Six of the Best - Irish Actors

Hugh O'Connor

Best-known for playing the young Christy Brown in My Left Foot and the adorable, Elvis-loving priest in Chocolat, Dublin actor and director Hugh O’Conor is determined to show how intimidatingly multi-talented he is. After spending the last two years putting in brilliant turns in Ripper Street, Saving The Titanic and Moone Boy, O’Conor is set to impress in front of and behind the cameras through 2014. Anyone who’s seen him alongside Amy Huberman and Domhnall Gleeson in the outrageously funny Your Bad Self will be aware of O’Conor’s brilliant comedic timing, a skill he’ll be utilising in The Stag – billed as a more intelligent and emotive version of The Hangover. He’s also working on the script for a sitcom as well as a television drama, all the while keeping his directorial skills finely honed by making gorgeous music videos for acts like Heathers and The Hot Sprockets.

Andrew Scott

The Dublin actor has had theatre lovers swooning for years now. He starred on Broadway alongside Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy in The Vertical Hour, directed by none other than Sam Mendes. The Laurence Olivier Award-winner also gained critical acclaim for his role as Paul McCartney in Lennon Naked and his performance in television’s Band Of Brothers, which featured Damien Lewis, Ron Livingston, Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. However, it was Scott’s scenestealing in the British television drama Sherlock that finally made him a household name. Playing opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, Scott’s villain Moriarty was hilarious, seductive and sociopathic. Scott was rewarded with a BAFTA, an IFTA and a legion of obsessive fans,. First up is 2014 The Stag, the aforementioned Irish comedy co-starring Amy Huberman, Hugh O’Conor and Brian Gleeson – yes, of those Gleesons! He’ll then star alongside Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman and Ruth Wilson in the thriller Locke, and in a new version of Frankenstein starring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy. Phew!

Katie McGrath
The Wicklow native has her eyes set on the dazzling lights of Hollywood. However, acting was not something she had originally envisioned herself doing. McGrath studied history at Trinity College. Upon graduation she got a job at Image magazine and worked as wardrobe assistant on the set of The Tudors. Being on set piqued her curiosity about acting. Small parts in numerous productions preceded her best-known role to date as Morgana in the cult TV favourite Merlin. McGrath also notched up a small part in Madonna’s directorial debut, W.E., a biopic about King Edward VIII. Last year she landed a leading role in NBC’s re-imagining of Dracula, opposite Jonathon Rhys Meyers.

Eoin Macken

Dubliner Macken started out impressing female fans with his chiselled looks and honed physique as an Abercrombie and Fitch model. But the multi-talented lad is more than a pretty face. Best known for Merlin, he received positive reviews for his feature Cold at the Galway Film Fleadh this summer. Written and directed by Macken, the family drama stars Tom Hopper from Merlin, film-making legend Mike Figgis, and soon-to-besuperstar Jack Reynor. Macken has meanwhile bagged a starring role in the NBC medical show The Night Shift, which is set to be huge. About a group of army doctors who return to work on the night shift at a hospital in San Antonio, the show is directed by Taken’s Pierre Morel and so promises to be big on action as well as emotion. And to make us feel extra unproductive, Macken has penned a book, which he describes as a Stand By Me-esque coming-of-age tale he’s hoping to eventually adapt for the big screen. He is also working on a Blade Runner-style script, a vampire tale and a thriller akin to Natural Born Killers. That’s one good-looking career the boy’s got ahead of him.

Allen Leech

The Irish actor stole Sybil and all our mothers’ hearts as Downton Abbey’s fiery chauffeur Tom Branson. He didn’t fare too badly with critics either. Many cited his warm, intelligent presence as a highlight of the show. Then, Leech had been something of a reviewer’s darling long before the period drama, earning rave notices and an IFTA nomination for Man About Dog, and impressing as Marcus Agrippa in HBO historical drama Rome. He proved his versatility last year as an enigmatic manipulator in the chilling horror In Fear – though we promise not to tell our Mammies that their little Tommy has a dark side. Leech will again be courting international acclaim in 2014, as he takes his rightful place amongst Hollywood’s hottest stars in The Imitation Game, which just finished filming in November. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightly and Matthew Goode, the drama focuses on the life of scientist and cryptologist Alexander Turing, who cracked the Nazis’ Enigma Code but was later condemned for his homosexuality. This film screams Oscar favourite, and we can’t wait to see Leech get the acclaim he deserves.

Jamie Dornan

We really, really hope Jamie Dornan likes frighteningly obsessive fangirls – and their mothers. He’s about to get a lot of them. The absurdly handsome Irish actor, model and musician was previously best known for playing Axel von Fersen in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. We suspect that’s all about to pale in comparison to his next role. After months of speculation, Dornan is to star opposite Dakota Johnson in the film adaptation of s&m bonkbuster Fifty Shades Of Grey. He replaces the original choice for the part, Charlie Hunnam. Though we’re not putting money on the film actually being any good – I mean really, have you read that book? – it is sure to propel Dornan into top-tier stardom. Hopefully
he will make the most of the opportunity.