Michelle Fairley

Known for ActingBorn 1963-07-11 (age 63)Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Life After Life

Game of Thrones

Lark Rise to Candleford

Vicious Circle

Suits

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

To Provide All People

In Deep

Gangs of London

Births, Marriages and Deaths

Force of Duty

The White Princess

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

24

Misfits

National Theatre Live: Julius Caesar

The Others

Edith

Silent Witness

The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling

Philomena

Ahead of the Class

Midsomer Murders

Resurrection

The Gone

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast

Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero

Lovejoy

Game of Thrones: The Last Watch

Rebellion

Screen Two

A Short Stay in Switzerland

Safe And Sound

Nobody Has to Know

In the Heart of the Sea

Cardiac Arrest

Fortitude

The Long Roads

The Feed

Rebus

Small Things Like These

4 Play

An Irish Goodbye

Hidden Agenda

Crossing Lines

No Ordinary Heist

The Broker's Man

Responsible Child