Lauren Marie Socha (born 9 June 1990) is an English actress. She rose to prominence during her role as Kelly Bailey in the E4 comedy-drama television series Misfits, for which she won a BAFTA TV Award in the Best Supporting Actress category. She is also known for her role as Lauren in the Channel 4 television film The Unloved.

Socha was born in Derby, Derbyshire to Robert and Kathleen (née Lyons) Socha. Her mother is English and her father was British of Polish/Italian parents.^{[citation needed]} She has an older brother, Michael Socha, also an actor.^[1] She attended St. George's RC Primary School, Burton College and St. Benedict's Catholic School and Performing Arts College, Derby. She trained at the Central Junior Television Workshop based in Nottingham.^[2]

Socha was first recognised by agents and casting directors when she attended a local drama workshop, having been inspired by her older brother. This led to her being cast as the lead in the Arctic Monkeys' video for their 2006 single "When the Sun Goes Down" at the age of 15.^[3]

In 2009, Socha went on to star in Samantha Morton's directorial debut The Unloved in which she played a sixteen-year-old girl in a care home. She was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role.^[4] A week later she auditioned for the role of Kelly Bailey in British comedy drama Misfits and got the part.^[5]

In 2010, Socha starred alongside Tim McInnerny in the short film Missing. She also had a minor role in the television mini-series Five Daughters, based on the Ipswich serial murders.

In May 2011, she won a BAFTA in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role of Kelly in Misfits.^[6] Socha was nominated for Outstanding Actress in the fiction category at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in 2011.^[7] She later appeared in the short The Child, playing a version of Marilyn Monroe. She also took part in the BBC learning project "Off By Heart Shakespeare" where she played Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, performing the speech: "Blistered be thy tongue".^[8]

She also appeared in five episodes of Catastrophe as the babysitter and in 2017 and 2020 played one of the sisters in comedy series The Other One.

Socha lives in Derby. She has three tattoos: three stars on her neck, a bow on her back and her initials with a star on her wrist, which her parents allowed her to have done.^[2] Her brother, Michael Socha, is also an actor.

In April 2016, it was announced via Twitter that she had given birth to a girl.^[9][10]