Lauren McQueen

Lauren Louise McQueen (born 12 July 1996) is an English actress. She gained prominence through her role as Lily Drinkwell on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2017–2019), for which she won two British Soap Awards. Her films include The Wasting (2017).

Early life and education
McQueen is from Fazakerley, a suburb in north Liverpool. She attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School in Aintree and then St John Bosco Arts College in Croxteth. She took classes with Elliott-Clarke Performing Arts from the age of five and later Allstars Casting.

Career
McQueen's first credited acting role was as Yasmin Goody on the BBC One miniseries Good Cop. She then appeared as Alison on the Christmas-comedy drama Little Crackers.

In 2013, McQueen appeared as Rachel in the CBBC musical-comedy show 4 O'Clock Club for four episodes as a love interest to the main character, Josh. She subsequently played Molly in the Channel 4 series The Mill and Amelie in the BBC One drama Ordinary Lies. McQueen made her feature film debut starring as Shelly in The Violators, for which she was awarded Best Actress at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival. Also in 2016, McQueen portrayed Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (Richard Ridgins) in an episode of the docuseries Six Wives with Lucy Worsley. She starred as Sophie in the 2017 British-Canadian film-drama The Wasting.

On 22 December 2016, it was announced McQueen had been cast as Lily Drinkwell, Diane O'Connor's (Alex Fletcher) niece, in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. She made her first onscreen appearance on 6 January 2017. McQueen's character was involved in a relationship with Prince McQueen (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and a self-harming storyline, on which McQueen worked with the charities Samaritan and Mind for an accurate portrayal. The storyline won Best Storyline and Best Single Episode in the British Soap Awards 2018. McQueen exited the soap in 2019.

After leaving Hollyoaks, McQueen appeared in the second series of Bulletproof on Sky One as Chantel. In 2024, McQueen has roles in the Apple TV+ war miniseries Masters of the Air, the MGM+ period drama Belgravia: The Next Chapter, and the American drama film Here.