# Rachel Shelley

Rachel Shelley (born 25 August 1969) is an English actress, audio producer and model. She is best known for playing Helena Peabody in the Showtime series The L Word and Elizabeth Russell in the Oscar-nominated Bollywood epic Lagaan.

## Early life

Rachel Irene Shelley was born on 25 August 1969 in Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom, and was brought up primarily in Cambridgeshire. She is the youngest of four children, she has an older sister and two older brothers. Shelley spent three years in Malta as a child before attending school in Huntingdon. After graduating from the University of Sheffield with a B.A. Hons in English and Drama in 1992, she joined a local theatre company in Edinburgh and set up a community theatre company in Sheffield before moving to London to further her acting career.

## Career

Shelley is perhaps best known for playing Helena Peabody in the Showtime series The L Word. Other parts include Elizabeth Russell in the Oscar-nominated Hindi film Lagaan in 2001, and the beauty whose tragic loss drives Charles Castle mad in the 1997 film Photographing Fairies. In 2012 and early 2013, she played the recurring role of Yvonne Rippon, a police superintendent who had a relationship with established character Nick Jordan, in popular BBC medical drama Casualty. Shelley left the series on 19 January 2013.
Apart from acting, Shelley has written articles for The Guardian and DIVA Magazine. Shelley graduated from Goldsmiths University with an MA in Radio Production. She has produced and edited a documentary for BBC Radio 4 and produces the weekly LGBTQIA podcast podDIVA.

## Personal life

Shelley lives in Notting Hill, London, with her partner since 1995, Matthew Parkhill, who is a TV writer, director and producer. They have a daughter named Eden, born 8 September 2009.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Broken Heart | Isabel | Short film |
| 1997 | Photographing Fairies | Mrs. Anne-Marie Castle | |
| 1999 | B.U.S.T.E.D | Clare | |
| 1999 | Lighthouse | Dr. Kirsty McCloud | |
| 2000 | Canone inverso - making love | Jeno's Mother | |
| 2000 | The Calling | Shelly Woodcock | |
| 2001 | Lagaan | Elizabeth Russell | Hindi Film |
| 2003 | The Bone Snatcher | Mikki | |
| 2004 | Seeing Other People | Lauren | |
| 2006 | Gray Matters | Julia Barlett | |
| 2008 | The Children | Chloe | |
| 2022 | Blank | Claire Rivers | |

## Television

Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Royce | Alana Maxwell | TV film |
| 1997 | The New Adventures of Robin Hood | Boadicea | Episode: "Heroes" Episode: "The Birthday Trap" |
| 1997 | Wycliffe | Sarah | Episode: "Dance of the Scorpions" |
| 1997 | Bugs | Jenna Spinks | Episode: "Renegades" |
| 1997 | Highlander: The Series | Sophie Baines | Episode: "Avatar" |
| 1998 | The Bill | Maggie Hamilton | Episode: "For Your Love" |
| 2001 | Baddiel's Syndrome | Marcia | Episode: "Huffa" Episode: "Hair Today" |
| 2001 | Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story | Harmonia | TV film |
| 2002 | Heartbeat | Sue Dixon, aka Denise Hurley | Episode: "Sympathy for the Devil" |
| 2002 | The American Embassy | Mandy | Episode: "Long Live the King" |
| 2002 | Coupling | Samantha | Episode: "Remember This" |
| 2002 | Cruise of the Gods | Yasmina | TV film |
| 2002 | The Dinosaur Hunters | Mary Mantell | TV film |
| 2003 | Sparkling Cyanide | Rosemary Barton | TV film |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Rebecca Hanley | Episode: "Something Nervy" |
| 2004 | Licensed by Royalty | Linda Kubrick | TV series |
| 2005–2009 | The L Word | Helena Peabody | 54 episodes |
| 2006 | Ghost Whisperer | Kate Payne (uncredited) | Episode: "Cat's Claw" |
| 2007 | Ghost Whisperer | Kate Payne | Episode: "Speed Demon" Episode: "The Collector" |
| 2008 | Under | Det. Underhill | TV film |
| 2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Kate Payne | Episode: "Deadbeat Dads" |
| 2011 | Episodes | Kendra | Episode: "Four" |
| 2011 | Strike Back | Maggie | Episode: "Project Dawn No. 5" Episode: "Project Dawn No. 6" |
| 2012–2013 | Casualty | Supt Yvonne Rippon | Recurring, 2012–2013 |
| 2012–2016 | Once Upon a Time | Milah | Episode: "The Crocodile" Episode: "Manhattan" Episode: "Devil's Due" |
| 2013 | Toast of London | Commander Scott-Gorham | Episode: "Submission" |
| 2013–2014 | Rogue | Shelley Morrison | Recurring |
| 2014 | Grantchester | Pamela Morton | Episode: "Episode 1" |
| 2017–2018 | Different for Girls | Brooke | Recurring |
| 2018–2019 | Deep State | Elliot Taylor | Recurring |
| 2023 | Kohrra | Clara Murphy | Indian TV series on Netflix |