Early career As a child actress from 1974 to 1979, Whalley made a number of television appearances, including bit parts in popular
soap operas
Coronation Street and
Emmerdale Farm. She made her
feature film debut as a young
Beatles fan in
Richard Marquand's biographical film,
Birth of the Beatles, in 1979. She flirted with the fringes of the
Manchester new wave scene by briefly being a member of a Stockport-based band called the Slowguns but left before the release of the first of their two singles later that year. Her television work continued with early appearances in episodes of popular series including
Juliet Bravo and
The Gentle Touch. At this time she was also the lead singer of the pop group
Cindy & The Saffrons; they recorded
the Shangri-Las' song "Past, Present and Future" in 1982 at
Abbey Road Studios, and the track made the UK singles charts, peaking at #56. The next year they recorded "Terry", written and originally recorded by
Twinkle, but this single failed to chart. The group split up soon afterward. Continuing her theatrical work, Whalley played the title role in the first production of
Daniel Mornin's
Kate at the
Bush Theatre in 1983. That year she also appeared in episodes of popular TV series
Bergerac and
Reilly, Ace of Spies. Her work for the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre continued with performances as Pam in Danny Boyle's production of
Saved and June in Max Stafford-Clark's ''The Pope's Wedding'' from 1984 to 1985.
Rise to prominence Whalley found early success on British television with a lead role in
Troy Kennedy Martin's highly regarded and influential drama serial
Edge of Darkness (BBC, 1985), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. At this time she appeared in
Alan Bleasdale's comedy film
No Surrender (1985) and two films for
Mike Newell:
The Good Father (
FilmFour, 1985) and the critically acclaimed
Dance with a Stranger (
Goldcrest, 1985). Whalley also concluded her work at the Royal Court Theatre that year by performing the role of Bianca in
William Gaskill's production of
Women Beware Women and then moved to the
Royal National Theatre appearing as Dewey Dell in
Peter Gill's productions of
As I Lay Dying at the
Cottesloe Theatre. Further television success came with the key role of Nurse Mills in
Dennis Potter's drama serial
The Singing Detective (BBC, 1986). Whalley concluded her work with the Royal National Theatre that year by performing as Euphie and 1st Cutie in Peter Gill and
John Burgess's
The Women. The following year she performed as Masha in
Bill Kenwright and
Elijah Moshinsky's production of
Three Sisters at the
Albery Theatre and the
Greenwich Theatre. Further theatrical work came with her performance in the title role of Lulu in
Ian McDiarmid's production of
The Lulu Plays at the
Almeida Theatre in 1990 to 1991. Later that year she gave birth to her first child, Mercedes, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Whalley recreated
Margaret Mitchell's iconic heroine
Scarlett O'Hara, originally played by
Vivien Leigh in
Gone with the Wind (1939), in the
Emmy Award-winning TV miniseries
Scarlett (CBS, 1994). That same year she also played the lead role in
Heywood Gould's legal thriller
Trial by Jury (1994). In that same year, Whalley was also a regular in the ITV miniseries
Flood with
Robert Carlyle amongst others. Whalley played one of the female leads,
Vannozza dei Cattanei, mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, future
Pope Alexander VI, in the
Showtime historical drama series
The Borgias (2011), for which she was nominated for a Best Actress
Golden Nymph Award at the
Monte-Carlo Television Festival. She guest-starred as Princess Sophie in season 4 of
Gossip Girl. With the cast of
44 Inch Chest, she shared the Best Ensemble Award at the
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2010. The film reunited her with John Hurt, with whom she had done two films. In 2014 she played Aunt Patience in
Jamaica Inn for BBC One. In 2015 she played
Claudia, the wife of Pontius Pilate, in
A.D. The Bible Continues and
Catherine of Aragon in the BBC miniseries
Wolf Hall. Whalley has appeared in a number of streaming shows: as
Sister Maggie in the
third season of
Daredevil (2018), reprising her role of Sorsha from the
Willow film (
Lucasfilm, 1988) in the
Willow series (
Disney+, 2022), and a starring appearance in an episode of the second season of
Carnival Row (
Prime, 2023) as the "Puck" Leonora. In 2020 Whalley starred in
Eleanor Coppola's anthology film
Love Is Love Is Love. It was scheduled to have its world premiere at the
Tribeca Film Festival in April 2020, but the festival was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The film later premiered at the
Deauville American Film Festival in France in September. ==Personal life==