Amy Cudden

Amy Cudden is a British actress, writer, director and teacher. She is from Norfolk but later moved to Essex. She began attending local theatre school as a child and later joined the Maddermarket Theatre, where she performed in various plays. She studied at the Bretton Hall College of Education/ University of Leeds and later did a postgraduate degree at the Oxford School of Drama. Cudden received critical recognition for her work in the theatre productions of Shallow Slumber, The Village Bike (2012), Tonight at 8.30 (2014) and After Miss Julie (2016). She also performed in various other productions, including Occupational Hazards (2017) and One Man, Two Guvnors (2019), as well as playing Anne Boleyn in The Last Days of Anne Boleyn at the Tower of London.

Cudden has appeared in television shows such as Casualty, Doctor Who, Doctors, Vera, Holby City, PhoneShop, Am I Being Unreasonable?, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, The Girlfriend Experience and The Midwich Cuckoos. She also appeared in various other productions and short films. Cudden had a role in the 2025 film Steve, and later that year, she began portraying Becky Swain on the soap opera Coronation Street for a four-month stint, which she also played in Corriedale. Additionally, Cudden has directed plays and also taught at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Life and career Amy Cudden is from Norfolk and spent the majority of her life in Norwich, though she later moved to Essex. When she was a child, she enjoyed reading books and considered her father a "great storyteller", which she believes led to her pursuing a career in performing, as she wanted to continue telling stories. She also played DS Pierce in the show on another occasion. She really liked her experience in the show and found working in the spaceship set "the most fun ever". She also had a guest appearance in a 2011 episode of the second series of the British sitcom PhoneShop, where she played a stalker.

In 2012, Cudden starred in the two-hander play Shallow Slumber along with Alexandra Gilbreath at the Soho Theatre. Cudden considered the play to be one of her favourites that she had been in but added that the show was "very intense and a bit of an emotional marathon". Later that year, Cudden starred as lead character Becky in The Village Bike at the Crucible Theatre. Cudden considered the play to be one of her favourite plays she had performed in and felt very "lucky" to be part of it, also calling her character "one of the most complex, funny, dark, and witty characters I've read written for a woman". Robert Tanitch from British Theatre Guide praised Cudden's performance in the play. Rhiannon McDowall from Manchester Evening News praised Cudden and Kirsty Besterman for providing "delightfully light accompaniment" in the final play of the show. Cudden guest-starred as Sylvia Carriere in the BBC soap opera Doctors in the episode originally airing on 26 March 2015. She had a guest role in a series 18 episode of the British medical drama television series Holby City, "The Hope That Kills", which originally aired in January 2016. In 2016, it was announced that Cudden would play Christine in After Miss Julie, which was initially performed at the Theatre Royal, Bath, that May before touring the UK. A writer from The Lady wrote that Cudden played her role with "knowing primness".

From April to June 2017, Cudden played JD in Occupational Hazards at Hampstead Theatre. The production was also broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In April 2018, it was reported that Cudden would portray Anne Boleyn in the new 35-minute play The Last Days of Anne Boleyn at the Tower of London, which revolved around Boleyn's imprisonment, trial and execution; the play ran twice a day from Fridays to Tuesdays between 6 May and 28 August 2018. The following year, Cudden played Rachel Crabbe in One Man, Two Guvnors, which was performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Cudden found the play humorous. In 2022, Cudden portrayed Sarah McLean in several episodes of the science fiction television series The Midwich Cuckoos. That same year, she briefly appeared in a scene in Am I Being Unreasonable?, and later returned for two episodes in 2025. The actress explained, "I was in a tiny scene in the first series, and Daisy May Cooper improvised a line calling me "Daniel Radcliffe", leading to me being brought back as 'Daniel Radcliffe's mum' in the second series because I apparently look like Harry Potter". Cudden had a guest role in a 2023 episode of Father Brown as part of its tenth season. In 2024, Cudden appeared in the first episode of two shows – British television drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office and the American war drama miniseries Masters of the Air. Mr Bates vs The Post Office was Cudden's favourite television drama that she appeared in, and she said that she was "horrified" when she read the scripts, as she did not know much about the British Post Office scandal, which the show is based on. Cudden's character was soon revealed to be Becky Swain, the estranged wife of established character Lisa Swain, who had faked her death. Cudden called joining the soap "incredible", adding, "Coronation Street is a monolith of British TV, my mum remembers watching the first episode with her own mum. All the things I wanted when I was 17-18 and decided to be an actor – to tell stories, be different people, connect with people – are happening. I'm genuinely blown away and so happy." Two weeks later, she was playing Roblox with her son and had to stop the game when her agent called her to tell her she had received the role; Cudden then told her son, who "rolled his eyes" and went back to playing the game. Afterwards, Cudden only told her mother, husband and a few close friends that she had been cast as Becky, as she wanted to keep Becky's debut a secret for viewers, explaining, "It would have felt very disrespectful to give the secret away". The following month, Becky was confirmed by the soap's producer, Kate Brooks, to be a villain that would try to cause trouble for Lisa's relationship with Carla Connor (Alison King). In December 2025, it was announced that Cudden would also play Becky in Corriedale, a crossover episode between Coronation Street and Emmerdale. The one-off episode will air on 5 January 2026. At the screening for the episode, Cudden explained that she featured heavily in the special and that she reached "peak villain". Cudden's last appearance as Becky occurred in the episode originally airing on 12 January 2026.

Cudden has also appeared in adaptations of the plays Plasticine (at the Southwark Playhouse), Messiah, Everyman, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Pillars Of The Community, The Tempest, The Rover and Woyzeck, in addition to the television shows The Bill and Crimson Knights and the short films Deep Sleep, Speed Dating, 4.48 Psychosis and Gone Far Away. She also was a voice artist in the 2025 audiobook Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Full-Cast Edition). In addition to acting, Cudden has taught and directed at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and has held the "Joint Head of Screen, Audio and Innovation" position there.

Personal life Cudden has a husband, and a son born in 2014 or 2015. Three weeks after she married her husband, Cudden had to go away for an acting job, which she found difficult. She has said that she enjoys touring and discovering new places but not being away from her husband. She has described herself as "lucky, bookish, snoozy" and "incredibly cosy"; she has joked that she would be a bear if she could. She enjoys writing, spending time with her family and going for walks with her dog in the woods, and is a fan of science fiction. Cudden's dream role would be Ellen Ripley in Alien.

Acting credit Filmography Year Title Role Notes Crimson Knights Corin Speed Dating Sandra Short film Casualty DS Pierce 4.48 Psychosis She Short film Gone Far Away Emily Short film 2008–09 Casualty Molly 3 episodes (series 23) 2009 Deep Sleep Fiona Short film 2009 The Bill Susie Hughes Guest role (2 episodes) 2011 Doctor Who Anita 1 episode ("Let's Kill Hitler") 2011 Vera Grace Bishop 1 episode ("The Crow Trap") 2011 PhoneShop Stalker 1 episode ("It's Training Men") 2015 Doctors Sylvia Carriere 1 episode ("Surrogate Dad") 2016 Holby City Michelle Lavers 1 episode ("The Hope That Kills") 2017 Theatre on 4: Occupational Hazards JD Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 2021 The Girlfriend Experience Sensor Tech 1 episode ("State of Mind") 2022 The Midwich Cuckoos Sarah McLean Recurring role 2022, 2025 Am I Being Unreasonable? Liz Guest role (2 episodes) 2023 Father Brown Agnes Morris 1 episode ("The Wheels of Wrath") 2023 Doctors Lisa Caldwell 1 episode ("Finding Jacob") 2024 Mr Bates vs The Post Office Issy Hogg 1 episode ("Episode 1") 2024 Masters of the Air Marjorie 1 episode ("Part One") 2025 Am I Being Unreasonable? Daniel Radcliffe's mum Guest role (1 episode) 2025 Steve Claire Drama film 2025–26 Coronation Street Becky Swain Regular role 2026 Corriedale Becky Swain One-off special episode

Theatre Year Production Role Venue The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Maddermarket Tour The Metamorphosis Greta Maddermarket Tour The Rover Moretta/Valeria Macbeth/Much Ado About Nothing/The Tempest Various A Midsummer Night's Dream Blenheim Palace Messiah Mary/Mary Magdalene/Disciple Born Again Theatre Everyman God Bretton Hall The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Chicken Pillars Of The Community Lona Oxford School of Drama Plasticine Natasha Southwark Playhouse Woyzeck Marie/Journeyman 2 Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 2012 Shallow Slumber Dawn Soho Theatre 2012 The Village Bike Becky Crucible Theatre 2014 Tonight at 8.30 Ensemble cast Several locations 2016 After Miss Julie Christine Various 2017 Occupational Hazards JD Hampstead Theatre 2018 The Last Days of Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn Tower of London 2019 One Man, Two Guvnors Rachel Crabbe The Theatre Royal Haymarket

Directing credits

Tartuffe Pentecost The Rover After Birth