Laura Main (born 8 March 1981) is a Scottish actress known for her role as Sister Bernadette (later Dr. Turner's wife Shelagh Turner) in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

drama series ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Hanna ...

''.

Early life and education

Laura Main was born in Aberdeen. Her father, Robert, was a fish merchant and her mother, Lorna, was a primary school teacher turned housewife. She has two older sisters, a niece, and two nephews. Laura Main went to school at the

Hazlehead Academy Hazlehead Academy, formerly known as Central School then Aberdeen Academy, is a comprehensive secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It has four main feeder primary schools, Airyhall Primary School, Fernielea Primary School, Hazlehead Prim ...

and took dance lessons at the Danscentre in Aberdeen. She then studied history at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, before starting drama school at the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to: *Webber, Kansas, a US city *Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA *Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA *Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA *Webber (surname) Webber (/ˈwɛbər/) i ...

in London.

Career

Main started performing in musical theatre at the age of 14 when she landed the role of ''Annie'' with Phoenix Youth Theatre. At age 15 she debuted in the role of Louisa Von Trapp in a stage production of ''The Sound of Music''. At university she performed as part of the musical society ''Treading the Boards'' in Aberdeen. She has performed on stage in several productions with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

. In 2011 she appeared in the

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

musical ''Company''. In 2011 she was cast as Sister Bernadette in the hit BBC series ''

''. Main features as a soloist in several tracks on the ''Call the Midwife'' album released in February 2013. In November 2015 Main won the '' Children in Need'' ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' special with dancer

Brendan Cole Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin American dancing. He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show, '' Strictly Come Dancing''. From 2005 to 2009, he was a ...

. In 2017, Main was cast in the lead role of Princess Fiona, in the second UK tour of ''

Shrek The Musical ''Shrek The Musical'' is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is based on the 2001 DreamWorks Animation film ''Shrek'', along with elements of its sequels: ''Shrek 2'', ''Shrek Forever After'' a ...

''. Main shared the role with ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' contestant

Amelia Lily Amelia Lily Oliver (born 16 October 1994) is an English singer and television personality. In 2011, she became a finalist on the eighth series of ''The X Factor'', where she finished in third place. In 2017, she finished as runner-up on the t ...

. Main's first performance was on 12 December 2017, at the

Edinburgh Playhouse Edinburgh Playhouse is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. With 3,059 seats it is the second largest theatre in the United Kingdom after the Hammersmith Apollo. The theatre is owned by Ambassador Theatre Group. Building history The theatre opened ...

Filmography

Theatre

References

External links

* Living people 1981 births Scottish film actresses Scottish musical theatre actresses Scottish stage actresses Scottish television actresses Actresses from Aberdeen Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art People educated at Hazlehead Academy People from Aberdeen 21st-century Scottish actresses {{Scotland-actor-stub