As ITV axes Vera, these are the actors who owe careers to the series (2024)

It's the hit crime drama that turned Brenda Blethyn into the household name - but after 14 years, Vera is officially coming to an end.

Earlier this week, ITV confirmed that the 78-year-old will return for one final season, which will be filmed in Northumberland this summer.

Since Vera began in 2011, the show has starred several industry heavyweights - including the late Paul Ritter, Notting Hill's Gina McKee and Catastrophe star Mark Bonnar.

However, the series also helped to launch the careers of some of the UK's biggest actors, such as Kingsley Ben-Adir and Cush Jumbo.

Here FEMAIL takes a look back at the stars (and one surprising musician) who owe their careers to the crime drama.

Sam Fender

He's the BRIT award-winning artist who is best known for his song Seventeen Going Under and the album Hypersonic Missiles.

But in 2011, the singer-songwriter, from North Shields, had a cameo in the first ever episode of Vera.

In 'Hidden Depths', DCI Vera Stanhope investigated the deaths of two young people who were killed in a similar fashion.

During the pilot episode, the detective and her team visit the murder scene of 15-year-old Luke Armstrong, who was played by Sam Fender.

The musician - who was 17 at the time - is seen lying in a bathtub filled with flowers after being strangled.

Setting the emotional tone for the series, Vera comments on how 'nice-looking' Luke was and added: 'They always look younger [in death].'

Following this, Sam went on to appear in the CBBC fantasy show Wolfblood in 2012 before deciding to concentrate on his music career.

Appearing on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio Xin 2020, Sam opened up about his experience on the show and his awkward experience with his on-screen mother Gina McKee.

Detailing how they filmed the bath scene, Sam explained how he was struggling to hold his breath and ended up 'snotting all over' the Notting Hill star.

As his character was killed shortly after the opening credits, Sam joked that he lasted 'all of 10 seconds' in the show.

Elsewhere, Sam revealed how he used to go to acting classes on Saturday mornings after his grandmother joked he was a 'wayward' child.

The group was run by former Byker Grove actress Annie Orwin and Sam credits the star, who he described as a 'surrogate mother', for helping him to 'harness emotion and put it on stage'.

Delving into why he stepped away from acting, Sam explained: 'I really really enjoyed it but the problem for me is that I'm a control freak.

'And with acting, you're portraying somebody else's dream or doing somebody else's script and I quite like to tell the story. I'm a storyteller at heart.'

In February 2022, Sam Fender won a BRIT for Rock/Alternative act award and the artist now boasts over 5.5m monthly listeners on Spotify.

Kinglsey Ben-Adir

2024 is shaping up to be a monumental year for Kingsley Ben-Adir - after the star bagged the lead in the Bob Marley bio-pic One Love.

However, the 37-year-old got his big break by playing pathologist Marcus Summer in Vera when he was 25.

Before this, the actor, from Kentish Town, had had a minor role in Agatha Christie's Marple and the film City Slacker.

In a recent interview to promote One Love, Ben-Adir said: 'In my high school, I was in classrooms with people who went off to Oxford and Cambridge. And I was also next to people who went to prison before the age of 15 and who are not with us.

'So there were definitely periods of my life where it was f***ing really dangerous and rough growing up around here. I came out on the lucky side.'

He caught the acting bug as a young teen and went to drama classes; eventually enrolling at Guildhall, where he graduated in 2011.

Speaking to the Evening Standard in 2021, Kingsley said that he 'couldn't get a job in telly' before Vera and spent a time teaching children with special needs at his former school.

In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, the star touched on 'cringe' auditions in the early years of his career and how an American casting director curtly told him that something about him 'wasn't working'. Kingsley added: 'That really damaged me for a while.'

Marcus Summer was the first main role Kingsley ever bagged and the actor went on to star in Peaky Blinders, The OA, High Fidelity and Secret Invasion.

The actor also played Malcom X in One Night in Miami in 2020 and was cast as 'Basketball Ken' in Greta Gerwig's Barbie, which grossed $1.4bn at the box office.

Cush Jumbo

Cush Jumbo is another British actor who has Vera to thank for helping catapult her career.

The actress, 38, had bagged minor roles in My Family and Casulty before playingDC Bethany Whelan on the hit series from 2012-2016.

Following this, the mother-of-one went on to appear in The Good Wife, The Good Fight and the Apple TV series Criminal Record, opposite Peter Capaldi.

In an interview with The Times in 2019, Cush said she 'owed a lot of her career' to her Vera co-star Brenda Blethyn.

She explained: 'When I worked on Vera,the first proper regular thing I had, she’d played Nora in A Doll’s House, and I was going to play the same role [on the stage].

'We talked a lot, and she showed me how to switch between stage and screen — even the energy it takes is different. She helped make me an actor.'

Alongside her television work, Cush is also an accomplished theatre actress - having been the first non-white woman to play Eliza Doolitte in Pygmalion in 2010.

This morning, it was announced that the Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth Cush is currently starring in opposite David Tennant will transfer to the West End.

In 2019, Cush was awarded an OBE in recognition for her services to drama.

In an interview with Fabric magazine, Cush opened up about what the award meant to her.

She explained: 'Having those letters after your name, I have never seen as anything other than a positive, because it just means that more people who come from my part of London, or grew up where I grew up, or look like me, look at me and think, well that’s a real achievement, maybe that’s something that I could do.

'There is no reason why, just because you are born in one part of London, you can’t make a success of yourself in any area if you apply yourself.

'And it means that people listen to you when you are wanting to talk about or support important causes. It is a lot harder for them not to reply to your email when you have got an OBE!'

Wunmi Mosaku

She's starred in everything from Black Mirror to Luther to Loki - but Wumni Mosaku is another actress who got her big break in Vera.

The actress, 38, who is originally from Nigeria, played Holly Lawson in the first season of the hit crime series.

Like her former co-star Cush Jumbo, Wunmi credited Brenda for helping her progress as an actor.

Speaking to Chronicle Live, she explained: 'The thing I remember most fondly and I think this changed me as an actor was I watched her and you get taught to ignore the camera in drama school, but when I was watching her, I realised she wasn’t ignoring the camera.

'The camera was the audience and she was making sure the audience knew what was going on. If she turned away from me, she was never turning away from the audience.'

Earlier this year, Wumni starred in the ITV drama Passenger, which was created by Broadchurch writer Andrew Buchan.

David Leon

In 2011, David Leon was cast as DS Joe Ashworth in Vera and was a show regular for the next three years.

Before this, the actor had a brief stint as a CITV presenter before bagging a minor role in the BBC drama Cutting It, which ended in 2005.

Following this, the star wrote the short film Father and co-directed it with Marcus McSweeney. The pair's next film Man and Boy won Best Narrative Short at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010.

However, David's role in Vera catapulted his career to the next level and resulted him being cast in the the 2015 crime thriller The Orthodox. In 2017, David played DI Adam Perrin in the BBC series In The Dark.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that David would be reprising his role as DS Ashworth in the 13th season of Vera.

Speaking to What to Watch in January, the actor explained he 'hadn't considered' returning to the show after 10 years but said it 'felt very natural'.

He said: 'Although it was the one question I’d probably been asked by Vera fans every day since I left at the end of series four! It actually felt a very natural kind of thing to put on Joe’s clothes, walk back on to the set and feel very much at home.

'And of course working with Brenda comes very naturally, too. It’s always been very enjoyable, challenging and rewarding.'

Praising her legendary role as Vera, Brenda said about filming the final series: 'Working on Vera has been a joy from beginning to end and I'm sad to be saying Cheerio.

'But I am so proud of our achievements over the last fourteen years. I'll be forever grateful to the wonderful Ann Cleeves who created Vera, and to Elaine Collins who saw fit to cast me in the role.

'The Producers, dream cast and crew have been fabulous and I'm going to miss them, but I won't forget their huge talent, the camaraderie, laughter or kindness we shared nor the friendship of the people of the north east and our fans worldwide.

'Thank you from the bottom of my heart,' she added emotionally

Silverprint Pictures Creative Director Kate Bartlett commented: 'It is the end of an era and has been an extraordinary journey over fourteen amazing series of Vera.

'So many wonderful and talented people have been involved in the making of Vera across all the series, but none of us would be here without two incredible women: firstly, the absolutely extraordinary talent of the inimitable Brenda Blethyn.

Kate went on gushing over the beloved leading star: 'She is brilliant as DCI Vera Stanhope, a truly iconic character of our times. And - of course - the amazing Ann Cleeves, author of the original novels and creator of DCI Vera Stanhope.

'We will all be very sad to say goodbye to Brenda and everyone involved in making the show.'

Drama Commissioner Huw Kennair Jones added: 'Led by the incomparable Brenda Blethyn, from the moment Vera arrived on our screens in 2011 audiences have been enthralled by her many adventures.

'And whilst we're sad she's hanging up her Mac, we're hugely grateful for 14 brilliant series. Everyone at ITV would like to thank Brenda, Ann Cleeves, Silverprint Pictures and the amazing cast and crew that have made Vera such a continued success.'

Inspired by the award-winning author Ann Cleeves, Vera has become a much-loved and acclaimed series, with its compelling storylines and captivating performances.

Over the years, the drama has consistently pulled in impressive viewing figures, with an average six million viewers tuning in for the last series, including viewing across all devices.

Brenda previously cast doubt about her future on Vera after she was left heartbroken over co-starKenny Doughty's decision to leave the show.

Actor Kenny, 48, who played DS Aiden Healy, took to Instagram in March last year to let fans know of his departure.

He wrote: 'After 8 years & 35 Vera films I’ve made the difficult decision of handing over DS Healy’s badge. I can confirm I am leaving Vera.'

And Brenda was left so saddened by the news that she did not know if she wanted to continue on the programme herself.

She said: 'After we filmed The Rising Tide at the end of 2022 I didn’t want to do anymore without Kenny Doughty, who had decided to leave.

But I said, "I'll think about it if you can see if David Leon is available to return as Joe Ashworth." And so they did and here I am.

'I was broken-hearted when David left after series four and equally overjoyed when I heard he was coming back as the relationship between Vera and Joe worked so well.

'They have all of that early history together. I wouldn’t have continued if David had not agreed to come back.

'I just didn’t want to start another board game with somebody else when I know I’m not going to do many more. And who would want to do it anyway?'