Olivia Hallinan

Olivia Hallinan is a British actress best known for her role as Laura Timmins in the BBC TV series Lark Rise to Candleford and also as Kim in the Channel 4 drama Sugar Rush She also starred as Ellie in Girls in Love Hallinan is from Twickenham West London and is the second youngest of four sisters Olivia Hallinan began training at her mothers Saturday drama school All Expressions in Teddington when she was 11 and then went on to professional acting After attending St Catherines School in Twickenham and Notting Hill Ealing High School in Ealing Hallinan went on to study English and Drama at the University of Manchester In 2020 Olivia Hallinan confirmed she was in a relationship with Charlie Smith They live in Windsor Berkshire and have a child together born May 2021 In July 2024 they announced they were expecting a second child a son Hallinan has appeared in over 100 productions since the age of seven Her first professional role was playing alongside Cilla Black in a 1991 production of Jack and the Beanstalk Since then she has appeared in theatre radio film and on television shows including The Bill Holby City My Family Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde and Granada TVs Girls in Love At the end of her first year at the University of Manchester Hallinan appeared in the first of two series of the cult TV drama Sugar Rush for Channel 4 based on the Julie Burchill novel On 9 June 2007 Hallinan was a speaker at the Stonewall Gay Youth Conference talking about playing a lesbian character in Sugar Rush While at Manchester Hallinan was actively involved in student drama In 2006 her final year of her degree she starred in Nicola Schofields new play Wake Me Later That same year she played Emma in the Torchwood episode Out of Time appeared in an episode of Trial and Retribution and played a character in Radio 4s dramatisation of Marguerite Durass erotic novel The Lover broadcast between 3 and 7 September 2007 She starred as Laura Timmins in the BBC production Lark Rise to Candleford which first aired on Sunday 13 January 2008 appearing in all four series Hallinan was named one of the 2008 UK Stars of Tomorrow in Screen International a prestigious industry publication that highlights the hottest up and coming actors and filmmakers AList actors Tom Hiddleston Michelle Dockery Dev Patel Claire Foy Carey Mulligan Aaron TaylorJohnson and Gugu MbathaRaw were among this coveted list alongside Hallinan this same year 2011 saw her film debut as she starred in the British film noir Jack Falls as Natasha In 2011 Hallinan starred in Precious Little Talent written by Ella Hickson and directed by James Dacre at Trafalgar Studios theatre in Londons West End In December 2011 Hallinan played the role of Justine in Lucinda Coxons play Herding Cats at the Hampstead Theatre London a role she previously played at the Ustinov Studio Bath in December 2010 In 2013 she starred as Marianne Dashwood in Helen Edmundsons BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Jane Austens Sense and Sensibility In 2014 Hallinan appeared in Lottys War written by Giuliano Crispini and directed by Bruce Guthrie at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford before touring the UK