Jo Hartley (born ) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Dead Man's Shoes'' (2004), ''

This Is England ''This Is England'' is a 2006 British coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. Its plot centres on young skinheads in England in 1983, illustrating how their subculture became influenced by far-right politics. The f ...

'' (2006), ''

The Young Victoria ''The Young Victoria'' is a 2009 British period drama, period drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes, based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert ...

'' (2009), '' Torvill & Dean'' (2018), '' Slaughterhouse Rulez'' (2018), '' Eddie the Eagle'' (2016), '' Sweetheart'' (2021), and '' Bank of Dave'' (2023). Television credits include '' This Is England '86'' (2010), ''

Not Safe For Work Not safe for work, also called not suitable for work (NSFW), is Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen viewing in a public, formal, or controlled environment. The ...

'' (2015), '' In My Skin'' (2018), '' After Life'' (2019–2022), '' Mandy'' (2021), ''

Das Boot (; ) is a 1981 West Germany, West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. An Film adaptation, adaptation of Lothar-Günthe ...

'' (2022), '' Death In Paradise'' (2023), ''

Passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

'' (2024), and ''

Adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

'' (2025).

Early life and education

Hartley was born in the

Metropolitan Borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, Greater Manchester, England, and brought up in a working-class family, attending North Chadderton School in

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. The ...

, in Oldham. She started acting at the age of 11 in her school production of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' as Gretel Von Trappe. She joined Oldham Theatre Workshop, developing her acting skills until the age of 17, when she stopped acting to work at

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

on a

Youth Training Scheme The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17 and was managed by the Manpower Services Commission. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980 white paper ''A N ...

. She worked as a secretary there for two years before leaving to join

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

as a

flight attendant A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

. In her mid-twenties, Hartley left the aviation industry to pursue a career as an actor. Hartley returned to England, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

studying at the Questors Theatre in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, where she studied

method acting Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...

and

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing ...

until landing her first film role in 2004.

Career

Hartley had her debut film role in the 2004

Shane Meadows Shane Meadows (born 26 December 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in independent film, most notably the cult film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its three sequels (2010–2015). Meadows' other films inc ...

directed Crime Drama Thriller film '' Dead Man's Shoes'' as 'Marie'. She went on to appear in many British productions, including films such as ''

Northern Soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

'' and '' Me and Her'' both in 2004; ''Terra Firma'' and ''Flushed'' in 2008; and ''The Crossing'', ''Janet and Bernard'' and ''I Don't Care'' in 2014. Hartley has been a character actor in many TV films and TV series since 2004, with her most notable roles in '' This Is England '86'', '' This Is England '88'' and '' This Is England '90'', the follow-on TV mini-series to the film. In movies Hartley has appeared in ''

'' (2006) as Cynthia, and the feature film ''

'' in 2009, with

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Emily Blunt, several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition t ...

and

Rupert Friend Rupert William Anthony Friend (born October 1981) is a British actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in ''The Libertine (2004 film), The Libertine'' (2004) and ''Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for ...

. In 2016 Hartley appeared as Janette, Eddie's mother in the film '' Eddie the Eagle'' appearing alongside Taron Egerton and

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

. She co-starred in the David Cross series ''

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...

'' opposite

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...

as one of two partners of a fraudulent

travel writer The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...

. Hartley also appeared in the comedy horror film '' Slaughterhouse Rulez'', alongside Asa Butterfield and

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

. After a successful pilot episode, Hartley played the role of Bethan's mum, Katrina, who suffers from

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

in the BBC series '' In My Skin'' which aired on BBC1 in 2020. In April 2020, Hartley returned as June in the second series of

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

's '' After Life''. In January 2021, Hartley joined the Rising Star Award jury of the EE

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

to select the shortlist for the 2021 award, alongside

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (; ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. List of awards and nominations received by Alicia Vikander, Her accolades include an Academy Award and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film ...

, Naomi Ackie and several other prominent figures of the industry. In November 2021, Hartley was nominated for the BIFA for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Tina in the Marley Morrison directed British drama film '' Sweetheart''. In December 2021, Hartley had a guest-role appearance in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's '' Mandy'' Christmas special—''We Wish You A Mandy Christmas'' alongside

Diane Morgan Diane Morgan (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She is notable for portraying Philomena Cunk on the review programme '' Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe'' (2013–2020), the mockumentary series '' Cunk on Britain'' (2 ...

and

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, angry comedic rants, and use of surreal humour. Ve ...

. In 2022, Hartley landed a recurring role in four episodes of series 3, of the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

series ''Das Boot'', alongside Tom Wlaschiha. In 2023, Hartley starred as 'Nicola', wife of Burnley banker Dave Fishwick (played by Rory Kinnear) in the film '' Bank of Dave'', released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in January 2023. In April 2024, Hartley played the lead character in the British comedy film '' Swede Caroline''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

Jo Hartley
at Contactmusic * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Jo 1972 births Living people 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Oldham English film actresses English television actresses People educated at North Chadderton School