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Rachel Leskovac

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Rachel Leskovac
Born
Rachel Leskovac

(1976-06-05) 5 June 1976 (age 48)
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Alma materLiverpool Institute for Performing Arts
OccupationActress
Years active1999–present
TelevisionHolby City
Coronation Street
Hollyoaks
Waterloo Road

Rachel Leskovac (born 5 June 1976) is an English actress and singer.[1] She is known for portraying the roles of Kelly Yorke in the BBC One medical drama series Holby City (2003–2004), Natasha Blakeman in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2008–2010, 2020–2021), and Joanne Cardsley in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2015–2016). In 2022, she joined the revival of the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road as English teacher Coral Walker. She has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.[1]

Early life

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Leskovac was born in Bradford, England. Her mother is English and her father is of Croatian descent.[2] Leskovac has a younger sister, Sophie, and an older sister, Kate. Leskovac attended St Joseph's Catholic College in Bradford and during her youth was a member of local theatre group Scala Kids. She later trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, graduating in 1998.[3]

Acting career

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Leskovac received critical acclaim for her performance as the young Viv in the musical Spend Spend Spend and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical at the 2000 Laurence Olivier Awards.[1] She played serial killer nurse Kelly Yorke on Holby City. In 2003, she played Ciara Pickering in the fourth series of At Home with the Braithwaites.[4] In 2006, she also starred in a TV movie called Losing Gemma for Granada TV. In April 2008, Leskovac was signed up to play Natasha Blakeman, a hairdresser on the ITV soap Coronation Street. She left the soap in 2010.[5] In July 2020, it was announced that Leskovac would be reprising her role as Natasha, [6] In 2021, Leskovac left Coronation Street as Natasha died from accidentally getting shot.

Leskovac played Margaret, sister of Betty in the 1950s drama A Passionate Woman alongside Billie Piper in 2010.[7] In 2011, Leskovac starred in an episode of the Sky 1 sitcom Trollied as Leanne the deputy manager who was on maternity leave. In 2012, Leskovac played teacher Lara Heaton in the Channel 4 TV comedy drama series Shameless, and she played Karen, a beauty therapist, in an episode of the Jimmy McGovern drama series Accused. In 2013, she appeared in Last Tango in Halifax before returning to the role in 2020. In 2014, she played Susie Nightingale in the second series of WPC 56.[8] She also appeared in the 2014 crime drama Happy Valley as Julie, the wife of drug dealer-turned-kidnapper Ashley Cowgill.[9] In 2015, she returned to the role of Susie in the third series of WPC 56. In September 2015, she joined the cast of teenage soap opera Hollyoaks as regular Joanne Cardsley. Leskovac received critical acclaim for her role in Hollyoaks. She left the role in December 2016 concluding a dramatic storyline with her.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 Dead Clever Karen Television film
2013 Bollywood Carmen Kylie Television film
2015 The Mark Jen

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1999 Heartbeat Record Shop Assistant Episode: "Puppet on a String"
2000 North Square Celia Winterburn Episode: "The Big Cheese"
2001 Peak Practice Dionne Harrison Episode: "Together We Stand"
In Deep Elaine Episode: "Blue on Blue"
2002 Heartbeat Pinky Parkinson Episode: "The Shoot"
Where the Heart Is Bella Scott Recurring role; 6 episode
Casualty Molly Blythe Episode: "Innocence"
2003 Red Cap Rita Woolf Episode: "Crush"
At Home with the Braithwaites Ciara Pickering Recurring role; 5 episodes
2003–2004 Holby City Kelly Yorke Series regular; 26 episodes
2004 Outlaws Sheila Mole Episode: "A Dying Breed"
2005 The Last Detective Princess Episode: "Friends Reunited"
Doctors Jodie Stevens Episode: "A World of Their Own"
2006 Losing Gemma Gemma Miniseries; 2 episodes
2007 The Royal Marie Beattie Recurring role; 4 episodes
2008–2010, 2020-2021 Coronation Street Natasha Blakeman Series regular; 185 episodes
2010 A Passionate Woman Margaret Miniseries; 1 episodes
2011 Trollied Leanne Episode: "Series 1, Episode 2"
2012 Shameless Lara Heaton Recurring role; 2 episodes
Secrets and Words Sylvia Episode: "Help Me If You Can"
Accused Karen Episode: "Tracie's Story"
2013 Moving On Sam Episode: "Friends Like These"
Law & Order: UK Amanda Tyler Episode: "Tracks"
2013–2020 Last Tango in Halifax Cheryl Recurring role; 5 episodes
2014 Happy Valley Julie Mulligan Recurring role; 3 episodes
2014–2015 WPC 56 Susie Nightingale Series regular; 10 episodes
2015–2016 Hollyoaks Joanne Cardsley Series regular; 69 episodes
2018 Creeped Out June Episode: "The Traveller"
2020 All Creatures Great and Small Southwick Episode: "All's Fair"
2023–present Waterloo Road Coral Walker Series regular

Theatre

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Year Title Role Theatre Notes
2024-2025 Spend Spend Spend Viv Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester 23 November 2024 - 11 January 2025

References

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  1. ^ a b c "20 Questions With...Rachel Leskovac". What's On Stage. 11 March 2002. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Rachel Leskovac profile". Interview. Digital Spy. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  3. ^ "From the West End to Weatherfield". See Me Now: Graduate Newsletter. Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts. Summer 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Corrie actress comes to Barnsley for stage role". The Star. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  5. ^ "A new Corrie crimper arrives in the Street". Corrie Blog. 24 April 2008. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  6. ^ "Natasha Blakeman is Back!". www.itv.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  7. ^ Clayton, Emma (8 April 2010). "Bradford actors join a big-name cast in writer Kay Mellor's moving family drama". Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. ^ BBC One – WPC 56
  9. ^ Griffiths, Kathy (2 June 2014). "Head to Happy Valley for one last time". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
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