Rachel Leskovac
Rachel Leskovac (born 5 June 1976) is an Olivier award-nominated[1] English actress known for playing serial killer nurse Kelly Yorke in the BBC medical drama Holby City, hairdresser Natasha Blakeman in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and Joanne Cardsley in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.
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 ITV soap Coronation Street. She left the soap in 2010.[5] Leskovac played Margaret, sister of Betty in the 1950's drama A Passionate Woman alongside Billie Piper in 2010.[6]
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.[7] She also appeared in the 2014 crime drama Happy Valley as Julie, the wife of drug dealer-turned-kidnapper Ashley Cowgill.[8]
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. She left the role in December 2016.
References
- 1 2 "20 Questions With...Rachel Leskovac". What's On Stage. 11 March 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ↑ "Rachel Leskovac profile". Interview. Digital Spy. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- ↑ "From the West End to Weatherfield". See Me Now: Graduate Newsletter. Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts. Summer 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ↑ "Corrie actress comes to Barnsley for stage role". The Star. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ↑ "A new Corrie crimper arrives in the Street". Corrie Blog. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ BBC One – WPC 56
- ↑ Griffiths, Kathy (2 June 2014). "Head to Happy Valley for one last time". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 4 June 2014.