Keeley Hawes is the go-to star for prestige British drama.
Her next TV hit? Playing a lovestruck nun, says Laura Craik
PHOTOGRAPHS OTTO MASTERS
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Published on 13th April 2026
GOING MAKE-UP FREE
DOESN’T FEEL BRAVE TO ME
Blazer, £3,046, bra, £1,305, and skirt, £1,044 all Givenchy; necklace, £170,000, Jessica McCormack; earrings, £150, Otiumberg
KEELY HAWES
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POWER PLAYER
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If there’s one thing people love more than watching TV, it’s talking about what they’ve watched on TV. We trade recommendations like gold bars, because a good TV show feels just as precious. In the pantheon of recommendations, ‘it’s got Keeley Hawes in it’ is unimpeachable. Like a kitemark in human form, if Hawes is in it, you know it’s going to be good.
Now 50 (‘It’s a good decade – I feel great!’ she tells me), her CV reads like a list of the nation’s favourite shows: Spooks, Line Of Duty, Ashes To Ashes, Bodyguard, The Durrells, It’s A Sin…In a career spanning three decades, she’s played assassins, detectives, MPs, matriarchs and queens, but her latest role is a first for her: a nun. Starring opposite Paapa Essiedu as Sister Anna in Channel 4’s upcoming drama Falling, the six-part series is penned by Jack Thorne – his first since 2025’s multi-award winning Adolescence. ‘That was a no-brainer before I’d even read the script,’ she says. ‘Unbelievably for someone who’s so prolific, he’d never written a love story before. I thought the story was absolutely beautiful.’
The plot follows a nun who meets a priest, he brushes her hand, and she immediately falls in love with him. It would spoil things to reveal more, but there’s no spoiler in describing how disconcertingly nun-like Hawes appears. Even her skin looks waxy beneath her wimple, as though it’s barely seen the light of day. ‘It felt a bit like a costume drama, partly because we were wearing robes,’ she says. ‘They were actually very freeing. It’s quite a lovely thing to forget about anything to do with vanity. There’s no vanity in [Sister] Anna.’
You could say the same about Hawes, an actor who has never been afraid to go barefaced, whether as a nun or as DI Lindsay Denton in Line Of Duty, a performance that saw her make-up-free face draw almost as much praise as her acting. I joke that some critics will likely call her ‘brave’ all over again when Falling airs. ‘Oh, they will call me brave,’ she laughs. ‘But it doesn’t feel brave to me. I go make-up free now in a way that I wouldn’t have done when I was younger. And also I probably look much better going make-up free. It’s confidence, isn’t it? I mean, I love make-up. It really has its place and can do wonders, on screen and off. But I just love having a clean face.’
She also loves having a mobile one and agrees that, as an actor, it’s useful to be able to emote, instead of freezing yourself out of the ability to express much. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it, because now more and more people are doing those things, and having tweakments and treatments. I love a derma-pen and I love to make my skin feel really healthy. But there’s quite a lot of people saying women shouldn’t do this [have surgery], and it’s quite clear that they’ve done it themselves. That sucks.’ It gives young women unrealistic expectations, I suggest. ‘Young women and older women, who are thinking, “Why don’t I look like that?”’
Hawes is not religious, ‘but I can appreciate that people find comfort in it. There are times in your life where that would be something to lean into, which I don’t have. But I have my family, so I lean into that instead.’ She and her husband, actor Matthew Macfadyen, met on the set of Spooks in 2002 and celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary this year. They worked together on 2023 show Stonehouse – would she work with him again? ‘I’d love to work with my husband!’ she exclaims. ‘I love my husband. I love working with my husband.’ Do they read each other’s scripts? ‘Yes. He’s got excellent taste.’
Left: Blazer, £740, and trousers, £550, both Armani; shirt, £395, Laura Pitharas; top, £60, Skims; earrings, £150, Otiumberg
Right: Dress, £320, Akyn; necklace, £11,845, Fope
With a slew of awards for playing Tom Wambsgans in Succession, Macfadyen and Hawes are inevitably referred to as a power couple, a descriptor that makes her guffaw. ‘Do you ever feel like a power anything? Not really. You just feel like two people talking about who’s going to get the dry-cleaning.’
Of her three grown-up children (she shares a 25-year-old son, Myles, with Spencer McCallum, as well as daughter Maggie, 21, and son Ralph, 19, with Macfadyen) only Ralph wants to follow in his parents’ footsteps. ‘He’s just got into drama school,’ she beams. ‘I’ve got a primary schoolteacher, a hair and make-up artist and – hopefully – an actor.’
Hawes doesn’t come from a family of actors (her father was a black cab driver) but, when the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School moved premises and sprung up opposite her London home, her seven-year-old self must have taken it as a sign. She received a grant to attend and is now an ambassador for The Feathers Association, a youth charity that began in her local community centre. Does she consider acting still to be a predominantly middle-class profession? ‘I’m not sure about that. I do think it’s changing.’
PRODUCING TV ISN’T GLAM – IT’S VERY DIFFERENT TO MY DAY JOB
KEELY HAWES
Hawes doesn’t come from a family of actors (her father was a black cab driver) but, when the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School moved premises and sprung up opposite her London home, her nine-year-old self must have taken it as a sign. She received a grant to attend and is now an ambassador for The Feathers Association, a youth charity that began in her local community centre. Does she consider acting still to be a predominantly middle-class profession? ‘I’m not sure about that. I do think it’s changing.’
She also thinks roles for midlife women are improving. ‘You only have to look at the [most recent] BAFTA nominations to see how things have changed.’ She’s delighted that there are more women working behind the scenes as well. ‘It makes such a difference. If you look at a set 10 years ago and then the one I’m on now, [filming season two of The Assassin], the difference is mindblowing.’
Left: Jacket, £1,990, and jeans, £590, both Stella McCartney; top, £175, Wolford; shoes, £480, Aeyde
Right: Coat, £2,495, and trousers, £895, both Roksanda; shirt, £170, Marina Rinaldi; earrings, £5,500, Lucy Delius
In 2019, Hawes founded her own production company, which has so far yielded Honour, about the real-life honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, black comedy Finding Alice and BBC thriller Crossfire. ‘I want to tell women’s stories – human stories – but developing is very hard. Producing is not glamorous, it’s very different from my day job.’ She’s tight-lipped about her next project, which has been in development for six years. ‘I don’t want to jinx it.’
What does she look for in the scripts she’s sent? ‘Readability. You start reading it like a book. It’s almost like having a chemical reaction.’ Are there any red flags that would preclude her from signing on to a project? ‘Um… there are a couple of actors…’
As for whether longevity such as hers has been obtained through good fortune or hard work, she reckons it’s a bit of both. ‘I think it’s making very conscious choices about what you do, plus a little bit of luck. Nobody knows the recipe for a hit – you just don’t know. But I look at people like Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench, and they’re in it for the craft. Ethan Hawke was talking recently about the difference between British and American actors, and how American actors now go in, at a very young age, and start their brand almost immediately. They’re looking for that contract. British actors go in and do a load of theatre. It’s a totally different approach, with all the building blocks that you need. I wish I’d done more theatre.’
It’s not too late, I say. She smiles and agrees, ‘It’s not too late!’
‘Falling’ starts on Channel 4 in May