Lauren Marie Socha (born 9 June 1990) is an English actress. She rose to prominence during her role as Kelly Bailey in the E4

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series ''

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

'', for which she won a

BAFTA TV Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

in the Best Supporting Actress category. She is also known for her role in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

television film ''

The Unloved ''The Unloved'' is a British television film starring Molly Windsor, Robert Carlyle, Susan Lynch and Lauren Socha. It is about an eleven-year-old girl called Lucy (Windsor) growing up in a children's home in the UK's care system, and shown th ...

''.

Early life

Socha was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

to Robert and Kathleen (née Lyons) Socha. Her mother is English and her father was British of Polish/Italian parents. She has an older brother,

Michael Socha Michael Robert Socha (born 13 December 1987) is an English actor, known for his roles in the films ''This Is England'' and ''Summer'', and the television series ''This Is England '86'', '' '88'', '' '90'', '' Being Human'', '' Once Upon a Time ...

, also an actor. She attended St. George's RC Primary School,

Burton College Burton and South Derbyshire College is a college located in Burton upon Trent in England. Early in 2011 the college was renamed from "Burton College". Courses Burton and South Derbyshire College has a variety of course types, including: *Acce ...

and St. Benedict's Catholic School and Performing Arts College, Derby. She trained at the Central Junior Television Workshop based in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

Career

Socha was first recognised by agents and casting directors when she attended a local drama workshop, having been inspired by her older brother. This led to her being cast as the lead in the

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

' video for their 2006 single " When the Sun Goes Down" at the age of 15. In 2009, Socha went on to star in

Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two ...

's directorial debut ''

'' in which she played a sixteen-year-old girl in a care home. She was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role. A week later she auditioned for the role of Kelly Bailey in British comedy drama ''

'' and got the part. In 2010, Socha starred alongside

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

in the short film ''Missing''. She also had a minor role in the television mini-series ''

Five Daughters ''Five Daughters'' is a British television drama miniseries starring Ian Hart, Sarah Lancashire, Jaime Winstone and Juliet Aubrey. Set in 2006, it is about the five victims of the Ipswich serial murders and how the crime affected their fam ...

'', based on the

Ipswich serial murders The Ipswich serial murders, commonly known as the work of the Suffolk Strangler, took place between 30 October and 10 December 2006, during which time the bodies of five murdered sex workers were discovered at different locations near Ipswich, S ...

. In May 2011, she won a BAFTA in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role of Kelly in ''Misfits''. Socha was nominated for Outstanding Actress in the fiction category at the

Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony inaugurates each new edition, introdu ...

in 2011. She later appeared in the short ''The Child'', playing a version of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. She also took part in the BBC learning project "Off By Heart Shakespeare" where she played

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist ...

from ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'', performing the speech: "Blistered be thy tongue". She also appeared in five episodes of ''Catastrophe'' as the babysitter and in 2017 and 2020 played one of the sisters in comedy series '' The Other One''.

Personal life

Socha lives in Derby. She has three tattoos: three stars on her neck, a bow on her back and her initials with a star on her wrist, which her parents allowed her to have done. Her brother,

, is also an actor. In April 2016, it was announced via Twitter that she had given birth to a girl.

Criminal conviction

On 23 January 2012, it was reported that Socha had been charged with racially aggravated assault in connection with an incident involving a Derby taxi driver the previous October.'Misfits' Lauren Socha sentenced over racist attack on taxi driver
Digital Spy, 2 May 2012 On 2 May 2012, Socha pleaded guilty to the charge, and was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months. The taxi driver had an eight-minute voice recording of Socha's rant, and said to reporters after the verdict: "She called me a P***, a dirty b****** and said: 'You're Asian, f*** off back to where you came from.' She said: 'Do you know who I am? I'll have your family lifted.'"
The Independent, 2 May 2012

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Socha, Lauren 1990 births 21st-century English actresses Living people English film actresses English television actresses Actresses from Derbyshire Alumni of Burton College People from Derby People convicted of racial hatred offences English people convicted of assault English people of Portuguese descent British people convicted of hate crimes Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners English people of Italian descent English people of Polish descent