Elinor Lawless

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Elinor Lawless
Born (1982-04-23) 23 April 1982 (age 42)
Draperstown, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Education Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
OccupationActress
Years active2000–present
Television Casualty
Children1

Elinor Lawless (born 23 April 1982) is a Northern Irish actress, known for portraying the role of Stevie Nash in the BBC medical drama series Casualty . Prior to her role in Casualty, Lawless appeared in various stage productions and BBC television series, including EastEnders and Doctors .

Contents

Early and personal life

Lawless was born in Draperstown, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. At the age of three, she was diagnosed with two cardiac conditions; a hole in her heart and anomalous pulmonary venous connection, where blood runs in the wrong direction. She spent a lot of time in hospitals as a child, and at seven, she had open-heart surgery in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. She had regular check-up appointments until the age of 21, when she was deemed healthy. [1] While attending St Mary's Grammar School in Magherafelt, she finished as runner-up in PricewaterhouseCoopers' award ceremony in the Leaders of Tomorrow category. [2] She then trained in acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and won the Peter Akerman Award for Best Comedy Actress. [3]

Lawless was married to fellow actor Peter Basham. [4] Lawless and Basham had a son in 2016. He was born premature, and due to weighing under 2.2 kilograms, he spent days in a specialist baby unit. On the experience, Lawless felt that she could now relate to her parents due to their stress over her condition as a child. Lawless also commended the National Health Service for their treatment of herself and her child. [1]

Career

Lawless made her professional screen debut in Poisoned (2013), a short film. [5] In 2015, alongside husband Basham, she starred in a production of Hansel and Gretel held at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. [4] Then from 2018 to 2019, she appeared in various BBC television series. These roles included an episode of Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators , [6] a recurring role as Laura in EastEnders , [7] and episodes of Casualty and Doctors . [8] In 2021, she returned to Doctors for one episode as Liv Keane, [9] before being cast as Stevie Nash in Casualty. Lawless felt "honoured" to be cast as a doctor on the series due to her appreciation for the NHS throughout her life. [1] For her portrayal of Stevie, she was nominated for Best Daytime Star at the 2022 Inside Soap Awards. [10]

Filmography

Film and television roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
2013PoisonedKateShort film
2018 Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Antigone CarterEpisode: "Outrageous Fortune"
2019 EastEnders Laura Recurring role
2019 Casualty Hollie Summer1 episode
2019 Doctors Yasmin MitchellEpisode: "I Feel Bad for My Neck"
2021Doctors Liv Keane Episode: "Only Connect"
2021–presentCasualty Stevie Nash Main role
Video game voice roles
YearTitleRole
2019 Jenny LeClue - Detectivú Various
2021 Forza Horizon 5 Ekaterina 'Katya' Kalemagina
2022 Babylon's Fall Corina's Mother

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResultRef.
UnknownPeter Akerman AwardsBest Comedy ActressHerselfWon [3]
2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers Leaders of TomorrowHerselfRunner-up [2]
2022 Inside Soap Awards Best Drama StarCasualtyNominated [10]
2023 TRIC Awards Soap ActorCasualtyNominated [11]
2023Inside Soap AwardsBest Drama StarCasualtyPending [12]

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References

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  12. "The Inside Soap Awards 2023 - cast your vote now!". Inside Soap . 4–10 July 2023.