Lauren Louise McQueen was born on the 12th of July 1996 in Fazakerley, Liverpool and attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School in Aintree followed by St John Bosco Arts College in Storrington Avenue, Croxteth, Liverpool. From the age of five she attended the Elliott-Clarke Performing Arts Theatre School in Liverpool where she did all of her dance grades for ballet, tap and modern before she started getting involved in the acting and singing classes too. Each year they would take part in musicals at the Empire, shows like 'Scrooge', 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' and 'Half a Sixpence' and she found watching the main professional cast perform really inspiring as a child. Her very first speaking part was when cast as Martha Cratchit in 'Scrooge' with Shane Richie playing the title role. Her one line in the whole show being, "The stuffing’s ready mother." In 'Santa Claus The Musical' she played the understudy of the leading girl as well as being part of the ensemble. Getting the chance to do a few shows as the lead, her whole year from Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School came to watch. The feeling opening up the show, singing the first song on her own in the middle of the stage and the applause from all her classmates was amazing. After that, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in acting. Joining Allstars Casting, from the age of 11 she was lucky enough to have an agent and work professionally on stage and in different TV dramas so, when the time came to decide on whether to go to drama school or not, she decided not to as she was enjoying her acting experiences and decided to continue to learn on the job. At Allstars Casting, under the leadership of Sylvie Gatrill, Lauren attended workshops between the ages of 11 and 17 and landed her first role on stage as an 11-year old in Willy Russell’s 'Our Day Out' at Liverpool Royal Court Theatre. Lauren's first credited acting role was as Yasmin Goody on the BBC One miniseries 'Good Cop' (2012) and then appeared as Alison on the Christmas-comedy drama 'Little Crackers' (2012). Then in 2013 she appeared for 4 episodes as Rachel Crawford in the CBBC musical-comedy show '4 O'Clock Club', as a love interest to the main character, Josh. Subsequently she played Molly in the Channel 4 series 'The Mill' (2014) and then Amelie in the BBC One drama 'Ordinary Lies' (2015). Her feature film debut followed when she starred as Shelly in 'The Violators' (2015), for which she was awarded Best Actress at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival. It was the debut feature film from novelist-turned-director Helen Walsh and Lauren says, "I was on a BBC1 drama called 'Good Cop', which is where Helen first saw me, and she tracked me down to the drama studio where I went for classes. She invited me to read the script for Shelly, and at first I was really out of my comfort zone, to play such a challenging and complex character, but by the time I finished reading the script it felt right, so I said yes and we went on from there. It was in 2016 that Lauren also portrayed the fifth wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, in an episode of the TV Mini Series, 'Six Wives with Lucy Worsley'. then in 2017, as well as appearing as Matilda in the World War One short 'Shadows', she starred as Sophie in the British-Canadian film-drama 'The Wasting' (2017).
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| As Lily Drinkwell in Hollyoaks |
She gained prominence through her role in the soap opera 'Hollyoaks' (2016-19), when on the 22nd of December 2016, it was announced that she had been cast as Lily Drinkwell, the niece of Dianne O'Connor. She made her first onscreen appearance on the 6th of January 2017 and her character was involved in a relationship with Prince McQueen and a self-harming storyline, on which she 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. Lauren says, "The self-harm storyline raised so much awareness and it’s such a rewarding feeling to know that I helped so many young people who could relate to my character. It made me realise that I didn’t just want to act, I wanted to be able to make a difference through the stories I tell and the characters that I play." Wanting to explore other roles and projects, Lauren left the soap in 2019 and next appeared in the second series of 'Bulletproof' (2020) on Sky One as Chantel. In 2022 she announced that as well as acting, she had also taken over running a local acting agency after the very special Liverpool actor/director Sylvie Gatrill passed away. Sylvie, the founder of Allstars casting, ran the agency for more than 20 years and wanted Lauren to continue the agency for her, for which Lauren was so grateful for. She said, "It has been so rewarding helping young and aspiring actors in and around Liverpool achieve their dreams."
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| Maid Marian in Robin Hood |
Her next venture was playing Nell, a Trenchard servant, in 8 episodes of the British historical drama television series, 'Belgravia: The Next Chapter' (2024) and as Rose in 2 episodes of the drama war mini series 'Masters of the Air' (2024). There were also two films in 2024, 'Strictly Confidential' with Elizabeth Hurley and 'Here' alongside Tom Hanks. Two episodes in 'Ridley' (2024) were followed by 4 episodes of the TV series, 'Outlander: Blood of My Blood' (2025) before getting the biggest and most high-profile role of her career so far when she plays Maid Marian, in the series 'Robin Hood' (2025) alongside Sean Bean as the Sheriff. Maid Marian is no longer a secondary figure, she is central to the story and through Lauren's portrayal, Marian becomes both a product of her era and a mirror for ours: a character who confronts inherited systems, discovers her own voice, and asserts her moral and emotional agency in ways that resonate far beyond legend. Having just purchased a house in Liverpool Lauren says, "Liverpool will always be home for me. So after going to Serbia for six months to film 'Robin Hood', and then doing the premieres in LA and London, it feels really grounding to come back home. Having a bit of normality, being with family and friends, and having a house here just makes me really happy."
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/03/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-abby.html
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