Keeley Clare Julia Hawes is an English actress, born in London and educated at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. She began her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend, Wives and Daughters, Tipping the Velvet, and The Canterbury Tales. She portrayed Zoe Reynolds in the BBC espionage drama series Spooks from 2002 to 2004, followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes, for which she won a Glamour Award. She played leading roles in the 2010 revival of Upstairs, Downstairs, the limited series The Casual Vacancy, The Missing, and the ITV comedy-drama The Durrells. Hawes was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her performance in Jed Mercurio's police procedural Line of Duty as DI Lindsey Denton. She teamed again with Mercurio for the 2018 thriller Bodyguard in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague. Hawes has also appeared in films, including Death at a Funeral and High-Rise, and she provided the voice of Lara Croft in a series of Tomb Raider video games.
Early life
Hawes was born at St Mary's Hospital, London, and grew up in a council flat in Marylebone. While in sixth form at school she was approached in Oxford Street by a modelling scout and signed up by Select Model Management. A few months later, she moved to the other side of the fashion industry by working at Cosmopolitan before obtaining a grant and enrolling in the Sylvia Young Theatre School. There she became friendly with Emma Bunton; they lived and travelled together for six months.
Career
Hawes featured in at least four music videos, for the singles "Saturday Night" by Suede, "Marvellous" by The Lightning Seeds, "Come Around" by The Mutton Birds, and "She's a Star" by James. She first came into the public eye in the 1990s, having supporting roles in Troublemakers, Dennis Potter's Karaoke, Heartbeat and The Beggar Bride.
"We're not an acting family, but my parents have always encouraged me. I'm sure my dad spreads the word about my programmes to everyone who gets in his cab, which must help the ratings!"
Hawes appeared in several BBC adaptations of classic and modern literature, including Our Mutual Friend, Wives and Daughters, Tipping the Velvet and as the young Diana Dors in the biopicThe Blonde Bombshell. From 2002 to 2004, she appeared as Zoe Reynolds in the spy drama series Spooks. In 2003, she appeared in the BBC's re-telling of The Canterbury Tales. From 2006 to 2007, she appeared as Rosie in the British comedy The Vicar of Dibley. She was also cast as Jane in the 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral. In February 2006, it was revealed that Hawes had replaced Jonell Elliott as the voice of Lara Croft. She voiced the role in ', reprising her role in the 2007 remake of the original Tomb Raider game, ', and again in 2008's . She has also recorded her lines for the arcade-style Tomb Raider game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, released in 2010. She returned to voice Lara again in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light sequel Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, released in 2014. In 2007, Hawes was cast as Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes, the spin-off from the hit BBC series Life on Mars. It told the story of a female police officer in service with London's Metropolitan Police, who, after being shot in 2008, inexplicably regains consciousness in 1981, having assimilated Sam Tyler's fantasies after being imprisoned in a coma. The series, broadcast in 2008, follows her fighting to wake up from the world of 1981 so she can get back to the present day and save her daughter. She was awarded the Best UK Television Actress Award in 2008 by the Glamour Awards for her role. In September 2009, Hawes filmed the final series. The finale aired in May and gained over seven million viewers. In April 2008, Hawes began filming the BBC drama Mutual Friends and she appeared in That Mitchell and Webb Look. In 2009, she portrayed Det Supt Martha Lawson in a six-episode ITV series, Identity. In December 2010, she starred as Lady Agnes Holland in the three-episode relaunch of Upstairs, Downstairs. On 25 April 2011, Hawes narrated the documentary Kate and William: A Royal Love Story on BBC One, prior to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. On 20 June 2011, she narrated the ITV1 documentary Four of a Kind as part of ITV's Extraordinary Families season. She appeared as Catherine Mundi in the fantasy adventure film Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box. In 2014, she guest-starred as Ms. Delphox in the eighth series of Doctor Who. Her performance as Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in the BBC Two drama Line of Duty, was described in The Daily Telegraph as "the performance of 2014". Hawes was number 38 on the 2018 Radio Times TV 100 list, determined by television executives and broadcasting veterans.
Personal life
Hawes married DJ Spencer McCallum in December 2001 when their son was almost two years old; they divorced in 2004. She married Matthew Macfadyen in November 2004 and their daughter was born the following month. Their second child was born in September 2006. Hawes was misquoted as stating that she is bisexual in 2002, after working on the television adaptation of Tipping the Velvet. She later explained in Radio Times that "maybe what I meant is that everyone is a little bit bisexual…. I've been married twice, both times to men".
Philanthropy
Hawes began working with UNICEF in 2012; in 2017 she became a UNICEF ambassador. Her main focus has been visiting Syrian refugee children and families living in the Za’atari refugee camp and host communities in Amman.
Awards
Hawes won the "Glamour Best UK Television Actress Award" in 2008 for her role in Ashes to Ashes. She was also nominated for a TV Choice Award for the same role, and for the Best Actress award at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. She received a Leading Actress nomination for her role on Line of Duty at the 2015 British Academy Television Awards. In 2019, she was nominated for the same award for Bodyguard and for Supporting Actress for Mrs Wilson.
