Ashling O'Shea

Ashling O'Shea is a British-Irish actress. She initially completed a university degree in Theatre Studies with the intention of going into Theatre Therapy. O'Shea then trained and took acting classes whilst doing other jobs, and she began working with Little Fish Theatre, who gave her first acting role outside of university. From 2015 to 2021, O'Shea performed in various stage productions, including My Name is Rachel Corrie, Keeping Faith, Dear Children, Sincerely, Eris and Run(a)way, among others. O'Shea appeared in the short film Screening (2017) and made a guest appearance in the web series Bed&Bridget (2019). In 2021, she had a guest role in Temple and that same year she portrayed Ismene in the digital production of Antigone. O'Shea was also cast as Rumi Joshi, a main character of the eight-part television series Rebel Cheer Squad, which was released in 2022. From 2022 to 2024, O'Shea portrayed regular character Nadira Valli on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Following her departure from the soap, O'Shea performed in The Lesson at Theatre503 in early 2024, and she will also play Ursula Wilson in the upcoming television series The Crow Girl.

Career
From a young age, O'Shea loved acting and wanted to be an actor, but did not think it was likely to happen. She went to complete a degree in Theatre Studies at university and was planning to go into Theatre therapy. O'Shea then began acting professionally and trained on the job, taking affordable acting classes whilst also working other jobs. In 2022, O'Shea explained in an interview that she did not train in a "traditional sense", and believed that part-time courses and young companies are "amazing" for people who wish to "hone their craft in a more financially viable way". O'Shea began working with Little Fish Theatre, which she continued to work with as of 2022. The company gave O'Shea her first acting role outside of university. O'Shea praised the company, referring to it as her "industry support system and lifelong friends" that "not only emboldened me as a performer but nurtured me into a workshop facilitator".

In 2015, O'Shea portrayed the lead role of Rachel Corrie in the play My Name is Rachel Corrie, which was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The following year, O'Shea portrayed Sahira in a Rehearsed Reading at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Between 2017 and 2021, O'Shea performed in various theatre productions, including Keeping Faith, Dear Children, Sincerely, A Family Affair, Eris, A Missed Call Away and Chameleon, among others. The Irish play Eris was one of O'Shea's favourite theatre productions, due to being half-Irish herself and also because it was performed at one of O'Shea's favourite theatres. In 2017, O'Shea portrayed Anna in the short film Screening, and she later played Cleo in one episode of the 2019 web series Bed&Bridget.

O'Shea made a guest appearance in the second series of the British medical crime drama Temple, which aired in 2021. That same year, O'Shea portrayed Ismene in Exeter Northcott Theatre's digital production adaptation of Antigone. O'Shea was also cast as a main character, Rumi Joshi, on the British teen thriller Rebel Cheer Squad, a sequel to Get Even. The drama consisted of eight episode, which premiered on BBC iPlayer on 8 February 2022. The series was filmed at Bolton School. O'Shea enjoyed playing Rumi, calling her the "clown" of the group, and O'Shea thought of her co-stars as a "little family", adding that she had "never fallen in love with a group of people" like she did on that show.

In March 2022, it was announced that O'Shea had joined the cast of the British soap opera Hollyoaks as Nadira Valli, a matchmaker and love interest and old childhood friend for Shaq Qureshi (Omar Malik). O'Shea called joining the soap a "surreal" experience, explaining, "I've grown up watching the show, and their hard-hitting storylines, so it's a privilege as an actor to be able to be a part of that legacy". O'Shea described Nadira as having "huge heart, a sarcastic mouth and a lot going on in her mind", and she was excited for viewers to get to know her. O'Shea also explained that she was enjoying working with Malik, saying that they "clicked" from the moment they met. O'Shea related to the character and was happy to be making the representation onscreen more authentic, adding that as a kid she would not have believed that she would see a "Brown Queer woman playing a Brown Queer character on a national TV show".



O'Shea made her first appearance as Nadira on 24 March of that year. During O'Shea's time on the soap, Nadira's storylines on the soap have included her engagement to Shaq, an affair with Juliet Nightingale (Niamh Blackshaw), being outed on her wedding day, a romantic relationship with Lacey Lloyd (Annabelle Davis), being manipulated by Rayne Royce (Jemma Donovan), becoming a suspect in Rayne's murder and having a fling with Camilla Bassington-Hart (Dylan Morris). O'Shea also portrayed Nadira in a special Hollyoaks episode focussing on LGBTQ+ solidarity, which was broadcast in November 2023. Speaking about the episode, O'Shea explained in an interview, "As a Queer Brown woman, I'm very aware that my moments of joy and safety are a result of people before me fighting, I owe that same fight to the people around me and the people that come after me. I'm proud of Hollyoaks for shedding some light on this and encouraging us all to look into the experiences of people outside of our own echo chamber." O'Shea, alongside her co-star Davis, later departed Hollyoaks and last appeared on 10 January 2024, with her exit not being announced beforehand. Nadira's exit storyline saw the character reunite with Lacey and move to Norwich with her. O'Shea was happy that Nadira had a "happy ending" as she felt that the character had been in a vulnerable position and grieved a lot during her time on the soap. When reporting on the departure, Asyia Iftikhar from PinkNews called Nadira and Lacey an "important LGBTQ+ couple".

Following her departure from Hollyoaks, O'Shea returned to theatre and portrayed "confident" character Kayleigh in The Lesson, which was performed at Theatre503 in early 2024. O'Shea will also portray Ursula Wilson in the upcoming television series The Crow Girl.

Personal life
O'Shea is half Irish and also of Sri Lankan descent. O'Shea identifies as Queer. O'Shea enjoys cooking and considers herself a foodie, explaining that she loves eating but that "just spending a few hours in the kitchen can completely turn around any bad mood for me. It's my me-time". O'Shea also enjoys spending time and having conversations with other people.