Known For
Acting
Born
Jul 11, 1963
Place of Birth
Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK
Credits
79 titles
Michelle Fairley
Biography
Michelle Fairley (born 11 July 1963) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series Suits (2013), the Fox series 24: Live Another Day (2014), the RTÉ miniseries Rebellion (2016), the science fiction series The Feed (2019), and the Sky Atlantic crime drama Gangs of London (2020–). Fairley was born in Coleraine to parents Brian and Teresa Fairley, the second eldest of six children. Her father was a popular publican, owner of Fairley's Bar and several off-licences, in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, but Fairley remembers both Catholics and Protestants frequenting the pub. Fairley appeared in a number of British television shows, including The Bill, Holby City and Casualty. Some of her earlier roles were as Cathy Michaels on ITV1's Inspector Morse in the episode titled "The Way Through The Woods" and as Nancy Phelan in Lovejoy in the episode 9 of Season 3 titled "Smoke Your Nose". She took over the role of Mrs. Granger from Heather Bleasdale (who had played Mrs. Granger in Chamber of Secrets) in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films. From 2011 to 2013, Fairley starred as Catelyn Stark (née Tully) in the first three seasons of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, replacing Jennifer Ehle who played the character in the original, unaired, pilot episode. Fairley joined the cast of the USA Network series Suits for its third season, playing the recurring role of Dr. Ava Hessington, a chemical engineer and oil CEO accused of bribery, and after that, accused for murder. She played Margot Al-Harazi in 24: Live Another Day on Fox. Her film roles included The Invisible Woman (2013) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015). In 2014, Fairley was cast as Margaret Langston in the ABC TV Series Resurrection (2014-2015). In 2017, it was announced Fairley would appear in a revival of Jim Cartwright's play Road at the Royal Court Theatre In 2018, she played Cassius in Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, alongside David Calder, David Morrissey and Ben Whishaw. In 2019, Fairley led the Virgin Media and Amazon Prime science fiction series The Feed as Meredith Hatfield. As of June 2020, Fairley stars as Marian Wallace in the Sky Atlantic crime drama Gangs of London. She starred as Millie in the 2021 film Nobody Has To Know alongside Bouli Lanners. In 2023, Fairley starred as Princess Augusta in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story on Netflix. She also contributed to The Gone a TVNZ and RTE coproduction.
Known For
Filmography
No Ordinary Heist
Mags Fulton
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast
Margo
Whistle
Ivy Raymore
Nazis, U-boats and the Battle for the Atlantic
Narrator
Small Things Like These
Mrs. Wilson
The Trap
Michelle
The Gone
Judge Hannah Martin
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Princess Augusta
Untameable
Self
Nobody Has to Know
Millie
An Irish Goodbye
Grainne (voice)
The Road to Partition
Narrator
The Road to Partition
Narrator
Lesson 7
Max
Gangs of London
Marian Wallace
Responsible Child
Kerry
Lost Lives
Self (voice)
The Feed
Meredith Hatfield
The Trap
Michelle
Game of Thrones: The Last Watch
Self
To Provide All People
Intensive Care Nurse
National Theatre Live: Julius Caesar
Caius Cassius
The White Princess
Margaret Beaufort
Edith
Shelia
Rebellion
Dolly Butler
In the Heart of the Sea
Mrs. Nickerson
Fortitude
Freya Lennox
Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
Queen Igneous (voice)
Montana
DCI Rachel Jones
Common
Shelagh
Resurrection
Margaret Langston
Ironclad 2: Battle for Blood
Joan De Vesci
The Invisible Woman
Caroline Graves
Philomena
Sally Mitchell
Crossing Lines
Sophie Baines
The Rains of Castamere
Caitlyn Stark
Suits
Ava Hessington
Game of Thrones
Catelyn Stark
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Mrs. Granger
Chatroom
Rosie
Anton Chekhov's The Duel
Marya
Cup Cake
Annie McNabb
Misfits
Louise Young
Best: His Mother's Son
Ann Best
A Short Stay in Switzerland
Mrs. Savery
Lark Rise to Candleford
The Golden Hour
Julia Harper
Ahead of the Class
Sonia Venning
24
Margot Al-Harazi
The Others
Mrs. Marlish