Nicola Walker
Born: April 1970;
Stepney, London, UK
Nationality: British Height: 5ft 4in (1.63 m) Spouse(s): Barnaby Kay (2003-present) Children: 1 son - Harry (b. 2006) Character in Spooks: Ruth Evershed Nicola was born in Stepney, in the East End of London. She has an older brother. She attended Forest School, Walthamstow, and undertook acting classes from aged 12, to speak to boys. I only started acting classes at the age of 12 in order to meet boys. Before that I was convinced I was going to be a prima ballerina, but I was untalented, had no grace and kept talking. At least in drama you can talk with some reason. I started acting at my local youth theatre and did not go to Drama School. Whilst my parents had always been 100 per cent behind me in my choice of a future career, they sensibly insisted that I went to university first before I took up acting. |
As per her parents advice, she attended New Hall, Cambridge, where she started her acting career with the Cambridge Footlights. She never officially tried out, choosing instead to hang around until someone took pity on her and gave her a line. She held the office of “Falconer” in the Footlights in the 1990-1991 academic year. Her contemporaries at Cambridge included Spooks writer David Wolstencroft and comedienne Sue Perkins, who were all part of the 1990 national tour.
When she graduated she was offered a place at RADA but turned it down as she already had some roles and an agent, so she decided to pursue her career. Based in London, she shared a flat with Perkins, Sarah Phelps and Emma Kennedy and acted at the Edinburgh Festival and the London Festival Fringe.
When she graduated she was offered a place at RADA but turned it down as she already had some roles and an agent, so she decided to pursue her career. Based in London, she shared a flat with Perkins, Sarah Phelps and Emma Kennedy and acted at the Edinburgh Festival and the London Festival Fringe.
Her first role was in hit UK film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, as a folk singer who sings, ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ at the first wedding.
Her first major television role came in 1996, when she played Lucy Driver in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, This was followed in 1997 with roles such as Gypsy Jones in Channel 4's adaptation of A Dance To The Music Of Time, and as English teacher Suzy Travis in school-based sitcom Chalk. She also had guest roles in episodes of series such as Dalziel and Pascoe, Jonathan Creek, Pie in the Sky and Broken News. She got the leading part of DI Susan Taylor in the ITV thriller serial Touching Evil which ran for 3 series from 1997 until 1999.
In 2003, with the production team of Kudos Television looking to replace the character played by Jenny Agutter in Series 1 of Spooks, the part of Ruth Evershed was written specifically for her. She joined the show in its second series and stayed until mid way through the fifth series; leaving to have her first child. She returned in 2009, and continued in this role until the show ended in 2011. Whilst working on Spooks she forged strong friendships with several other cast members, especially Peter Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes and Rupert Penry-Jones.
Since finishing Spooks Nicola has had supporting roles in several different projects Inside Men, A Mother’s Son, and New Tricks before taking one of the leads in BBC drama, Last Tango in Halifax.
In 2012 she played Judy Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Cottesloe National Theatre. Judy is the mother of a boy who is on the autistic spectrum and she finds it hard to deal with his condition. Nicola earned high critical acclaim for her performance and won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was presented to her by her Spooks co-star, Rupert Penry-Jones. (You can see photographs from that event here).
She has recently has roles in Heading Out (written by her old friend Sue Perkins), series 2 of Prisoners Wives, series 3 of Scott and Bailey and series two of Last Tango in Halifax, for which she was nominated for her first ever BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress (sadly, the award went to her Last Tango co-star, Sarah Lancashire).
In 2014, Nicola starred in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, at the Young Vic theatre, London from 4th April to 9th June.
She met her husband, actor Barnaby Kay in 1994 when they both starred in a production of The Libertine. They got engaged in 2003 and married soon after. Their first child was born in 2006 and is named Harry, after the character of Harry Pearce in Spooks.
Her first major television role came in 1996, when she played Lucy Driver in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, This was followed in 1997 with roles such as Gypsy Jones in Channel 4's adaptation of A Dance To The Music Of Time, and as English teacher Suzy Travis in school-based sitcom Chalk. She also had guest roles in episodes of series such as Dalziel and Pascoe, Jonathan Creek, Pie in the Sky and Broken News. She got the leading part of DI Susan Taylor in the ITV thriller serial Touching Evil which ran for 3 series from 1997 until 1999.
In 2003, with the production team of Kudos Television looking to replace the character played by Jenny Agutter in Series 1 of Spooks, the part of Ruth Evershed was written specifically for her. She joined the show in its second series and stayed until mid way through the fifth series; leaving to have her first child. She returned in 2009, and continued in this role until the show ended in 2011. Whilst working on Spooks she forged strong friendships with several other cast members, especially Peter Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes and Rupert Penry-Jones.
Since finishing Spooks Nicola has had supporting roles in several different projects Inside Men, A Mother’s Son, and New Tricks before taking one of the leads in BBC drama, Last Tango in Halifax.
In 2012 she played Judy Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Cottesloe National Theatre. Judy is the mother of a boy who is on the autistic spectrum and she finds it hard to deal with his condition. Nicola earned high critical acclaim for her performance and won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was presented to her by her Spooks co-star, Rupert Penry-Jones. (You can see photographs from that event here).
She has recently has roles in Heading Out (written by her old friend Sue Perkins), series 2 of Prisoners Wives, series 3 of Scott and Bailey and series two of Last Tango in Halifax, for which she was nominated for her first ever BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress (sadly, the award went to her Last Tango co-star, Sarah Lancashire).
In 2014, Nicola starred in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, at the Young Vic theatre, London from 4th April to 9th June.
She met her husband, actor Barnaby Kay in 1994 when they both starred in a production of The Libertine. They got engaged in 2003 and married soon after. Their first child was born in 2006 and is named Harry, after the character of Harry Pearce in Spooks.
When [my son] was born we called him George for two weeks and I was looking at him and saying, ‘I love you George’, but then one day I said, ‘I love you Harry’. My husband said, ‘you can’t call him Harry; you’re just used to saying it’. But I really liked the name and decided it would be ridiculous not to call him that.
You can find a full filmography for Nicola Walker at IMDb.
With thanks to www.nicola-walker.com for some of the information on this page.