Nicôle Lecky is a British actress, singer and writer. She is best known for her 2018 play '' Superhoe'' and its 2022 TV-series adaptation '' Mood''.

Early life

Lecky (born 1990) grew up in Stratford, East London. She is English-Jamaican and has siblings. Her father was an electrician and former DJ, and her mother a mental-health nurse. Lecky studied for a time at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, but graduated from

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. Mountview Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting, musical theatre and actor musicians ...

. At age 18, she was signed by a theatrical agent. Her mother died when Lecky was 19.

Work

Lecky has written for the soap opera '' EastEnders: E20'', and her acting roles include the TV-series ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', '' Fresh Meat'', ''

Sense8 ''Sense8'' () is an American science fiction drama television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind ''Sense8'' included the Wachowskis' Anarchos Productions (replac ...

'' and ''

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

''. She directed ''The Moor Girl'', a short film. Her 2018 play ''Superhoe'' was a collaboration between the

Talawa Theatre Company Talawa Theatre Company is a Black British theatre company founded in 1986.

and the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, directed by Jade Lewis. Lecky wrote and performed the

monodrama A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character. In opera In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Pygmalion'', which w ...

, and collaborated with British rapper

The Last Skeptik Corin Liall Douieb, known by the stage name The Last Skeptik, is a British rapper and music producer from Finsbury Park, London. Career Douieb has worked with artists such as Giggs, Kojey Radical, Mikill Pane, Lunar C, Sway, and MF Grimm, Tri ...

on the play's music. ''Superhoe'' follows the life of twenty-four year-old Sasha, and Lecky plays several characters. She was inspired by a website that posted personal information on Instagram women involved in sex work. Playwright

Levi David Addai Levi David Addai is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning '' Damilola, Our Loved Boy'', the critically acclaimed ''Youngers'' and his stage plays ''93.2FM'' and ''Oxford Street''. Personal Addai was born i ...

, who mentored Lecky around 2019, said in 2020 that she is "one of the most talented young writers, actresses, singer-songwriters in the country right now." ''Superhoe'' received positive reviews. The ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

''s reviewer said " ecky isa revelation — singing and rapping eloquently as she delivers a knotty, occasionally grim story with charismatic fluency." ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''s reviewer said "It stands squarely in the tradition of Royal Court writing while being its own fresh thing."

WhatsOnStage.com WhatsOnStage is a UK-based theatre website providing news, reviews, interviews, and a comprehensive listings database of performances across the country. The platform claims to list over 5,000 performances at any given time and also operates a tick ...

's reviewer said "She knows how to keep the audience on her side with just a backward glance, and her comic timing is superb." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s reviewer said "Lecky engagingly performs her own writing ... Though rarely surprising, it's a simple story strongly told". '' Stylist''s reviewer said "...be sure to remember Nicôle Lecky. She’s a star slash genius." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' reviewer said "The music is terrific, but, if anything, this show could easily use another song. The plot, however, never surprises us even for a moment. ... This is a shame because Sasha has got such sass and spark. You won’t find her at Wetherspoons; you really can’t help but like her." The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

decided to adapt ''Superhoe'' as a TV-series, and the six part musical drama ''Mood'' premiered in 2022 on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. Lecky played the main character Sasha Clayton, was a series executive producer and writer, and was also involved in creating the music. The characters are those she performed in the play. As part of her script-writing, she interviewed women involved in sex work online. As of 2024, ''Mood'' has a 100% score on the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on five reviews. Shortly after the premiere of ''Mood'', Lecky was signed by the

United Talent Agency United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. ...

(UTA). Lecky has written a forthcoming drama titled '' Wild Cherry'' for

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

. She plays Julia Blenkinsopp in the 2024

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

comedy drama ''

Sweetpea The sweet pea, ''Lathyrus odoratus'', is a flowering plant in the genus ''Lathyrus'' in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands. It is an annual climbing plant, growing to a height of , where suit ...

''.

Recognition

Lecky was nominated for a Best Writer Stage Debut Award in 2019 for ''Superhoe''. She won the Women in Film and TV Awards' The Netflix New Talent Award in 2022. ''Mood'' won two

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

awards, Best Mini-Series and Best Original Music: Fiction. Lecky was also nominated in a third category, Best Emerging Talent: Fiction. Accepting the mini-series award, she said "For me to be here, a working class, mixed, Black woman stood here I'm just really proud of that and I hope it really does inspire the next generation of storytellers." For ''Mood'', she also received a Royal Television Society Craft & Design Award, Music - Original Score, and was nominated for a Royal Television Society Programme Breakthrough Award.

Personal life

As of 2022, she lives in London.

Books

References

External links

* *
Nicôle & Jade in Conversation
Lecky discusses ''Superhoe'' with director Jade Lewis, 2019 video
Nicôle Lecky is the triple-threat behind your new favourite TV show
2022 interview in '' The Face''
Nicôle Lecky - Writer and Performer

2022 video {{DEFAULTSORT:Lecky, Nicole 1990 births Living people Actors from the London Borough of Newham Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts BAFTA winners (people) Black British actresses Black British women writers British women television writers English people of Jamaican descent English stage actresses English television actresses English women dramatists and playwrights People from Stratford, London Theatre people from London Writers from the London Borough of Newham