Jo Hartley

Acting

Jo Hartley

Born 1972-03-12 · Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK

Jo Hartley is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the films Dead Man's Shoes (2004), This Is England (2006), The Young Victoria (2009), Torvill & Dean (2018), Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018), Eddie the Eagle (2016), Sweetheart (2021), and Bank of Dave (2023). Television credits include This Is England '86 (2010), Not Safe For Work (2015), In My Skin (2018), After Life (2019-2022), Mandy (2021), Das Boot (2022), Death In Paradise (2023), Passenger (2024), and Adolescence (2025). Hartley was born in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, and brought up in a working-class family, attending North Chadderton School in Chadderton, in Oldham. She started acting at the age of 11 in her school production of The Sound of Music as Gretel Von Trappe. She joined Oldham Theatre Workshop, developing her acting skills until the age of 17, when she stopped acting to work at British Aerospace on a Youth Training Scheme. She worked as a secretary there for two years before leaving to join Japan Airlines as a flight attendant. Hartley had her debut film role in the 2004 Shane Meadows directed Crime Drama Thriller film Dead Man's Shoes as 'Marie'. She went on to appear in many British productions, including films such as Northern Soul and Me and Her both in 2004; Terra Firma and Flushed in 2008; and The Crossing, Janet and Bernard and I Don't Care in 2014. Hartley has been a character actor in many TV films and TV series since 2004, with her most notable roles in This Is England '86, This Is England '88 and This Is England '90, the follow-on TV mini-series to the film. In movies Hartley has appeared in This Is England (2006) as Cynthia, and the feature film The Young Victoria in 2009, with Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend. In 2016 Hartley appeared as Janette, Eddie's mother in the film Eddie the Eagle appearing alongside Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman. She co-starred in the David Cross series Bliss opposite Heather Graham as one of two partners of a fraudulent travel writer. Hartley also appeared in the comedy horror film Slaughterhouse Rulez, alongside Asa Butterfield and Simon Pegg. After a successful pilot episode, Hartley played the role of Bethan's mum, Katrina, who suffers from bipolar disorder in the BBC series In My Skin which aired on BBC1 in 2020. In April 2020, Hartley returned as June in the second series of Ricky Gervais's After Life. In January 2021, Hartley joined the Rising Star Award jury of the EE British Academy Film Awards to select the shortlist for the 2021 award, alongside Alicia Vikander, Naomi Ackie and several other prominent figures of the industry. In November 2021, Hartley was nominated for the BIFA for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Tina in the Marley Morrison directed British drama film Sweetheart. In December 2021, Hartley had a guest-role appearance in the BBC's Mandy Christmas special—We Wish You A Mandy Christmas alongside Diane Morgan and Johnny Vegas. In 2022, Hartley landed a recurring role in four episodes of series 3, of the Sky One German U-boat series Das Boot, alongside Tom Wlaschiha. In 2023, Hartley starred as 'Nicola', wife of Burnley banker Dave Fishwick (played by Rory Kinnear) in the film Bank of Dave, released on Netflix in January 2023. In April 2024, Hartley played the lead character in the British comedy film Swede Caroline.

Acting credits

Eddie the Eagle poster
7.2

The feel-good story of Michael 'Eddie' Edwards, an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself—even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach, Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Eddie the Eagle

2016

Slaughterhouse Rulez poster
5.6

An illustrious British boarding school becomes a bloody battleground when a mysterious sinkhole appears at a nearby fracking site unleashing unspeakable horror.

Slaughterhouse Rulez

2018

The Young Victoria poster
7.2

As the only legitimate heir of England's King William, teenage Victoria gets caught up in the political machinations of her own family. Victoria's mother wants her to sign a regency order, while her Belgian uncle schemes to arrange a marriage between the future monarch and Prince Albert, the man who will become the love of her life.

The Young Victoria

2009

Dead Man's Shoes poster
7.1

A soldier returns to his small town and exacts a deadly revenge on the thugs who tormented his disabled brother while he was away.

Dead Man's Shoes

2004

Bank of Dave poster
6.9

The true story of how Dave Fishwick, a working class man and self-made millionaire, fought to set up a community bank so that he could help the local businesses of Burnley not only survive, but thrive. In his bid to help his beloved community, he has to take on the elitist financial institutions of London and fight to receive the first, new banking license to be issued in over 100 years.

Bank of Dave

2023

David Brent: Life on the Road poster
6.1

A camera crew catches up with David Brent, the former star of the fictional British series, "The Office" as he now fancies himself a rockstar on the road.

David Brent: Life on the Road

2016

Prevenge poster
5.5

A pregnant widow, believing herself to be guided by her unborn child, embarks on a homicidal rampage.

Prevenge

2017

Swede Caroline poster
4.8

Competitive vegetable growers investigate the theft of prize marrow plants and uncover a tangled conspiracy.

Swede Caroline

2024

This Is England poster
7.5

A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends, even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.

This Is England

2007

Inbred poster
5.3

Four young offenders and their workers spend a weekend in the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake, which prides on keeping itself to itself. A minor incident with locals rapidly escalates into a blood-soaked, deliriously warped nightmare.

Inbred

2011

Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger poster
6.7

Two years after founding his own bank, local hero Dave Fishwick takes on the predatory payday lenders bringing misery to his small English town.

Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger

2025

Ill Manors poster
6.3

Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.

Ill Manors

2012

Recovery poster
6.4

Alan and Tricia Hamilton are blissfully happy. Until one day their perfect life is torn apart when Alan steps in front of a passing car, and he is left with a brain injury that completely transforms his personality.

Recovery

2007

Torvill & Dean poster
6.7

Biopic of the British ice dancers and British, European, Olympic and World champions, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

Torvill & Dean

2018

When the Lights Went Out poster
5.7

Yorkshire, 1974, the Maynard family moves into their dream house. It's a dream that quickly descends into a panic stricken nightmare as the family discovers a horrifying truth, a truth that will make the history books. The house is already occupied by the most violent poltergeist ever documented, a poltergeist that will tear you from your bed as you sleep and drag you helplessly into the darkness.

When the Lights Went Out

2012

SoulBoy poster
5.7

1974. Amidst power cuts, strikes and boot-boy aggro on the football terraces, Joe McCain is bored of a life that's going nowhere. Enter hair-dresser Jane: blonde, beautiful, and moving to the beat of a whole new world of sound, movement and all-nighter dancing at The Wigan Casino - the home of Northern Soul. Swept along on this tide of pulsating dance and lust, Joe becomes embroiled in the darker side of soul scene that will put his friendship to the test.

SoulBoy

2010

A Loud Piece of Armour poster
NR

The film explores a woman's journey to rediscover her ability to scream after a news report about a woman's abduction triggers a disturbing realization about her own lost primal scream.

A Loud Piece of Armour

2025

No artwork available
NR

Coleen and Damien have spent a summer together working as chambermaids. As the summer comes to an end, after fumbling through hangovers and personal insecurities, they confront their unexpected attraction to each other.

Me and Her

2006

Access All Areas poster
6.3

Four runaway teenagers are catapulted on a wild and uplifting road trip out of the city and across the water to a magical island music festival.

Access All Areas

2017

Sweetheart poster
6.1

A socially awkward, environmentally-conscious teenager named AJ is dragged to a coastal holiday park by her painfully 'normal' family, where she becomes unexpectedly captivated by a chlorine smelling, sun-loving lifeguard named Isla.

Sweetheart

2021

Northern Soul poster
6.0

Northern Soul is filmed in the style of a mock documentary and tells the story of Mark Sherbet, a lonely young man who is obsessed with American wrestling. His dream is to become a professional wrestler and compete against his heroes on the British wrestling circuit. There’s only one problem, he weighs nine stone and has the pain threshold of a two year old child.

Northern Soul

2004

No artwork available
4.9

A year after her mother's death, Hannah resumes her training at one of the country's top teaching hospitals. She is soon terrified by strange visions and the threatening behaviour of her ex-boyfriend and star surgeon Nick and wonders if she has come back too soon. But beneath the hospital's reputation of medical excellence she discovers a secret network of dangerous experiments pushing back the boundaries of science.

Pulse

2010

Stolen poster
6.1

A fast-paced thriller about a vital and terrifying subject - the trafficking of children - with the heart-stopping vibrancy, compassion and energy that only the fate of children inspires. This is a story that touches all our lives. And it's happening now.

Stolen

2011

No artwork available
NR

Cancer victim Jed is bitter as he is not eligible for free treatment because of the area in which he lives and he is unable to raise the money to pay for it. Then he meets fellow sufferer Mandy whose address entitles her to free medication. She suggests he move in with her and,although the relationship is rocky,they combine to register a public protest against the postcode lottery.

Postcode Lottery

2012