BBC’s gripping new six-part drama Riot Women hits screens on Sunday night, and it’s set to be another hit from Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright. The series follows five menopausal women from completely different backgrounds who form a punk rock band and enter a local talent competition. As their friendship deepens, they uncover life-changing secrets – and realise they’ve got far more to shout about than they ever imagined. Among the powerhouse cast is Lorraine Ashbourne (The Crown, Bridgerton, Sherwood, Unforgotten), who plays drummer Jess Burchill, starring alongside Tamsin Greig, Rosalie Craig, Joanna Scanlan and Amelia Bullmore. But away from the drumkit, Lorraine leads a fascinating life of her own – including being married to one of Hollywood’s most recognisable actors.
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The couple live together in north London
Life off-screen with husband Andy Serkis
Manchester-born Lorraine, 64, lives in north London with her husband Andy Serkis, 61 – the globally acclaimed actor and filmmaker best known for his impressive Hollywood career.
His legendary roles range from Gollum in The Lord of the Rings franchise, Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboots and Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars sequel films.
He’s also played antagonist David Robey in the Netflix crime thriller Luther: The Fallen Sun, Glen in the 2011 drama Wild Bill and Alfred in the 2022 action film The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson.
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They’ve been married since 2002
Andy’s Hollywood career
Most recently, Andy has starred in Disney+’s hit show Andor, Venom: The Last Dance and has voiced characters in video games such as Animal Farm and Clair Obscur. Much like his wife, Middlesex-born Andy has won various accolades in recognition of his work, including an Empire Award and two Saturn Awards for his motion-capture acting, a Daytime Emmy Award and a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 2020.
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Andy and Lorraine share three children, Sonny (third from right), Louis (third from left) and Ruby (far right)
A family of actors
Lorraine and Andy met in 1989 and tied the knot in 2002. They share three children: Ruby, 27, Sonny, 25, and Louis, 21 – all of whom are following in their parents’ footsteps by pursuing a career in acting.
You may recognise Ruby for her turn in the historical drama, Becoming Elizabeth, as well as the BBC crime drama, The Serpent. She also had a lead role in the Netflix series, The Letter for the King, starring alongside her dad. Meanwhile, Sonny has made appearances in Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air, The Witcher and Young Wallander, while Louis appeared in Out There, The Queen’s Gambit and No Return.
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Sonny and Ruby are both actors
Despite Lorraine and Andy’s hugely successful careers, they’re keen to keep their home life “normal”. During a previous interview with Red magazine, Andy spoke about the importance of keeping their children grounded.
“We’ve always explained to them that we’re really lucky to do what we do, but at the end of the day, it’s still a job,” Andy said, per Yahoo! Life. “It was very important for us to ground them, keep them in school and teach them that nothing would be handed to them on a plate.”
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Lorraine and Andy’s first date was in character
How did Lorraine and Andy meet?
Lorraine and Andy first met in 1989 while performing in a play at the Royal Exchange and decided to go on their first date still in character.
“We got together in character – we’d both split up from other partners and we had started rehearsing this play where the couple we were playing were about to break up,” Andy explained during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2023.
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Lorraine plays drummer Jess in Riot Women
“We thought it would be good to improvise the moment they got together, which was a failed excuse for getting off with each other. We agreed to meet at the back of Manchester Piccadilly Station at this pub. We sat down and started interacting as the characters and it went on, it carried on all night and we never broke character. We were immersed in our characters and it got to about 12 o’clock and had our first kiss in character.”
Riot Women is available to watch on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 12 October. All six episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.
