Tala Helen Gouveia (born 13 February 1988) is a British actress, best known for playing DCI Lauren McDonald in the ITV crime drama '' McDonald & Dodds'' (2020–2024).

Early life

Gouveia was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. The daughter of two theatre actors, Gouveia trained at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

Career

Her first TV job was a small role in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' from 2011 to 2013 as Nurse Green. Between March 2020 and August 2024, Gouveia played DCI McDonald in the

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

-set ITV police drama '' McDonald & Dodds'' opposite

Jason Watkins Jason Peter Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Bes ...

as mismatched detectives and an array of guest stars including

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. He was appointed Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order ...

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a ...

and Robert Lindsay. She has also appeared as Gemma Murphy in the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

drama ''

Cold Feet ''Cold Feet'' is a British comedy-drama television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The series was created and principally written by Mike Bullen as a follow-up to his 1997 Comedy Premieres, Comedy ...

'', the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

' children's series '' Go Jetters'', and the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

2018 Christmas show '' Click & Collect''. Gouveia also has credits for the 2019 film ''Before We Grow Old'' and has provided the regular voice of Cleo Farr in the animated series ''Scream Street'' alongside the likes of

Jim Howick James Howick (born 14 May 1979) is an English actor and writer, known for his appearances in television series such as ''Sex Education'', ''Peep Show'', '' Stag'', and '' Here We Go'', as well as his ongoing association with the creative collect ...

, Tyger Drew-Honey,

Debra Stephenson Deborah Lee Duffield (' Stephenson; born 4 June 1972), known professionally as Debra Stephenson, is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer, best known for her roles as Diane Powell in '' Playing the Field'' (1999–2000), Shell ...

and John Thomson.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gouveia, Tala 1988 births Living people Actresses from Nottingham 21st-century English actresses Black British actresses English television actresses