Hayley Squires

Hayley Squires (born 16 April 1988) is an English actress and playwright, best known for her work in the Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake.^[1] Squires has also appeared in Call the Midwife (2012), Southcliffe (2013), Complicit (2013), Blood Cells (2014), A Royal Night Out (2015), Murder (2016), Collateral (2018), Adult Material (2020), The Essex Serpent (2022) and Great Expectations (2023). Her first play, Vera Vera Vera, was produced by the Royal Court Theatre in 2012.^[2]

Hayley Squires
Born	Hayley McGinty (1988-04-16) 16 April 1988 (age 37) Forest Hill, London, England
Alma mater	Rose Bruford College
Occupations	Actress and playwright
Years active	2012–present

I, Daniel Blake won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Best British Film at the 2017 BAFTAs, and was the Audience Award winner at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Squires was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.^[3] For Adult Material, Squires was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress.^[4]

Early life

Born in Forest Hill, South London, as Hayley McGinty in 1988, Squires grew up with her mother, father and older brother.^[5] The family moved to Kent when she was 14. Her mother was a cook at her school and her father managed a video shop.^[6]

She trained at Rose Bruford College in Sidcup and graduated in 2010 with BA (Hons) Acting alongside best friend and fellow actor David Carlyle.^[5][7] She has a quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream tattooed underneath her left arm; it reads: And though she be but little, she is fierce.^[8]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
2014	Blood Cells	Hayley		[9]
2015	A Royal Night Out	Debbie		[10]
	Polar Bear	Lea	Short film	[11]
2016	I, Daniel Blake	Katie		[12]
	Away	Kaz		[13]
2018	Happy New Year, Colin Burstead	Gini Burstead		[14]
	In Fabric	Babs		[15]
2021	In the Earth	Olivia Wendle		[16]
	The Electrical Life of Louis Wain	Marie Wain		[17]
	True Things	Alison		[18]
2023	Beau Is Afraid	Penelope		[19]
	Hoard	Cynthia		[20]
	No Way Home	Mum		[21]
2024	Blitz	Tilda		[22]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2012	Call the Midwife	Maureen Warren	Episode #1.1	[23]
2013	Complicit	Joan	Television film	[24]
	Southcliffe	Louise Cooper	3 episodes	[25]
2016	Murder	Bryony Phelps	Episode: "The Lost Weekend"	[26]
2017	The Last Leg	Herself – Guest appearance	Episode No. 12 of Series 10	[27]
	Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams	Waitress	Episode: "The Commuter"	[28]
	The Miniaturist	Cornelia	3 episodes	[29]
2018	Collateral	Laurie Stone	3 episodes	[30]
2020	Adult Material	Jolene Dollar	4 episodes	[31]
2022	The Essex Serpent	Martha	6 episodes	[32]
	Maryland	Mary	Television film	[33]
2023	Great Expectations	Sara	5 episodes	[34]
2024	Inside No. 9	Devonshire	Episode: "The Curse of the Ninth"	[35]
2025	The Night Manager †	TBA	Series 2	[36]

Theatre credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015	As Good a Time as Any	Amy	The Print Room
2017	The Pitchfork Disney	Haley Stray	Shoreditch Town Hall, Directed by Jamie Lloyd	[37][38]
	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Mae	Apollo Theatre, Directed by Benedict Andrews	[39]
2018	The Lover and The Collection	Sarah/Stella	Harold Pinter Theatre, Directed by Jamie Lloyd	[40]

Awards

Award	Year	Category	Performance	Result
British Independent Film Awards	2016	Best Actress	I, Daniel Blake	Nominated
		Most Promising Newcomer		Won
British Academy Film Awards	2017	Best Actress in a Supporting Role		Nominated
Denver Film Festival	2016	Special Jury Prize: Best Actress		Won
Empire Film Awards	2017	Best Female Newcomer		Nominated
Evening Standard British Film Awards	2016	Best Supporting Actress		Won
London Film Critics' Circle	2017	British/Irish Actress of the Year		Nominated
National Film Awards	2017	Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated
British Academy Television Awards	2021	Best Actress	Adult Material	Nominated
49th International Emmy Awards	2021	Best Actress		Won