Northern Irish film, television and stage actress Geraldine Hughes might not be an easily recognizable face for most, but she has quietly accumulated a long list of film, television and theater credits, most notably as the character of Little Marie in 2006’s film Rocky Balboa. Born in West Belfast, she moved to America after receiving a scholarship to attend university, graduating from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

In 2005, she wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed play Belfast Blues, a true story from Hughes’s perspective about coming of age in Belfast in the 1980s. Performed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Belfast and London, the play received the Los Angeles Ovation, Garland and Drama Critics Circle Awards, and Hughes won a Drama League Nomination for Outstanding Performance.

Most recently, she appeared in the Irish Repertory Theatre’s production of Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney in the title role. Hughes can currently be seen on Broadway in Jez Butterworth’s Tony-nominated Jerusalem in the role of Dawn.