BAFTA-winning actress Joanna Scanlan, 64, returns to screens this week in Channel 5's five-part thriller 'Missed Call'. She plays Sarah Gleason, a mother whose teenage daughter vanishes during a school exchange in southern France.
The plot follows Sarah as she travels to Saint-Michel, where she faces evasive police and hostility from the girl's powerful host family. Teaming up with local detective Lieutenant Virginie Taylor, she uncovers secrets, abuse, corruption and trafficking within the town.
Off-screen, Scanlan has spoken about a nervous breakdown at age 29, after a string of failed auditions. The stress of working as a drama lecturer and at the Arts Council led her to collapse. A doctor advised her to return to acting, which she did, securing two jobs after reaching out to old acquaintances.
The actress also revealed she tried to adopt at 38 but was rejected by social services due to insufficient family support in London. She considered donor sperm but decided against it, fearing she could not make that choice on behalf of the child.
Scanlan is married to accountant Neil Bicknell, whom she met at a yoga festival in Devon when she was 46. They wed in 2009 and live in Croydon with their rescue dog Millie. She thanked him in her 2020 BAFTA speech for the film 'After Love', saying he proves 'there is no such thing as After Love'.
Born in West Kirby, Scanlan learned Welsh for her role in Channel 4's 'The Light in the Hall', drawing on her North Welsh family roots. She noted that her mother and niece, who speaks Welsh through school, were excited about the role.
