ITV’s brand new thriller series Red Eye, starring Lesley Sharp as Madeline Delaney, Director General of MI5, kicked off at the weekend.
The celebrated actress made her TV comeback in a bombshell role for the edgy six-part crime drama alongside Fool Me Once star Richard Armitage and Crazy Rich Asians’s Jing Lusi.
Here we take a closer look at the actress’ life off-screen.
CHILDHOOD
Lesley previously opened up about being adopted when she was only six weeks old.
The star revealed that her adoptive mother sadly passed away when she was 15 years old, but admitted to having a solid relationship with her adoptive father.
She previously told The Telegraph: “He was enormously proud and supportive in a quiet, hands-off sort of way.”
When asked about her mother, she explained: “I wish I’d known her, really! You know, when you get asked those questions: who would you have had at your fantasy dinner party? Definitely, my mum.”
However, Lesley admitted that the grief she experienced motivated her to begin her acting career after she found an outlet in a local drama club.
The 64-year-old explained how her drama coach at the time noticed she was struggling to process her grief.
She said: “Without being overly sympathetic, without asking too much about that stuff, she saw what a relief it was for me to turn up there on Wednesday evenings.”
TV CAREER
The BAFTA-nominated actress is renowned for acclaimed roles in Scott and Bailey, Before We Die and Afterlife.
Manchester native Lesley has also played villain Rosalind Hale in the Netflix series Fate: The Winx Saga and often starred alongside Hollywood A-listers, including Vera Drake with Imelda Staunton and Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect.
Now, she is starring in ITV’s Red Eye, where the plot follows Dr Matthew Nolan (Richard), a British surgeon arrested at Heathrow Airport after returning from a medical conference in China.
The doctor becomes frighteningly close to dying in a car crash in Beijing before boarding his flight, while the Chinese authorities are insisting on his immediate arrest and extradition as they claimed a female passenger died in his car, but he claimed he was alone.
London detective Hana Li (Jing) has been tasked to escort Dr Nolan back to Beijing straight away on an overnight flight.
But when passengers start dying on board, she realises Nolan’s life is in danger and an international conspiracy is underway.
Red Eye was written by Peter A Dowling, who knows about nerve-shredding plane journeys, having created the successful 2005 movie Flightplan starring Jodie Foster, about a girl who goes missing on a transatlantic flight.
Speaking about the ITV show, Peter said: “Red Eye is like a contemporary Agatha Christie in that you’re trapped in a contained location and people are dying.”
“You’ll be thinking, ‘How can somebody get away with this?’ In that environment, the killer must still be there.
“You know that if you want to catch the killer, you have until the plane lands… so the clock is ticking.
RUN-IN WITH THE POLICE
Lesley once opened up about a time when she called the police after she thought she’d found a body outside her London flat.
She recounted to The Guardian: “When I lived in a flat in Herne Hill, London, I saw a body hanging over the landing of the flat above and thought someone had taken their own life, so I called the police.
“They found a wetsuit that someone had hung up to dry.”
FRIENDSHIP WITH LATE HELEN MCCRORY
Lesley had a close bond with late Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory.
Unfortunately, on April 16 2021, she tragically passed away due to cancer.
The two ladies first met while filming the early 2000s drama Carla in Greece with Lesley revealed that, at the time, her and Helen had bought matching bracelets.
She also told The Telegraph that the late star messaged her for her birthday shortly before her death.
She said: “I just thought she was an amazing actress – she was brilliant and very, very funny – a whip-smart woman.
“She texted me on my birthday this year (2021) and said ‘happy, happy birthday, lovely girl, I’m wearing this bracelet today and thinking of you’ and all the rest of it.
“So I texted back and said, you know, amazing, wonderful to hear from you. I’ll be wearing my bracelet…”
FAMILY LIFE
In 1994, Lesley married fellow actor Nicholas Gleaves, whom she has starred alongside over the years.
The acting stars have been married for 30 years and share two grown-up sons, Zachary, 30, and Gabriel, 26.
Growing up in the world of showbiz, with their parents constantly on set, there was no doubt they’d follow in their footsteps.
Zachary and Gabriel largely remain out of the spotlight.
Little is known about them, as it has been previously reported that they prefer to stay behind the camera.
However, according to Express.co.uk, both of them work for a production company alongside their parents.
‘QUINTESSENTIALLY NORTHERN DNA’
When she was only 18, the Priest actress left the North West for London seeking a successful career but insisted she has ‘quintessentially northern DNA’.
She proudly stated: “I very much consider myself a Mancunian. There is something quintessentially northern in my DNA, even though I’ve lived in London since I was 18.
“I think it’s a sense of humour and desire to be friendly.”
Despite being so recognisable on screen, Lesley also revealed how easily she goes incognito when stepping out in London.
She told The Guardian: “I’ll be in the supermarket, and they’ll say, ‘Are you the woman who goes to the gym with my sister?’ And I’ll say, ‘I don’t know. Probably’.
“You can choose to go about your life attracting attention or deflecting it. I’m very happy to do my work and then slip into my private life.’
PASSION FOR WILD SWIMMING
In addition to her incredible acting skills, Lesley is also an incredible wild swimmer.
She explained to Coast magazine that swimming is a source of relaxation for her and admitted to wild swimming in the Thames.
Lesley said: “Although I live in London now, I’ve always felt strongly that I need to be able to get to a stretch of water.
“I’ve actually swum in the Thames, near Lechlade, because I do like wild-water swimming. And being able to swim in the sea as part of a holiday, to me, is vital.”
Red Eye is available to stream on ITVX.