Julie Hesmondhalgh Author

Julie Hesmondhalgh was born in Accrington, Lancashire, in February 1970. She studied at LAMDA from 1988-1991 and, after graduating, set up her own theatre company, Arts Threshold, with a group of friends. Her TV roles have included appearances in The Bill, the Catherine Cookson drama The Dwelling Place, a care home worker in Victoria Wood's comedy film Pat and Margaret, Dalziel & Pascoe, Cucumber and the 2016 series of Happy Valley. Her most famous role to date has been as Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap Coronation Street. From 2012, she worked extensively in theatre, appearing as Sylvia Lancaster in Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster (Royal Exchange, 2012); in Simon Stephens's Blindsided; (Royal Exchange, 2014); in God Bless the Child (Royal Court, 2014); and as Vivian Bearing in Margaret Edson's Wit (Royal Exchange, 2016). She is a founder member of Manchester-based grassroots theatre company Take Back and a member of The Gap collective in Manchester. In addition, she is a supporter of Arts Emergency and a mentor with the National Youth Theatre.