Tala Gouveia (born 13 February 1989) is a British actress, best known for playing DCI Lauren McDonald in the ITV crime drama McDonald & Dodds (2020–present).

Tala Gouveia
Born (1989-02-13) 13 February 1989 (age 35)
Nottingham, United Kingdom
OccupationActress
Years active2010–present

Early life

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Gouveia was born in Nottingham.[1] The daughter of two theatre actors, Gouveia trained at the Bristol Old Vic.

Career

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Her first TV job was a small role in EastEnders from 2011 to 2013 as Nurse Green.[2]

In March 2020, Gouveia played DCI McDonald in the Bath-set ITV police drama McDonald & Dodds opposite Jason Watkins and an array of guest stars including Rob Brydon, Patsy Kensit, Martin Kemp and Robert Lindsay. She has also appeared as Gemma Murphy in the ITV1 drama Cold Feet, the CBeebies' children's series Go Jetters, and the BBC1 2018 Christmas show Click & Collect.[3][4] Gouveia also has credits for the 2019 film Before We Grow Old and has provided the regular voice of Cleo Farr in the animated series Scream Street alongside the likes of Jim Howick, Tyger Drew-Honey, Debra Stephenson and John Thomson.[5]

Selected filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2011–2013 EastEnders Nurse Green 4 episodes
2015–2018 Scream Street Cleo Farr 20 episodes
2018 Click and Collect Toy shop assistant TV movie
2019 Cold Feet Gemma Murphy 1 episode
2019–2020 Go Jetters Tala (voice) 30 episodes
2020–present McDonald & Dodds DCI Lauren McDonald Series regular

References

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  1. ^ Gorman, Rachel (21 November 2019). "Meet the Nottingham starring in new ITV cop drama McDonald & Dodds". Nottingham Post.
  2. ^ "Tala Gouveia: 'They called McDonald & Dodds woke just because I was black'". TheGuardian.com. 18 February 2021.
  3. ^ Britten, Elise (25 February 2020). "Stars describe how Bath has inspired new ITV crime drama". somersetlive.
  4. ^ Sutton, Megan (20 February 2020). "McDonald & Dodds - Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia interview". www.goodhousekeeping.com.
  5. ^ "McDonald & Dodds cast member Tala Gouveia: What else has she done? Who was she in Cold Feet?". 28 February 2021.
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