Rebecca Jayne Callard is an English actress from Leeds. She is the daughter of Coronation Street actress Beverley Callard. She was born Rebecca Jayne Atkinson, but took her stepfather's surname when her mother married Steven Callard in 1989. In her early roles she used her father's surname and was credited as Rebecca Sowden. As a child Callard lived on Dawsons Corner in Pudsey, Leeds. She attended Intake High School in Farsley, where she was friends with future Spice Girl Melanie Brown and actress Angela Griffin. Callard has been married to actor Gideon Turner since 2001. Her television roles have included Arietty in The Borrowers and The Return of the Borrowers, Laura in Sunburn, chambermaid Kate Morris in The Grand, and Harriet Marsh in Plotlands.[3] She was also a regular cast member in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Smelling of Roses, and did the voice of Tamar in the claymation movie The Miracle Maker: The Story of Jesus. Callard appeared on stage as Juliet at the age of eighteen In Romeo and Juliet, directed by Judi Dench. She played Celia in the UK and US tour of a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, Rosalind being played by Rebecca Hall. After a four-year break, she returned in 2009 with a production of another Shakespeare play Macbeth at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and in a guest star role in an episode of the television series Robin Hood. In 2011 she played the part of Ruth Walsh in the drama soap Coronation Street.[4] In 2012 she played Ruth Pulis in the BBC crime drama series Blackout. In 2013 she played Sarah in The Accrington Pals at the Royal Exchange and appeared in the feature film Orthodox also starring Stephen Graham and Michael Smiley. In 2015 Rebecca played Grace Wells in the BBC1 series Ordinary Lies, She also played a car mechanic, Toni, in that year's Christmas special of the BBC4 comedy Detectorists. In February 2016, she appeared in the BBC drama series Moving On.
