Vanessa Emme

Vanessa Emme is an Irish stage and television actress. Her television roles include Layla Walsh in British police drama The Chelsea Detective (2023–present).

Early and personal life Emme is of Filipino descent through her mother, who graduated from university in the Philippines before moving abroad to teach. Emme told The Irish Examiner in 2018 that she is distantly related to Filipina freedom fighter Marcela Marcelo who led a group of revolutionaries against the Spanish.

Emme graduated from The Lir Academy in 2014 with a Bachelor in Acting. She moved from Ireland to be based in London in the late 2010s.

In 2017, she appeared in Mosquitoes at the National Theatre in London alongside Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams.

In 2018, she appeared in an adaptation of John Osbourne's Look Back in Anger at the Gate Theatre in Dublin.

Film and television She appeared in Dublin Murders and Bloodlands. She also appeared in A Discovery of Witches in 2022, as well as a role in long-running British procedural crime series Midsomer Murders.

She has a voice role in the animated film A Greyhound of a Girl adapted from the book by Irish author Roddy Doyle. In March 2025, it was confirmed that her character would be returning for the third season of the show with filming completed ahead of an April 2025 broadcast.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2008 Boyfriend Trouble Cathy Short film (Credited as Vanessa Fahy) Intersection Number Nine Number Six (Credited as Vanessa Fahy) Ghostwood Elizabeth (Credited as Vanessa Fahy) 2011 Every Second Sunday Amanda Short film (Credited as Vanessa Fahy) 2012 The Inside Louise (Credited as Vanessa Matisa Fahy) 2013 The Anti Love Pill Wendy Short film (Credited as Vanessa Matias Fahy) 2014 The Shadows Female Shadow (Credited as Vanessa Matias Fahy) 2017 The Observer Effect Maeve Short film 2023 A Greyhound of a Girl Dr. Heaney (voice)

Television Year Title Role Notes 2010 Mariana Sandra Episode: "Mariana and Her Sisters"(Credited as Vanessa Fahy) 2016 The Fall Dr. Doyle Episode: "Silence and Suffering" 2017 Little Boy Blue Police Liaison Officer Miniseries; 2 episodes 2018 Holby City Rochelle Plympton Episode: "All Lies Lead to the Truth" 2019 Manhunt Vanessa Episode: "The First Day" Dublin Murders Abby Stone Miniseries; 4 episodes 2020 Doctors Ruth Garrod Episode: "New Follower" 2021 Three Families Rachel Donleavy Miniseries; 2 episodes Midsomer Murders Danni Karras Episode: "Happy Families" 2022 A Discovery of Witches Joy Connelly Episode: "Series 3, Episode 2" Bloodlands Leah Hardy Recurring role; 3 episodes 2023–present The Chelsea Detective DS Layla Walsh Series regular; 10 episodes 2025 Lynley Donne Rathmell Episode: "Careless in Red"