Cara Readle (born 8 January 1991) is a British actress from Swansea, Wales, known mainly for her role as Layla in the BBC's The Story of Tracy Beaker from series three to five.
Early life and career Cara Jayne was born in Swansea to an English father and Welsh mother, Karen and brought up in the Mumbles area of the city, and has cerebral palsy. The characters she played in Zig Zag Love and The Story of Tracy Beaker also have this condition. In November 2009, she also had a part in Casualty, playing a patient with cerebral palsy called Serena Wark. The character's sister, Shona Wark, portrayed by Evelyn Hoskins, has reappeared several times as a recurring character, becoming involved in a storyline centring on character Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson), but despite this, Serena has never reappeared.Since the first appearance of both characters in Second Chance, Shona has reappeared in Last Roll of the Dice, The Cradle will Fall, An Ugly Truth, Love is a Battlefield, and the Holby City episode Downstairs, Upstairs. She returned as a more regular character in A Better Past and continues to appear.
Cara has worked with BBC Ouch! to share life experiences about her disability. From 2011, she has starred in the BBC Wales series Baker Boys as Elen, the daughter of Eve Myles' character Sarah. In 2014, she featured in episode 5 (of 8) of the Sky One drama The Smoke alongside Jodie Whittaker, starring as a receptionist. From 2021 to 2023 she featured in CBeebies show Biff & Chip as Sam.
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BBC page for Layla Presenter Cerrie Burnell chats to actress Cara Readle TV's Gail Porter meets actor Cara Readle Actress calls for more disabled people on TV
"I'm not aware of breaking new ground, acting is what I do"