Lisa McGrillis

McGrillis was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but at age 5,^[1] moved to and grew up in Scotby, near Carlisle in Cumbria,^[2] with her mother, a special needs teacher, and her father, an accountant. She attended Trinity School, Carlisle,^[2] before going on to study performing arts at Northumbria University.^[1]

McGrillis had a role in The Pitmen Painters, by Lee Hall, in 2007. It transferred to London's National Theatre and then to Broadway.^[1]

McGrillis was in Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe in 2011 as Margaret the maid.^[3] When Eve Best, the star of the show, fell ill, director Jeremy Herrin asked McGrillis to step up to play Beatrice. She then appeared in The Pass with Russell Tovey at the Royal Court Theatre in 2014.^[4][5]

After appearing in Hebburn,^[6] McGrillis was the regular character DS Rachel Coles in Inspector George Gently with Martin Shaw.^[7][8]

McGrillis starred opposite Academy Award nominee Lesley Manville in the BBC sitcom Mum (2018) as Kelly, the girlfriend of Manville's son, Jason.^[9][10] In February 2019, she played Hannah Wilde in episode eight of the eighth season of Death in Paradise.^[11] She later played a grass-roots Manchester politician in the third series of Channel 4 Paul Abbott police drama No Offence and, in 2020, appeared as 'Mad Kay' in BBC sitcom King Gary, written by Tom Davis^[12] and as Sandra in the Channel 4 drama Deadwater Fell.^[13]

On 17 January 2022, it was announced that McGrillis would star as Courtney in BBC comedy Avoidance (2022), alongside show creator Romesh Ranganathan and Jessica Knappett.^[14][15] In 2023, she played the main role of Helen Cavendish in the ITV drama Maternal (2023).^[16]

In 2024, she appeared alongside David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson in the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals (2024).^[17]

McGrillis was cast as Adrian Mole's mother, alongside Oliver Savell as Mole, in a television adaptation of the Sue Townsend 1982 novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾, with David Nicholls and Caitlin Moran among the writers and filming taking place in 2026.^[18]

Her husband, Stuart Martin, is also an actor; they met at a Christmas party in the National Theatre bar.^[19] They have two children.^[20] McGrillis is an ambassador for children's charity PIPA.^[21]