Unforgotten returns to ITV1 this week with Nicola Walker in the lead role as DCI Cassie Stuart – but who is her actor husband in real life? And does she have kids?
Her roles in Unforgotten and The Split have made her one of the most popular actresses in the UK right now.
Here’s everything you need to know about the actress behind the characters.
Read more: Unforgotten series 4: Fans can’t wait as trailer released by ITV
Who is Nicola Walker?
Nicola is a ridiculously likeable actress from Stepney, London.
She’s been on our screens – TV and film – since 1994 when she appeared as an extra in Four Weddings and a Funeral!
Far from standing in the sidelines now, though, she’s become one of the hottest TV actresses of the moment.
TV viewers love her in The Split, Last Tango in Halifax and Unforgotten.
Who does she play in Unforgotten?
Nicola portrays DCI Cassie Stuart in Unforgotten, one half of a double act opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar’s DS Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan.
Along with their team, the two investigate decades-old murder cases, piecing together events that transpired many years ago to deliver justice and closure to the victim and their relatives.
Nicola says the uncertainty of 2020 helped create the right atmosphere to bring DCI Cassie Stuart back in the fourth series of Unforgotten.
She explains: “Coming back to the role in January (2020) was so exciting because of the storyline and the suspects this year it’s very timely.”
“When we left Cassie at the end of the last series she felt it necessary to stop, she definitely had what would have been loosely termed ‘a breakdown’ and we were left wondering if she was going to come back.
“When we meet her this series you realise she doesn’t really want to come back but she is in a terrible position that she will lose a massive amount of her pension pay out on a technicality if she doesn’t come back.
“It is awful, she is in a complete trap so she agrees to come back so she can access the full amount of her pension because her dad is getting more and more ill and she is looking at the fact that she will probably be financially responsible for her father’s care.
“So she is completely caught. Her entire career she has very dedicatedly given to the police force. She is angry and feels very betrayed and that’s how she goes into this series’ story.”
Read more: The Split series three cast: Who is back and who is joining the BBC One drama!
How old is Nicola Walker?
Nicola was born on May 15 1970.
She is currently 50 years old.
Nicola attended Saint Nicholas School, Old Harlow, and Forest School, Walthamstow.
She took acting classes from age 12 in order to speak to boys – and the rest is history!
Nicola Walker husband: Who is the actor?
Nicola is married to fellow TV and theatre actor Barnaby Kay.
His most recent TV role was as DI Liam Townsend in The Five in 2016.
He’s also starred in Wallander, Doctor Who, New Tricks, Holby City and The Bill.
Barnaby portrayed Nol in the huge 1998 film Shakespeare in Love.
His father was the actor Richard Kay, who was killed in a road accident in 1985.
Nicola Walker husband: Do they have kids?
The Unforgotten actress and Barnaby have one child together.
They have a son called Harry Kay.
In 2006, the actress and Barnaby welcomed their son, and named him Harry for a very special reason.
The couple chose it because it was the name of Nicola’s Spooks co-star Peter Firth’s character, Sir Harry Pearce.
What else has Nicola Walker starred in? What is she famous for?
Nicola is perhaps most famous for her more recent roles as Hannah in The Split, Gillian in Last Tango in Halifax and Cassie in Unforgotten.
Spooks fans will remember her fondly as Ruth Evershed in the BBC One spy drama, which ran from 2003 to 2011.
Her career at MI5 was cut short, when she was falsely accused of colluding with terrorists.
Although Harry was prepared to go to prison to save her, Ruth took the blame, sacrificing the job she loved.
Faking her death, she disappeared, leaving the world of MI5 behind.
The actress has also appeared in Collateral, River, Babylon and Scott and Bailey.
She has also worked in theatre, radio and film.
She won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Nicola has twice been nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax.
Unforgotten season four begins at 9pm on Monday February 22 2021 on ITV1.
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