CV: Gina McKee

Gina, 54, is back on our screens, playing counterterrorism boss Commander Anne Sampson in Bodyguard (9pm, BBC1). Here, we look at her career so far…

Teenage kicks: Born in Peterlee, County Durham, in 1964, Gina fell into acting when she joined a local youth drama workshop, and was spotted by an ITV producer who had dropped by to see a play she was in. As a result, she got her first professional job at the age of 13, starring as Jane in the 1979 children’s drama series Quest

Of Eagles. By the time she was 15, she had moved to London and was working with the National Youth Theatre.

Northern soul: Despite being rejected by three of the main drama schools, Gina started to get small TV roles, but it wasn’t until she was 31 that she became a household name, playing Mary in the hit drama series Our Friends In The North, alongside Christopher Eccleston, Mark Strong and Daniel Craig; in 1997, she won a Best Actress Bafta for her performance. Other television work includes The Forsyte Saga (2002-03), The

Street (2007), Waking The Dead (2009), The Silence (2010), Vera (2011), The Borgias

(2011-13), Hebburn (2012-13) and, of course, Line Of Duty series one (2012) – the first time she worked with Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio. Silver screen: Alongside her stage work, Gina’s films have included The Lair Of

The White Worm (1988), The Rachel

Papers (1989), Croupier (1998),

Notting Hill, Wonderland (both 1999), Atonement (2007), In The Loop (2009) and Phantom Thread (2017).