Haiesha Mistry | |
|---|---|
 Mistry in 2023 | |
| Born | Haiesha Natwarlal Mistry 16 August 1993 Tameside, Lancashire, England |
| Alma mater | University of Salford |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2017–present |
| Television | Hollyoaks |
Haiesha Natwarlal Mistry (born 16 August 1993) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Yasmine Maalik in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2017 to 2024.
Mistry was born on 16 August 1993 in Tameside, Lancashire, and is of Indian descent. [1] [2] She attended Droylsden Academy and Clarendon Sixth Form College before going on to study performance and media practices, followed by drama and theatre at the University of Salford, graduating from the latter with a BA (Hons). [3] [4] She previously worked as a jobbing actor and worked five jobs to fund acting auditions. [5] [6] She has appeared in numerous stage productions including Climate of Fear, Mr and Mrs Khan, Michael Rosen's Bear Hunt Chocolate Cake and Bad Things Interactive Experience. [7]
In April 2017, Mistry joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks . Her character Yasmine Maalik was introduced as a "loud and flamboyant" teenager and following the announcement of her casting, Mistry said she was "so excited to be joining Hollyoaks as this [was her] first television credit" and that she was "looking forward to portraying [her] new character. [7] [8] [9] [10] A family was later built for the character, with the introduction of Yasmine's mother Misbah (Harvey Virdi), sister Farrah (Krupa Pattani) and brothers Imran (Ijaz Rana) and Sami (Rishi Nair). [11] [12] Mistry's character was part of a group self-harm storyline that won the British Soap Award for Best Single Episode in 2018. [13] Her other storylines on the show have included her character's Asian family being the target of a far right group, her marriage to Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins) and coming to terms with the rape of her mother, the latter of which she won Scene of The Year for alongside Virdi at the British Soap Awards in 2022. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] Mistry took a break from filming Hollyoaks in 2021 to star as Billy Jo in the short film Mug, directed by Jo Lane and produced by Daljinder Johal that is set to air in 2022. [20] [21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2024 | Hollyoaks | Yasmine Maalik | Regular role | [7] |
| 2022 | Mug | Billy Jo | Short film | [20] |
| Title | Ref(s) |
|---|---|
| Climate of Fear | [7] |
| Mr and Mrs Khan | [7] |
| Bear Hunt Chocolate Cake | [7] |
| Bad Things Interactive Experience | [7] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | British Soap Awards | Scene of the Year (with Harvey Virdi) | Hollyoaks | Won | [18] |
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but it has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has 37 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.
Harvey Virdi is a British actress of Indian descent. She trained at Academy Drama School in London.
Ste Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 10 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes. The following series producer Bryan Kirkwood decided to bring the character back on a permanent basis. As of 2010, Richardson has revealed that he is committed to staying in the serial. In April 2017, Richardson began taking hiatus from the show due to paternity leave, and made a full-time return on 18 December 2017. In October 2019, it was confirmed that Richardson will take a hiatus from the show departing on 20 November 2019. He returned on 3 November 2020.
Lucas Hay is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Oscar Curtis. Lucas is the son of Ste Hay and Amy Barnes, and the half-brother of Leah Barnes and Hannah Hay-O'Connor. He was born on-screen in episode 2530, originally broadcast on 3 April 2009. The character was of recurring status from 2009 to 2023, being portrayed by three different child actors, but the role was promoted to regular when the recast of Oscar Curtis was announced. Since the characters' recast, series producers Hannah Cheers and Angelo Abela placed Lucas at the forefront of a conversion therapy issue-based storyline that saw Lucas subsequently struggling to come to terms with his sexuality whilst being incorrectly influenced by his headteacher Carter Shepherd to hate homosexuality.
Diane Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alex Fletcher. The character made her first appearance on 1 September 2010. Diane was introduced into the series by Hollyoaks' executive producer Paul Marquess, during his rejuvenation of the show. Marquess axed numerous characters and replaced them with new families. Fletcher began filming in June 2010, the same month her casting was publicised. Diane was introduced with her husband, Rob and stepchildren, Sinead and Finn O'Connor. The O'Connors are one of three families that were introduced 2010. Diane is characterised as a "loving wife" and a "devoted stepmum". Fletcher initially hoped that Diane would be likeable, despite her over the top demeanour. Fletcher believed Diane has a good relationship with her step-children and was loathe to portray her as "the wicked stepmother".
Finn O'Connor is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Upon his introduction as part of the O'Connor family, the character was portrayed by Connor Wilkinson. The family were introduced during a "shake-up" of the show by new series producer Paul Marquess. Writers then placed Finn in an issue-led story exploring underage sex and teenage pregnancy with Amber Sharpe. The character was written out of the series in 2011.
Sally St. Claire is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Annie Wallace. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 29 October 2015 and Wallace is the first transgender person to play a regular transgender character in British soap opera. She was cast after the show held casting workshops to discover acting talent in the transgender community. Sally is characterised as a strict, "no-nonsense" headteacher who moves to Hollyoaks village to work at the local school. Hollyoaks' writers explored the character's transgender status and worked alongside equal rights group All About Trans, who consulted and advised to make the story realistic. In one surprise storyline, Sally is revealed to be the biological parent of John Paul McQueen. Sally's departure from the show was announced on 5 September 2024, and she made her final on-screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 11 September 2024.
Phoenix Hathaway is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Tylan Grant. Grant made his first appearance as the character in episode 4947, originally broadcast on 10 July 2018. Phoenix is initially introduced as Brooke, an autistic teenage girl who is fostered by the Osborne family. He was the first autistic regular character in a soap opera and Grant marked the first BAME actor to portray an autistic character in a television series. Phoenix's storylines in the soap have included being adopted by the Osbornes following the death of his mother, his relationships with Imran Maalik and Oliver Morgan, being bullied by Juliet Nightingale, becoming pregnant and putting his son up for adoption and coming to the realisation that he is non-binary, but later transitioning to a trans man and changing his name to Phoenix. Grant quit his role as Phoenix and made his final appearance on 31 January 2024, when Phoenix and Shing Lin Leong move to London.
Sid Sumner is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Billy Price, who made his first appearance on 9 May 2019. He is introduced as the son of recurring character Stuart Sumner and joins several established characters when he begins to attend Hollyoaks High. He initially appears as part of the show's high profile far-right extremism storyline in a guest role, but was promoted to a series regular after it concluded when the producers began to plot a year-long county lines drug trafficking storyline. He made an unannounced departure on 7 October 2022.
Cher McQueen is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Bethannie Hare. Cher is introduced as the estranged daughter of Sylver McQueen and is welcomed into the established McQueen family unit. Hare described her character as someone with attitude and strong family values, likening Cher to other McQueens on the soap. Portraying the role of Cher is Hare's first professional acting role and she admitted that she was initially nervous to join the cast of Hollyoaks, but accredited her co-stars with easing her nerves. She made her debut appearance as Cher on 1 June 2020. Her storylines in the seriew have included the revelation that she killed her younger sister, her tumultuous relationship with her stepmother Mercedes McQueen, her romantic relationship with Romeo Nightingale, learning that Romeo and Mercedes have been having an affair, a suicide attempt due to feeling isolated, and dealing with the death of her father Sylver in an explosion.
Juliet Nightingale is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Niamh Blackshaw. Hollyoaks announced the character and Blackshaw's casting on 4 September 2018, with the character making her first appearance as Juliet on 21 November 2018. Juliet was introduced as the half-sister of Romeo Nightingale and the daughter of Donna-Marie Quinn and was brought into the soap as part of the decision to expand their family. Juliet is later revealed to be Mac Nightingale's daughter. The shock twist links her to the established Nightingale family, especially Marnie, who she forms a close bond with. Juliet is initially shown to be an aggressive and harsh character, with an initial storyline seeing her bully Brooke Hathaway due to seeing them as an easy target. However, throughout her tenure, her vulnerable and emotional personality has been explored.
The 2022 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2021 and 2022. The ceremony was held on 11 June 2022 at the Hackney Empire theatre in Hackney, London, and was broadcast live on ITV, ITV Hub and STV.
Nathaniel Dass is a British actor, singer and musician. Dass played the main role of Nathaniel/Nate in the CBBC musical dramedy television series Almost Never, which ran for three seasons between 2019 and 2021. Since 2023, Dass has portrayed Dillon Ray in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, for which he was nominated for "Best Partnership" at the 2024 Inside Soap Awards.