Nicola Kathleen Stapleton (born 9 August 1974 in Elephant and Castle, London) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in EastEnders as Mandy Salter and Emmerdale as Danielle Hutch. A graduate of the Sylvia Young Theatre School, Stapleton began her career at an early age, appearing in films such as Hansel and Gretel and on television in the children's show Simon and the Witch in 1987. In 1992, she secured a high-profile role on British television as Mandy Salter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 1994, Stapleton quit the role, but in 2011, returned to the role after 17 years. In 2012, she left the role for a second time. Stapleton's other notable television roles include that of Janine Nebeski in ITV's Bad Girls (2005–06) and Joe Nardone in Channel 4's Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star (1998). In 2017, she joined Thomas & Friends as the voice of Rosie, taking over from Teresa Gallagher in the UK and Jules de Jongh in the US. 28 October 2017 marked Nicola's third appearance in Casualty playing her third different character in the show. Early life Stapleton was raised near East Street, which runs east to west between the Old Kent Road and Walworth Road in Walworth, south London. She and her younger brother Vince were born to working class parents, Kate, a cleaner from Scotland and Vincent Stapleton, who ran a car hire business. She attended the Townsend Primary School in South East London, where her parents were advised by a teacher "to channel her energy into something positive." As a result, they sent her to the Corona Theatre School and Sylvia Young Theatre School, where Denise Van Outen and her future EastEnders co-stars, Danniella Westbrook and Samantha Janus, were among her contemporaries. Career Early career Stapleton's career in showbusiness started when she was six, and at the age of eight she had a minor role as an extra in the James Bond film Octopussy (1983). She made her TV debut in the detective series, Dempsey and Makepeace (ITV), in 1985 and she went on to have roles in feature films such as Little Shop of Horrors (Geffen Pictures, 1986); Hansel and Gretel (MGM, 1987); Snow White (MGM, 1987) and Courage Mountain (Paramount, 1990). At aged 12 she played the part of Sally in the 1987 Children's BBC production, Simon and the Witch. She