Eva O’Hara just landed her television debut on the long-running British soap opera, Hollyoaks, becoming a series regular in the show she watched religiously as a kid.

Before landing her big break, O’Hara attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in London where she pursued a BA in Acting. During her studies, she participated in school theatre, playing roles like Catherine in A View from the Bridge, Kitty in How My Light Is Spent, Mrs. Robin in Mr. Maglump, Kate Nickelby in Nicholas Nickleby, and Emilia in The Comedy of Errors, which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She also appeared onscreen in a student film, Honesty, before graduating to short films like Your Move and Digging.

Outside of school, O’Hara continued to earn roles on stage. In 2016, she was cast as Rosalind in Shakespeare’s Forests at the Shakespeare Young Company. Two years later, she got her first film job playing Rosalind in Stark Shakespeare, before she even graduated. Other stage credits include The Mysteries (as Mary Magdalene) at Playbox Theatre and Where We Come From (as Eva) at the Actors Centre; for the latter, she had her first co-directing gig.

Fresh out of college, O’Hara’s talents led her to Hollyoaks: a show that’s been on air since 1995. She debuted in January of 2020 as Verity Hutchinson, playing the long-lost sister of the longest-running character, Tony, in the spinoff special: Hollyoaks Later. After that, she was cast as a regular, which was a magical moment for her, given she watched the show while doing her homework in fifth grade.

And at the beginning of her career, O’Hara’s already an award-winning actress: so far, she’s an Alan Bates Finalist, a Carlton Hobbs Finalist, and she won the Andy Frazer Stage Combat Award.