Julie Hesmondhalgh

Julie Hesmondhalgh is a British actress best known for playing Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 1998 to 2014, a groundbreaking role as the first transgender character in a British soap opera. Born in Accrington, Lancashire in 1970, she trained at LAMDA. Her subsequent roles include Broadchurch, Happy Valley, and The Pact.