Ashling O'Shea

Last updated

Ashling O'Shea
OccupationActress
Years active2015–
AgentMacFarlane Chard
Television Rebel Cheer Squad
Hollyoaks

Ashling O'Shea is a British-Irish actress. She initially completed a university degree in Theatre Studies before performing in various stage and screen productions. O'Shea was later cast as Rumi Joshi, a main character of the eight-part television series Rebel Cheer Squad , which was released in 2022. From 2022 to 2024, O'Shea portrayed regular character Nadira Valli on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks . Following her departure from the soap, O'Shea performed in The Lesson at Theatre503 in early 2024, and portrayed Ursula Wilson in the 2025 television series The Crow Girl .

Contents

Career

O'Shea loved acting and wanted to be an actor from a young age, but did not think it was likely to happen. She went to complete a degree in Theatre Studies at university and was planning to go into Theatre therapy as a career. O'Shea then began acting professionally and trained "on the job", taking affordable acting classes whilst also working other jobs. O'Shea began working with Little Fish Theatre company, which gave her first acting role outside of university. [1]

"One particular stand-out highlight would probably be having Ramanique Ahluwalia as a love interest. We got to be what we never got to see when we were younger, we got each other through the hard parts and laughed our way through the rest. To be able to share that experience with another Queer woman of the Global Majority is something I will forever be grateful for."

–O'Shea on her highlight from Rebel Cheer Squad (2022) [1]

In 2015, O'Shea portrayed the lead role of Rachel Corrie in the play My Name is Rachel Corrie at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The following year, O'Shea portrayed Sahira in a Rehearsed Reading of White at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. [2] Between 2017 and 2021, O'Shea performed in various theatre productions, including Keeping Faith, Dear Children, Sincerely, A Family Affair, Eris, A Missed Call Away and Chameleon, among others. [2] [3] [4] The Irish play Eris was one of O'Shea's favourite theatre productions, due to being half-Irish herself and because it was performed at one of O'Shea's favourite theatres. [1] In 2017, O'Shea portrayed Anna in the short film Screening, and she later played Cleo in one episode of the 2019 web series Bed&Bridget. [2] [5]

O'Shea made a guest appearance in the second series of the British medical crime drama Temple , which aired in 2021. [6] That same year, O'Shea portrayed Ismene in Exeter Northcott Theatre's digital production adaptation of Antigone . [7] O'Shea was also cast as a main character, Rumi Joshi, on the British teen thriller Rebel Cheer Squad , a sequel to Get Even . The drama consisted of eight episodes, which premiered on BBC iPlayer on 8 February 2022. [8] The series was filmed at Bolton School. [9]

In March 2022, it was announced that O'Shea had joined the cast of the British soap opera Hollyoaks as Nadira Valli, a matchmaker and love interest and old childhood friend for Shaq Qureshi (Omar Malik). O'Shea called joining the soap a "surreal" experience and had watched it growing up. [10] O'Shea described Nadira as having "huge heart, a sarcastic mouth and a lot going on in her mind". [10] O'Shea related to the character and was happy to be making the representation onscreen more authentic, adding that as a child she would not have believed that she would see a "Brown Queer woman playing a Brown Queer character" on a national television show. [1]

O'Shea performed at Theatre 503 in 2024. Theatre 503.jpg
O'Shea performed at Theatre 503 in 2024.

O'Shea made her first appearance as Nadira on 24 March of that year. [10] [11] During O'Shea's time on the soap, Nadira's storylines on the soap have included her engagement to Shaq, an affair with Juliet Nightingale (Niamh Blackshaw), [12] [13] [14] being outed on her wedding day, a romantic relationship with Lacey Lloyd (Annabelle Davis), being manipulated by Rayne Royce (Jemma Donovan), [15] becoming a suspect in Rayne's murder [16] and having a sexual encounter with Camilla Bassington-Hart (Dylan Morris). [17] O'Shea also portrayed Nadira in a special Hollyoaks episode focussing on LGBTQ+ solidarity, which was broadcast in November 2023. [18] [12] Speaking about the episode, O'Shea explained in an interview that she was glad that the episode highlighted the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, especially as she is a Brown Queer woman herself. [12] O'Shea, alongside her co-star Davis, later departed Hollyoaks and last appeared on 10 January 2024, with her exit not being announced beforehand. [19] O'Shea was happy that her character had a "happy ending". [20] When reporting on the departure, Asyia Iftikhar from PinkNews called Nadira and Lacey an "important LGBTQ+ couple". [21]

Following her departure from Hollyoaks, O'Shea returned to theatre and portrayed "confident" character Kayleigh in The Lesson, which was performed at Theatre503 in early 2024. [2] [22] O'Shea also portrayed Ursula Wilson in the television series The Crow Girl , which was released in 2025. [2]

Personal life

O'Shea is half Irish and also of Sri Lankan descent. [2] O'Shea identifies as Queer. [12] [2] O'Shea enjoys cooking and considers herself a foodie. [1]

Credits

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2017ScreeningAnnaShort film [2]
2019Bed&BridgetCleoGuest role [2]
2021 Temple Claire HarrisGuest role [6]
2021 Antigone Ismene Digital Production [7]
2022 Rebel Cheer Squad Rumi JoshiMain role [8]
2022–24 Hollyoaks Nadira Valli Regular role [10]
2025 The Crow Girl Ursula WilsonTelevision series [2]

Theatre credits

YearProductionVenueRoleRef.
2015My Name is Rachel Corrie Edinburgh Festival Fringe Rachel Corrie [2]
2016White (rehearsed reading) Mercury Theatre, Colchester Sahira [2]
2017Keeping FaithBechdel TheatreLana [2]
201717 to the Power of ThreeLittle Fish TheatreSamreen [2]
2017Dear Children, SincerelyProject AriadneKrishanthi Kumaraswamy/ Journalist/ Little Girl [4]
2017A Family Affair Vienna's English Theatre Zainab [2]
2018ErisAirlock, Bunker TheatreCallista [3]
2018Where the Lines Are DrawnLittle Fish TheatreAmina/ Ollie [2]
2019Andromeda Nottingham Playhouse Anida [2]
2019Chameleon Southwark Playhouse Chameleon [2]
2020A Missed Call Away Southwark Playhouse Jamie [2]
2021Run(a)way Young Vic Mona [2]
2024The Lesson Theatre503 Kayleigh [22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ashling O'Shea". TresA Magazine. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Ashling O'Shea". Spotlight . Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  3. 1 2 Vale, Paul (13 September 2018). "Eris". The Stage . The Stage Media Company Limited. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Ruwanthie's Rehearsal". Theatre. Conflict. Change. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  5. Brood Webseries (28 November 2019). "Bed&Bridget Ep.2: 'Don't Do It' Webseries" . Retrieved 11 July 2024 via YouTube.
  6. 1 2 "Ashling O'Shea". MacFarlane Chard. MacFarlane Chard Associates Ltd. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Ashling O'Shea". MacFarlane Chard. MacFarlane Chard Associates Ltd. Archived from the original on 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Teen mystery and suspense returns to BBC iPlayer with Rebel Cheer Squad". BBC Media Centre. BBC. 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  9. Nadeem, Alima (25 February 2022). "Rebel Cheer Squad lands Bolton School another starring role". The Bolton News . Newsquest . Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Bacon, Jess (8 March 2022). "Hollyoaks casts Ashling O'Shea as new love interest for Shaq". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  11. Knight, Dominic (8 March 2022). "Glynis Barber and Ashling O'Shea join Hollyoaks". ATV Today. ATV Network Limited. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Hollyoaks – Interview with Ashling O'Shea (Nadira Valli)". Channel 4 . Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  13. Iftikhar, Asyia (2 May 2022). "Hollyoaks star Ashling O'Shea explains Nadira and Juliet's surprise kiss scene". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications . Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  14. Sarrubba, Stefania (28 July 2022). "Hollyoaks airs another affair twist for Juliet and Nadira". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications . Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  15. Mitchell, Harriet (24 September 2023). "Hollyoaks' Ashling O'Shea reveals how Rayne's death affects Nadira and Lacey romance". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications . Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  16. Morgan, Laura (5 January 2024). "Hollyoaks spoilers: New twist in the Rayne Royce murder case!". What to Watch . Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  17. Morgan, Laura (21 November 2023). "Hollyoaks spoilers: Cheating Camilla is Caught Out!". What to Watch . Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  18. James, Alistair (7 November 2023). "The Hollyoaks cast on 'conversion therapy' storyline ahead of special episode". Attitude . Stream Publishing. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  19. Cooper, Brenna (10 January 2024). "Hollyoaks airs exit for regular character in streaming episode". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  20. Chase, Stephanie (12 January 2024). "Hollyoaks stars speak out on Nadira and Lacey exits". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications . Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  21. Iftikhar, Asyia (12 January 2024). "Hollyoaks airs exit for this important LGBTQ+ couple". PinkNews . Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  22. 1 2 Basaba, Lucy. "The Lesson @ Theatre503 Review". Theatrefullstop. Retrieved 11 July 2024.