Rebecca Ryan is an English actress, known for her roles as Debbie Gallagher in the Channel 4 comedy drama series Shameless, Vicki MacDonald in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road, and Gemma Dean in the BBCmedical dramaCasualty.
Career
Dance
Ryan's Irish mother, Maranna, was the first WorldIrish dancing champion. Inspired by her mother, Ryan took up Irish dancing lessons at age 3, competed in numerous competitions and was even ranked third at age 12.
Theatre
Ryan first followed her brother, Charlie Ryan, onto the stage at the age of six in a production of the Who's Tommy at Manchester Opera House. She made her stage debut in Scarborough by Fiona Evans at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2008, and subsequently appeared in "Lost Monsters" at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. In May 2014, Ryan toured in the production of A Taste of Honey Derby Theatre. In February 2015, Ryan starred in the Derby Theatre's Solace of the Road playing the characters Holly and Solace. The Derby Telegraph reviewer, Susie Brighouse, said of her performance: "Rebecca Ryan perfects the complex art of acting by a subtle change of tone to clarify what Solace is thinking, as well as deftly changing between the personalities of Holly and Solace throughout the play." Alfred Hickling of The Guardian wrote: "It’s hard to think of an actor more capable of veering between the ages of 12 and 27 at any given moment " Ryan featured in the second run of Beryl, written by fellow Shameless actress Maxine Peake, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in June and July 2015, followed by an autumn 2015 tour around England.
Television
Ryan is well known for her role as Debbie Gallagher in Shameless, which she began playing at the age of 11. Though she never had any formal training as an actor, she credits the time spent on the set of Shameless as a useful learning experience. Ryan has appeared in various television series, including State of Play,Holby City and the CBBC show, Stupid!. In February 2006, she appeared in Emmerdale playing Bob Hope's daughter, Carly Hope. She also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother 6 as part of a task, and in a 2009 episode of Casualty. From 2009 to 2011, she appeared as pupil Vicki MacDonald in BBC One school-based drama series, Waterloo Road. In January 2010, she played the part of Ellie McCall in a special five-part storyline in BBC daytime soap operaDoctors. In February 2011, Ryan appeared in Let's Dance for Comic Relief, with fellow Waterloo Roadcast member, Philip Martin Brown. They danced to "It's Like That" by Run–D.M.C. and Jason Nevins. In May 2011, she played Maeve Summers in an episode of Casualty. She has also appeared as Grace in Monroe, as Erin Doyle in an episode of DCI Banks, and as Natalie Dixon in Doctors. In 2017, Ryan began portraying hospital porter Gemma Dean in the BBC medical drama, Casualty. Ryan confirmed she had departed Casualty on 10 August 2019.
