# Ashley McGuire

Ashley McGuire is a British actress, known for her roles as Big Mandy in the BBC comedy series This Country, Vicky Houghton in the BBC One series This Is Going to Hurt, Shakira in the Channel 4 comedy series Man Down and Bev Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

## Life and career

McGuire attended Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama. McGuire has portrayed various TV roles, including Malory Towers, Coronation Street, Dead Boss, Small Axe, Decline and Fall, It's a Sin and Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After. She has also appeared as Shakira in Man Down, "Big" Mandy Harris in This Country and Bev Slater in EastEnders.
Her stage work includes Home by Nadia Fall (2012 and 2013), Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (2015) and Top Girls (2019) by Caryl Churchill, Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker (2015), and The Suicide by Suhayla El-Bushra (2016), all at the Royal National Theatre. Susannah Clapp, a theatre critic for The Observer, wrote about McGuire's portrayal of Falstaff in Phyllida Lloyd's all-female Henry IV at the Donmar Warehouse (2014): "A magnificent Falstaff... she is glorious. A one-person vindication of the all-female enterprise. If it were needed."

## Stage

| Year | Theatre | Play | Role |
| 2006 | Battersea Arts Centre | Saved or Destroyed | |
| 2008 2009 2010 | Canal Café Theatre Pleasance, Edinburgh Pleasance, Inner London | I'll Always Think of You That Way | Alison |
| 2010 | Soho Theatre | Fatal Light | Maggie |
| 2011 | Theatre Uncut | Housekeeping | Joan |
| 2012 2013 | National Theatre | Home | Sharon |
| 2014 | Donmar Warehouse | Henry IV | Falstaff |
| 2015 | National Theatre | Our Country's Good | Dabby Bryant |
| 2015 | National Theatre | An Oak Tree | |
| 2015 | National Theatre | Light Shining in Buckinghamshire | Vagrant |
| 2016 | National Theatre | The Suicide | Sarah and Margaret Thatcher |
| 2016 | Lyric Hammersmith | Shopping and F***ing | Brian |
| 2017 | Bush Theatre | Hir | Paige |
| 2019 | National Theatre | Top Girls | Dull Gret |

## Filmography

| Year | Category | Title | Role |
| 2001 | TV series | The Savages | Frightening girl |
| 2001 | TV series | Casualty | Julie |
| 2003 | TV series | Murphy's Law | Maid |
| 2004 | Feature film | England Expects | Dawn |
| 2004 | TV series | EastEnders | Carol |
| 2005 | Feature film | Gypo | Penny |
| 2007 | Feature film | Ruby Blue | Debbie |
| 2008 | Feature film | Caught in a Trap | Prison inmate |
| 2009 | TV series | The Bill (series 24) | Stella Tanner |
| 2009 | Feature film | Harry Brown | Community WPC |
| 2010 | Feature film | Baseline | Susan |
| 2010 | Feature film | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | Death Eater #9 |
| 2010 | TV series | Miranda | Meals on Wheels lady |
| 2010 | TV series | Law & Order: UK (series 4) | Simone Lewis |
| 2011 | Feature film | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | Death Eater #9 |
| 2011 | TV series | Coronation Street | Ginny Portis |
| 2012 | Feature film | The Grind | Linda |
| 2012 | TV series | Dead Boss | Slasher |
| 2012 | TV series | Trollied | Millionth customer |
| 2012 | TV series | 4Funnies | Cheryl |
| 2013 | TV series | Derek | Shelley |
| 2013 | TV series | The Job Lot | Dawn Carter |
| 2013 | TV series | The IT Crowd | Homeless lady |
| 2013 | TV series | Obsession: Dark Desires | Stalking neighbour |
| 2013–2017 | TV series | Man Down | Shakira |
| 2014 | Feature film | Gold | Rosie |
| 2014 | TV series | In the Club | Annette Harris |
| 2014 | Feature film | The Riot Club | Police officer 2 |
| 2014 | Feature film | Chewing Gum Blap | Mary |
| 2014 | Short | Counting Backwards | Flo Brown |
| 2015 | Feature film | Hector | Chiropodist |
| 2016 | Feature film | David Brent: Life on the Road | Mo |
| 2016 | Feature film | Bridget Jones's Baby | Midwife |
| 2017 | Short | Double Act | Casting Director |
| 2017 | TV series | Decline and Fall | Lady Circumference |
| 2017–2020 | TV series | This Country | Mandy Harris |
| 2018 | Short | Relativity | Mrs Ryder |
| 2018 | Short | Little Shit | Mum |
| 2018 | Feature film | Solo: A Star Wars Story | Lodge Human Trainer (uncredited) |
| 2018 | TV series | Wanderlust | Janet Malherbe |
| 2018–2019 | TV series | EastEnders | Bev Slater |
| 2019 | Feature film | The Hustle | Policewoman |
| 2019 | Feature film | Eternal Beauty | Jean (uncredited) |
| 2019 | Feature film | The Gentlemen | Maureen |
| 2020–2024 | TV series | Malory Towers | Matron Kathleen |
| 2020 | TV film | Small Axe – Alex Wheatle | Cook |
| 2020 | TV series | Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After | Mayoress |
| 2021 | TV series | It's a Sin | Lorraine Fletcher |
| 2021 | TV series | Angela Black | Judy |
| 2022 | TV series | This Is Going to Hurt | Ms Vicky Houghton |
| 2023 | Feature film | Northern Comfort | Esther |
| 2023 | TV series | The Change | Bernadette |