Claire Cooper

English small-screen pin-up Claire Cooper is most famous for playing Jacqui McQueen on the Channel 4 soap "Hollyoaks." A native of the West Yorkshire town of Wakefield, Cooper was a champion gymnast during her teenage years, specializing in acrobatics; however, after a decade in the sport, she switched her attention to drama, and attended Guildford School of Acting for three years. After graduation, she worked in theater and got her first on-screen credit with a major role in a two-part episode of the BBC detective miniseries "Waking the Dead" in 2004. She had day player jobs on the UK soaps "Waterloo Road" and "Coronation Street" in 2006, and in the fall of that year began playing Jacqui, a glamorous and feisty ex-con "chav" who is part of the rowdy and criminally-inclined McQueen clan. Unlucky-in-love Jacqui has had a tumultuous time on "Hollyoaks," having to weather a fake marriage, a miscarriage, a failed adoption, a number of troubled relationships, rape and blackmail--however, these many trials have allowed Cooper to shine as an actress, and in 2011 she was nominated for both Best Dramatic Performance and Best Actress at the British Soap Awards. In addition to her work in "Hollyoaks" and its after-hours sister show "Hollyoaks Later," Cooper has been involved with the anti-delinquency campaign "No Messing" and, along with fellow "Hollyoaks" actresses Jennifer Metcalfe and Leah Hackett, owns the Liverpool clothing boutique The Closet.