Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh, a talented individual, was born in Accrington, Lancashire, where she developed a passion for local amateur theatre and pursued A-level Theatre Studies at Accrington and Rossendale College under the guidance of Martin Cosgrif.
Despite initially planning to pursue a career in social work, Hesmondhalgh won a grant to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA),where she studied from 1988 to 1991.
Upon graduating, she became part of the theatre company Arts Threshold and, along with her teacher and mentor Brian Astbury, as well as a group of friends, built a theatre in a basement in Paddington.
This venture led to various television roles, including appearances in The Bill, The Dwelling Place, Pat and Margaret, and an episode of Dalziel and Pascoe.
Her breakthrough role came when she was spotted by the casting crew for Coronation Street, where she played the iconic character Hayley, the first trans-character in a UK soap, from 1998 to 2014.
During her time on the show, she won a National TV Award for her performance in her exit storyline, which she shared with her on-screen husband David Neilson. The couple also took home Best Actor and Actress awards at the Soap Awards that year, as well as Best Onscreen Partnership.
After leaving Coronation Street, Hesmondhalgh returned to her roots in theatre, radio, and television, taking on roles in productions such as Russell T. Davies's Cucumber, Happy Valley, Doctor Who, Catastrophe, Inside No. 9, The Trouble with Maggie Cole, and The A Word.
Her performance in the BBC4 film Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster, in which she reprised her stage role as the mother of a murdered teenager, earned her a Best Performance in a Single Drama Award from the Royal Television Society.
Hesmondhalgh's portrayal of a rape survivor in series 3 of Broadchurch earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2018.
Today, Hesmondhalgh resides in Manchester with her family and is a founding member of the political theatre collective Take Back.
In 2019, her book Working Diary was published by Methuen, offering a unique glimpse into her experiences and insights as an actress.
