For a nation a mere 40th the size of its stage and screen counterpart, the US, the UK punches well above its weight in acting talent. Within the UK, there are powerhouse places that do more than their fair share of the heavy lifting in earning that reputation. Liverpool is not least among them, and, although some of its most famous actors attended the city's excellent cluster of acting schools, there are others who prove drama school is not the only way to reach the roles you dream of.
Here’s a roundup of some of the acting stars who call Liverpool home, and how they got their start in the industry.
Louis Emerick
Hailing from Liverpool’s Toxteth area, Emerick was a regular on the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, although he’s probably best known for playing Mick Johnson on the soap Brookside. The sitcom Benidorm and soap Coronation Street are also on his CV, as is an appearance in the film Layer Cake. He also scooped up third place on Season 3 of reality cooking show Celebrity Master Chef. The youngest of 10 children, he has credited Toxteth’s “melting pot” of cultures as contributing to his success. Emerick’s path to success was not the standard drama school route; he was overheard singing during a night shift at a factory and persuaded to join a local theatre group as a result. He still lives in Liverpool and gives motivational career talks to local schools.
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Jodie Comer
Comer was acting professionally in her teens and earning major roles – in My Mad Fat Diary, Remember Me, and Thirteen – in her 20s, but it was her role on Killing Eve that landed this Liverpool lass her place among the stars. Growing up in Childwall and attending drama school in Belle Vale, she was 25 when she took on the role of Villanelle, for which she won a BAFTA and a Primetime Emmy. Her lucky passport into the industry arguably arrived when she was 13, however. She performed a monologue at the Liverpool Drama Festival, and her drama teacher immediately called a friend at Radio Four to say he’d found a new talent. Comer’s first job followed: a 2007 BBC radio play called Tin Man.
Since then, Comer has played numerous critically acclaimed roles in TV and film before transitioning to the stage, making her West End and Broadway debut in Prima Facie. Awards have included a leading actress BAFTA, a Primetime Emmy for outstanding lead actress, an Olivier Award for best actress in a play, and a Tony for best performance by a leading actress.
Stephen Graham
Graham was one of the UK’s hottest acting properties long before his stellar performance in Adolescence, the 2025 TV show that became an international talking point. The national treasure has been ploughing away at his trade since early roles in Heartbeat, The Lakes, and The Bill, which prepared him for a breakout film role in Snatch and Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.
He grew up in Kirkby, living across the road from another famous Liverpudlian thespian, Andrew Schofield, who saw Graham in a school play (Treasure Island) and noticed the latent talent. He encouraged Graham, whose social worker mum and mechanic stepfather had no experience in the world of acting, to perform. (Graham later paid it forward – Jodie Comer, in her BAFTA acceptance speech, thanked him for his encouragement of her early career.) At 14, Graham began performing with Liverpool's Everyman youth theatre before getting into the Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.
His early standout role was as Combo in Shane Meadow’s 2006 film This Is England, for which he was nominated for a British Independent Film Award. Roles followed in more than 40 movies and numerous television shows, ranging from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to Matilda the Musical to Peaky Blinders, with Graham often cast as a hard man, although regularly showing an ability to perform a wide range of characters. But back to Adolescence, with which – as creator, co-writer, executive producer, and lead actor – Graham solidified his reputation as a legend of Liverpool.
After winning all three of the Primetime Emmys it was nominated for, including an outstanding lead actor in a limited series trophy for himself, Graham was invited to a parliamentary meeting to discuss online safety, proving the show’s influence beyond its TV bubble.
Alison Steadman
Like Comer, Steadman grew up in Childwall, but it was after moving to London and meeting Mike Leigh at East 15 Acting School that her career started to take off. She performed in various regional repertory theatre roles before originating the role of suburban hostess Beverly in Leigh’s acclaimed play Abigail’s Party, which won her an Evening Standard Award for best actress in 1977. An Olivier Award followed for her performance in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, and her career has now spanned more than 50 years of stage, screen, and radio performances, including a lengthy stint as Gavin’s mum, Pam, on Gavin and Stacey.
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David Morrissey
Born in the Kensington area of Liverpool in 1964, Morrissey decided to become an actor after seeing Ken Loach’s film Kes. Encouragement from a schoolteacher eventually led him to the Everyman Youth Theatre, where he encountered famous Liverpudlian actors the McGann brothers, as well as his childhood friend and fellow actor Ian Hart. He auditioned and was cast on the TV show One Summer by Willy Russell, whose own journey includes a chapter at the Everyman Theatre, where he was an associate playwright. That role led to a place at RADA, which, in turn, led to roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company and the beginning of a career that has spanned more than 40 years on stage and screen. Along the way, Morrissey has earned a Royal Television Society Award and been nominated for two BAFTAs and two Saturn Awards.
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Kim Cattrall
Although perhaps thought of as quintessentially American, the recipient of five Primetime Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations for her role as Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones was actually born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool. Her family emigrated to Canada when she was three months old, but she returned to the city at age 11 and stayed until 16. The city claims her as its own though. Liverpool John Moores University gave her an honorary fellowship for outstanding contributions to the arts, and she has called herself a Scouser many times, referring to herself as a “Liverpool-born, Canadian-bred New Yorker.”
Ian Hart
Born in the Knotty Ash district of Liverpool in 1964, Hart was a member of the Everyman Theatre Liverpool alongside childhood chum David Morrissey. He studied drama at a since-closed acting school in Wavertree, Liverpool, before landing his first television role alongside Morrissey in One Summer. Two stints playing John Lennon – notably in the film Backbeat – helped establish him, and awards followed, including the Volpi Cup for best supporting actor at the Venice International Film Festival for playing Ginger in the film Nothing Personal. Perhaps best known for his role as Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, what’s less well known is that Hart also provided the voice and motion capture movement for the computer-generated Lord Voldemort in the first film.
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As these names prove, acting careers can be kindled in this corner of the country. Let their journeys be your inspiration to reach out to a Liverpool acting agent today and start your professional acting career on the banks of the Mersey.
