Hermione Norris

Hermione Norris
Norris on the set of Kingdom
Born	Hermione Jane Norris (1967-02-12) 12 February 1967 (age 50) Paddington, London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Simon Wheeler (2002–present)
Children	2

Hermione Jane Norris (born 12 February 1967) is an English actress. She attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s, before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet. She appeared in every episode of the series from 1998 to 2003 and was nominated for a British Comedy Award.

From 2002 to 2005, Norris co-starred in the crime drama series Wire in the Blood as Carol Jordan, and from 2005 to 2009 co-starred in the BBC One spy drama Spooks as Ros Myers. Her role in Spooks won her the award for Best Actress at the 2008 ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, and another nomination the next year. From 2007 to 2009, she co-starred in the ITV comedy drama Kingdom.

Norris was born in Paddington, London, the second of four children. She has two sisters and a brother. Her parents, businessman Michael and health visitor Helen Norris (née Latham), divorced when she was four years old. She moved with her mother and siblings to live with her grandmother in Derbyshire, but moved back to London a few years later. She failed her eleven plus exam but won a scholarship to the Elmhurst School for Dance. While there, she took up drama at an after-school club, performing alongside her dance studies until she left aged 17.

For the next two years, Norris held various office jobs. At age 19, she enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). On an exchange to the Moscow Art Theatre School, she played Nina in a production of The Seagull. After leaving college at the age of 21, she lived in a house in Brixton with four other actors. At the same time, she had to deal with the sudden death of her father.