Michelle Fairley

Michelle Fairley is an actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her roles as Catelyn Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Dr. Ava Hessington in multiple episodes of USA Network series Suits, and as terrorist Margot Al-Harazi, a main antagonist in 24: Live Another Day. Early life Fairley was born in July of 1965 in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, to publicans Theresa and Brian Fairley. She attended a Roman Catholic grammar school. As a teenager, she became a member of the Ulster Youth Theatre. Upon graduation, she moved to Belfast where she honed her skills with the repertory company Fringe Benefits, alongside a fellow alumnus of the Ulster Youth Theatre, Conleth Hill. Career Fairley appeared in a number of British television shows, including The Bill, Holby City and Casualty. Some of her earlier roles were as Cathy Michaels on ITV1's Inspector Morse in the episode titled "The Way Through The Woods" and as Nancy Phelan in Lovejoy in the episode 9 of Season 3 titled "Smoke Your Nose". She took over the role of Mrs. Granger from Heather Bleasdale (who had played Mrs. Granger in Chamber of Secrets) in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films. She played the role of Catelyn Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones, replacing Jennifer Ehle who played the character in the original pilot episode. She joined the cast of the USA Network series Suits for its third season, playing the recurring role of Ava Hessington. In 2017, it was announced that Fairley would appear in a revival of Jim Cartwright's play Road at the Royal Court Theatre and would also play Cassius in Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, alongside David Calder, David Morrissey and Ben Whishaw.