The Bay is back on ITV with Leanne Best starring as Julie Ashworth, a mother who is heartbroken after she finds out her daughter Hannah was murdered. Jenn Townsend star Marsha Thomason praised Leanne for her performance in an exclusive interview with Reach titles.
She said: “One of the scenes that comes to mind is when Jenn goes to tell Julie [played by Leanne Best] that her daughter is dead. We rehearsed it, Leanne is incredible in this series, but my gosh in this rehearsal, she just… it was unbelievable. I couldn’t hold it together and I was just balling my eyes out.”
Leanne is a 44-year-old actress from Liverpool who trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and currently lives in southwest London. Her IMDb account states after graduating, she “somewhat reluctantly left her home city for London” where “there was a lot of waitressing and shop work” before making her television debut in Casualty (1986) in 2004.
She went on to land some small screen roles in Ripper Street, Home Fires and Line of Duty. She made a number of stage appearances in her home city, starring in Macbeth, A Streetcar Named Desire and Educating Rita.
On the big screen she had the title role in The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death and starred as a member of the fighting force in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.
As of mid-2016 she lives in London with Ted, her Jack Russell cross dog.
She comes from a famous family, being the niece of Pete Best, the original drummer for The Beatles.
Speaking to the Daily Mail she said: “He was a phenomenal musician. The word Merseybeat actually came from Pete’s style of drumming.”
Leanne’s father Roag Best, Pete’s half-brother, runs the Magical History Museum on Liverpool’s Mathew Street.
She is also a grandchild of Neil Aspinall, a producer and director known for Hendrix: Band of Gypsys, The Beatles Anthology and The Beatles: Something (1969).
He had attended Liverpool Institute with Paul McCartney and George Harrison before becoming their driver and road manager when they started touring with The Beatles.
As for her personal life, as of 2019 she was single and lived in a one-bedroom flat.
“I want a big love if it turns up, but I’m not prepared to hand over huge pieces of my territory and independence to have that,” she said.
The star has a number of award wins under her belt, including Best Actress at The Monthly Film Festival in 2018 for her role in Cotton Wool.
The Bay continues on ITV at 9pm
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