Fairley appeared in a number of British television shows, including
The Bill,
Holby City and
Casualty. Some of her earlier roles were as Cathy Michaels on
ITV1's
Inspector Morse in the episode titled "The Way Through the Woods", and as Nancy Phelan in
Lovejoy in the episode 9 of Season 3 titled "Smoke Your Nose". She took over the role of Mrs. Granger from Heather Bleasdale (who had played Mrs. Granger in
Chamber of Secrets) in the
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films. From 2011 to 2013, Fairley starred as
Catelyn Stark (née Tully) in the first three seasons of the
HBO fantasy series
Game of Thrones, replacing
Jennifer Ehle who played the character in the original, unaired, pilot episode. Fairley joined the cast of the
USA Network series
Suits for its third season, playing the recurring role of Dr. Ava Hessington, a
chemical engineer and oil CEO accused of bribery, and after that, accused for murder. She played Margot Al-Harazi in
24: Live Another Day on
Fox. Her film roles included
The Invisible Woman (2013) and
In the Heart of the Sea (2015). In 2014, Fairley was cast as Margaret Langston in the ABC TV Series
Resurrection (2014–2015). In 2017, it was announced Fairley would appear in a revival of
Jim Cartwright's play
Road at the
Royal Court Theatre In 2018, she played Cassius in
Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, alongside
David Calder,
David Morrissey and
Ben Whishaw. In 2019, Fairley led the
Virgin Media and
Amazon Prime science fiction series
The Feed as Meredith Hatfield. As of June 2020, Fairley stars as Marian Wallace in the
Sky Atlantic crime drama
Gangs of London. She starred as Millie in the 2021 film
Nobody Has to Know, alongside
Bouli Lanners. In 2023, Fairley starred as
Princess Augusta in
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story on
Netflix. She also contributed to
The Gone, a TVNZ and RTÉ co-production. ==Personal life==