April 2010). "Bradford actors join a big-name cast in writer Kay Mellor's moving family drama". Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. BBC One – WPC 56
  9. Griffiths, Kathy (2 June 2014). "Head to Happy Valley for one last time". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
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