Sophie McShera

In Autumn 2010, she became part of the original cast of the Golden Globe winning period drama Downton Abbey. She has played Daisy Mason in every episode of the series to date.

McShera was born and raised in Holme Wood, Bradford, Yorkshire, in a large Irish family.

At an early age, she moved to Eccleshill, also in Bradford, where she attended St Joseph's College. Out of school, she attended the Footsteps Theatre School before getting her stage break at the age of twelve in the comedy The Goodbye Girl. She followed this up with a stint on tour with Annie before completing her GCSEs and A-levels and going to Brunel University, London, where she earned a degree in drama.

Whilst at university, in 2004, McShera and her ex-boyfriend Tom Hatley won £100 in a competition run by Barclays for students with innovative business ideas. Their business, That Sweet Feeling, specialises in jars of romance-themed confectionery, especially popular during Valentines Day.McShera's interests outside of acting include swimming and rollerskating and she sings soprano to a high standard.

McShera's television career started after university in 2007, with minor roles in the soap operas Emmerdale and Doctors and the drama Survivors in 2008. In 2009 she joined the regular cast of BBC school drama Waterloo Road, playing A-level student Ros McCain for the entirety of the fifth series. Ros' storylines revolved around her trying to fulfill her academic potential and also questioning her sexuality.Following her departure from Waterloo Road, McShera became part of the cast of Julian Fellowes ITV costume drama Downton Abbey as Daisy, the kitchen maid.

The show has attracted critical and popular success.McShera, alongside Hugh Bonneville, made a personal thank you to the audience after Downton Abbey won Most Popular TV Drama at the 2012 National TV Awards. She will have a supporting role in the ITV sitcom The Job Lot which will air in 2013 and is set in a busy unemployment bureau in the West Midlands.

McShera's stage roles include playing the titular role in the pantomime Cinderella at the West Yorkshire Playhouse between December 2009 and January 2010, and performing as 'Pea' in Jez Butterworth's stage play Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End.