Denise Gough

 ( Living People ) 

Denise Gough ( ; born 28 February 1980) is an Irish actress. On television, she is best known for her roles in the BBC Two crime drama Paula (2017), the ITV miniseries Too Close (2021) and the Disney+ series Andor (2022–2025). Her films include Colette (2018), The Other Lamb (2019), Monday (2020), and Martyrs Lane (2021). She has received a number of accolades, including two Laurence Olivier Awards as well as a nominations for a Tony Award and a British Academy Television Award.

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Early life Gough was born on 28 February 1980. Born in Wexford and raised in Ennis, County Clare, daughter of an electrician, Gough is the seventh of eleven siblings. One of her younger sisters is the actress Kelly Gough. Gough was raised as a Catholic Church.

She trained as a soprano before leaving Ireland for London at 15, with a boyfriend, after which she became homeless for a while. She started using alcohol and drugs to block out the experience of being Sexual grooming from the age of 13 and twice at 14 by "a man in his 20s"; she later stated that "At the time she thought it was love; now she knows it was child abuse."

She was awarded a grant to study at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) in Wandsworth aged 18, and graduated from ALRA in 2003.

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Theatre career In 2012, she was nominated for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her performances in Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms at the Lyric Hammersmith and Nancy Harris Our New Girl at the Bush Theatre. In January 2014 she was Julia in The Duchess of Malfi, the inaugural production at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London. At the National Theatre, London, in September 2015 she presented an "electrifying" performance as a recovering substance user in Duncan Macmillan's People, Places and Things, directed by Jeremy Herrin. She reprised the role when the production transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre in March 2016, and subsequently won the Olivier Award for Best Actress. She returned to the National Theatre in April 2017 playing the role of Harper in Marianne Elliot's revival of Tony Kushner's play Angels in America, for which she won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Gough then returned to People, Places & Things for its New York transfer. In February 2018, Gough returned to the role of Harper in the Broadway theatre transfer of the National Theatre's production of Angels in America, alongside the majority of the London cast.

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Acting credits

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Film

2007	Outlanders	Barmaid
2010	The Kid	Patsy
	Robin Hood	Village Mother
2014	The Quiet Roar	Research Assistant
	Jimmy's Hall	Tess
2018	Juliet, Naked	Gina
	Colette	Mathilde de Morny
2019	The Kid Who Would Be King	Mary
	The Other Lamb	Sarah
2020	Vores mand i Amerika	Charlotte Kauffmann
	Monday	Chloe
2021	Martyrs Lane	Sarah

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Television

2004	Casualty	Susan Parish	Episode: "Three's a Crowd"
2007	The Inspector Lynley Mysteries	Christine Faraday	Episode: "Limbo"
2008	The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall	Michelle	Documentary dramatization
2009	The Bill	Liz O'Halloran	Episode: "Lost Soul"
	Waking the Dead	Kathleen	Episodes: "Magdalene: Part I" and "Magdalene: Part II"
2010	Silent Witness	Danielle Boyce	Episodes: "Run: Part I" and "Run: Part II"
2011	Holby City	Mona Cadogan	Episode: "Culture Shock"
2012		Emily Hill	11 episodes
2013	What Remains	Liz Fletcher	4 episodes
	Complicit	Lucy	Television film
2014	Stella	Collette Jensen	8 episodes
	The Musketeers	Suzette	1 episode
2015	The Duchess of Malfi	Julia	Television film
2016	Apple Tree Yard	DS Johns	1 episode
	The Fall	Dr Alison Walden	2 episodes
2017	Guerrilla	Fallon	6 episodes
	Paula	Paula	3 episodes
2021	Too Close	Connie Mortensen	Miniseries, 3 episodes
2022	Under the Banner of Heaven	Dianna Lafferty	Miniseries; Main role
2022–2025	Andor	Dedra Meero	Main role, 20 episodes
2023	Who Is Erin Carter?	Lena	Main role, 6 episodes
2025	The Stolen Girl	Elisa Blix	Miniseries, 5 episodes

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Video games

2013		Catherine	Larian Studios	Voice
2015		Yennefer of Vengerberg	CD Projekt Red	Voice
		Alena	Omega Force	Voice
2016	Dragon Quest Heroes II			Voice

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Theatre

2004	By the Bog of Cats	Caroline Cassidy	Wyndham's Theatre London, England
	The Kindness of Strangers	Cheryl	Liverpool Everyman Liverpool, England
2006	Everything is Illuminated	Brod	Hampstead Theatre London, England
	O Go My Man	Elsa	Royal Court Theatre London, England
2007	Someone Else's Shoes	Mary	Soho Theatre London, England
2009	The Grouch	Celia	West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds, England
	Six Characters in Search of an Author	Stepdaughter	Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester, England
			Gielgud Theatre London, England
2009	The Birds	Julia	Gate Theatre Dublin, Ireland
2010	The Plough and the Stars	Nora Clitheroe	Abbey Theatre Dublin, Ireland
	Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train	Mary Jane Hanrahan	Trafalgar Studios London, England
2011	The Painter	Jenny Cole	Arcola Theatre London, England
2012	Our New Girl	Annie	Bush Theatre London, England
	Desire Under the Elms	Anna Putnam	Lyric Hammersmith London, England
2014	Adler and Gibb	Louise	Royal Court Theatre London, England
	The Duchess of Malfi	Julia	Sam Wanamaker Playhouse London, England
2015	People, Places and Things	Emma	Dorfman Theatre National Theatre London, England
2016			Wyndham's Theatre London, England
2024			Trafalgar Theatre London, England
2017	Angels in America	Harper Pitt	Lyttleton Theatre National Theatre London, England
	People, Places and Things	Emma	St. Ann's Warehouse New York City, NY, U.S.
2018	Angels in America	Harper Pitt	Neil Simon Theatre New York City, NY, U.S.
2022	Portia Coughlan	Portia Coughlan	Abbey Theatre Dublin, Ireland
2024	White Rabbit Red Rabbit		@sohoplace London, England

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Awards and nominations

2015	Evening Standard Theatre Award	Best Actress	People, Places and Things
	Critics' Circle Theatre Award	Best Actress
2016	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actress
	WhatsOnStage Award	Best Actress in a Play
2018	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play
	Obie Award	Performance
	Tony Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Angels in America
	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
	Theatre World Award
2022	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress	Too Close
	Peabody Award	Entertainment	Andor

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External links

Categories: Living People, 20th-century Irish Actresses, 21st-century Irish Actresses, Alumni Of The Academy Of Live And Recorded Arts, Irish Film Actresses, Irish Stage Actresses, Irish Television Actresses, Irish Video Game Actresses, Irish Voice Actresses, Laurence Olivier Award Winners, People From Ennis, Theatre World Award Winners, Actors From County Clare, Actors From County Wexford

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