Biography
Geraldine Hughes is a Northern Irish actress born in 1970 in Belfast. She grew up in West Belfast and the Divis flats during the Troubles. At the age of 14 she was cast in the television film Children in the Crossfire. She later received a scholarship to study at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Hughes is known for her film roles as Marie in Rocky Balboa (2006) and as Karen Kowalski in Gran Torino (2008). She wrote and performed the one-woman show Belfast Blues, which premiered in Los Angeles and was staged in New York. Her stage work includes productions on Broadway and in the West End. She has appeared in television series including ER, The Blacklist and Your Honor.
Hughes has received awards including the Los Angeles Ovation Award and a Drama League nomination for Belfast Blues. In 2023 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ulster University.
