Niamh McCormack on House of Guinness: "I pulled great inspiration from Sinéad, and am really sad that she’s no longer around to fight for the underdogs in our society"

“There were no scripts, just a very vague character description: ‘She’s Irish and has republicanism running through her veins.’ I was like, ‘Say no more, I know who this is!’ Which is a cool, fecking badass girl.”

That’s Niamh McCormack on the making of the audition video that landed her a role in the House Of Guinness, the upcoming Netflix drama about Arthur J’s descendants which is as gritty as it is glamorous.

We’ve come to expect both of those qualities from Steven Knight, the British screenwriter previously responsible for the likes of Taboo, Peaky Blinders, SAS: Rogue Heroes and his recent excursion into the criminal underbelly of London’s East End, A Thousand Blows.

McCormack, a 24-year-old Dubliner currently exiled in North London, plays Ellen Cochrane, a firecracker of a character who’s fictionalised but tells us a lot about the tensions – both political and sexual – that were simmering away in The Pale during the 1860s.

“Firecracker is right!” Niamh agrees. “I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to a character and so desperately wanted to play them. Ellen is a trailblazer completely ahead of her time, a Fenian and very high up in the Irish Republican Brotherhood. For a Catholic woman with not a lot of wealth or status, that was very rare at the time. Throughout her life she’s had to assert dominance any way she can. She has quite a masculine front, which is necessary to gain respect from the men around her. Beneath that ‘take on the world’ persona, though, there’s a beautiful femininity and vulnerability. Steven got the balance just right.

“Although set in the 19th century,” she continues, “Ellen also represents modern women who, in so many ways, are still having to fight to assert themselves. As a born and bred Dubliner myself, I can really relate to her.”

Niamh McCormack in House of Guinness (Netflix)

Last year, Hot Press released a podcast series, Airbrushed, which focused on six revolutionary female figures – Kathleen Lynn, Eva Gore-Booth, Helena Moloney, Margaret Skinnider, Helen Chevenix and Elizabeth O’Farrell – who were pretty much written out of history when the Catholic Church replaced the British as Ireland’s oppressors-in-chief.

“Wow, that sounds amazing!” Niamh enthuses. “They were good enough to be part of the struggle and the fight but not good enough to be remembered afterwards.”

Ellen Cochrane isn’t Steven Knight’s first feisty Fenian character, with Charlene McKenna playing IRA commander Captain Swing in series 5 and 6 of Peaky Blinders.

“Steven has a history of writing these really strong women and challenging societal norms for that time,” Niamh proffers. “Like you say, there have been thousands of women who’ve fought on the frontlines for freedom and independence – not only in Ireland, but throughout history – and then forgotten about. Ellen Cochrane is really an ode to that.”

What was it like being on set with him?

“Honestly, it’s like watching a magician at work,” she marvels. “Steven’s quite serious, which I admire, and creates such dynamic characters and situations to put them into. I tried to rationalise it – ‘No big deal, we’re working on the same show’ – but being such a massive Peaky Blinders fan, I couldn’t not feel a bit intimidated meeting Steven for the first time. I wasn’t sure how to approach him but straight away he put me at my ease. He’s an amazing guy and doing James Bond next which is super-exciting for him.”

With Anthony Boyle, Fionn O’Shea, Seamus O’Hara, Jack Gleeson, Dervla Kirwan, Danielle Galligan, David Wilmot, Michael McElhatton, Hilda Fay and Sean Duggan also flying the Irish flag, and such welcome English interlopers as Emily Fairn, Louis Partridge and James Norton, the House Of Guinness casting director must be feeling pretty pleased with themselves. Had Niamh encountered any of them before?

“I knew Anto Boyle who’s been in so many amazing shows and worked previously with Seamus O’Hara who plays my brother Patrick Cochrane. Long before the series was even thought of, we had two great weeks in Belfast together drinking Guinness. So, I was very familiar with those two lads and, half of us being Irish, bonded with the rest of the cast really quickly. Because you’re in a show about Guinness, it felt only proper after finishing up on set to go for a pint. We also had the shared realisation that, ‘Holy shit, this is big!’ Working on a show written, directed and executive produced by Steven Knight has been just one big pinch-me moment.”

TRAILBLAZERS

An Anglo-Irish Protestant family, the Guinnesses were socially responsible employers who paid above-average wages, looked after retired workers and their widows and, most importantly, offered a free daily beer allowance.

“Yes, the show touches on how they were philanthropists who wanted to bridge the divide between the two religions,” Niamh nods. “Again, they were trailblazers, years ahead of their time.”

While she’s sported prosthetic elf ears before – more of which anon – House Of Guinness is McCormack’s first time appearing in a period drama.

“Yes, I had the corset, the stockings, the whole shebang, which really puts you in the 1800s.”

My metrosexuality doesn’t extend to wearing a corset. What are they like?

“They’re really uncomfortable but I think it adds to what they would have been feeling back then. You know, the restrictions you had being a woman, of being chained in the whole time. It’s the realism of what the character was going through.”

One of the people McCormack has gotten to know in London is Simone Rocha.

“What a legend! Now that the press tour’s coming up for House Of Guinness, I want to weave as many Irish designers and brands as I can into my wardrobe. More and more, fashion is telling people’s stories. You’re expressing yourself through your clothing.”

Before landing her House Of Guinness gig, Niamh was offered a role in Bridgerton, only to have it rescinded 48 hours later, when somebody realised she looked like an existing cast member.

“That’s this industry for you!” she laughs. “Things happen very quickly and then unhappen just as fast. Somewhere down the line, though, it all works out, as it did with House Of Guinness.”

Has she seen the finished series yet?

“Most of it. It’s a bit of a shock to the system. But I’m really proud of everyone, they did an incredible job and I can’t wait for people to see it.”

They say never meet your heroes, but it was a chance encounter seven years ago with Cillian Murphy that convinced Niamh of her career choices.

“I was really lucky to have that conversation with Cillian,” she reflects. “I’d been bingeing Peaky Blinders and told him how much I wanted to be an actor but didn’t know how. He said we needed more Irish actors and voices in the industry and to just go for it.”

Which McCormack did by bagging herself a place at the Bow Street Academy, AKA the National Screen Acting School of Ireland, whose alumni include Barry Keoghan, Jack Reynor, Brian Gleeson, Louisa Harland and Niamh Algar.

“I was 17 and had braces when I went to Bow Street, so I was very, very young. I wasn’t even legally allowed to drink. For me, it was all about finding a tribe of likeminded people who are as passionate about acting as I am. Even though it’s six or seven years since I graduated, I’m still very close to all of my classmates and hold that place – which is known and respected throughout the TV and film industries – dearly to my heart.”

FANTASY DRAMA

Those prosthetic ears we mentioned were painstakingly glued on when Niamh made her Netflix debut as Lara Dorren in a 2021 episode of The Witcher, the fantasy drama boasting the A-List talents of Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan, Eamon Farren and Lars Mikkelson.

“That was my first time on such a colossal set. It was only a small part, so I was able to be a fly on the wall and learned so much. You have no idea how much goes into these blockbuster shows until you’re there. We shot on this scorched field in the middle of nowhere, about an hour away from London. I played an elven sorceress and got these amazing ears and a blonde wig, which felt very transformative. To make things even more surreal, I had to hold this crying five-week-old baby who was an actual newborn rather than a doll. It was quite the experience!”

On the same day she landed her part in The Witcher, Niamh also heard that she was going to be appearing alongside F. Murray Abraham in Florian Sigl’s reboot of The Magic Flute.

“He played my father, which isn’t really revealed until the end of the movie. So, we have one or two scenes together. As a young actor, you just want to soak up being in the presence of someone like that. You’re watching how they interact with other people, how they drink their coffee, everything, and thinking, ‘I want to be like you!’ It was really, really special.”

Who are the other people that Niamh feels she’s learned from by osmosis?

“I worked with an incredible actor and good friend of mine, Sophie Wilde, on a show called Everything Now. Her lead role was really demanding, but every day she nailed it. She has great stamina and conducted herself with such grace and dignity. That made a big impression on me.”

Originally titled The Fuck-It Bucket, the 2021 eight-parter was equal parts Skins and Sex Education and features Wilde as Mia Polanco, a 16-year-old suffering with anorexia.

Would McCormack have seen her contemporaries struggling with eating disorders when she was modelling in her teens?

“I think most women in this day and age have had issues with their body or themselves,” she suggests. “Women are put under immense pressure to live up to beauty standards that don’t even exist. I think we just have to support each other.”

As you’ve doubtless already gleaned, I’m no fashionista, but was strangely addicted to America’s Next Top Model, which routinely reduced contestants to tears with its criticisms of their appearances. Was Niamh ever told going for jobs that “You’re too fat or you’re too short”?

“America’s Next Top Model is obviously a dramatised version of what really goes on behind closed doors, but of course it’s a cutthroat, hard industry with a lot of rejection,” she says. “You can take it very personally because, at the end of the day, it is personal and about the way you look. I definitely had my fair share of those experiences, which kind of moulded me into the person I am now.”

Returning to Everything Now, Niamh reckons that, “The biggest reaction I’ve gotten so far is from my character in it, Alison. She wasn’t what people were expecting and charmed them with how she deals with Mia’s eating disorder.

“It doesn’t always have to be these big heroic stories; you can just showcase human things.”

Photo: Nicholas O'Donnell

McCormack got to observe more A-List actors close up when she appeared alongside Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Bradley Cooper, Sophia Lewis, Hugh Grant and what could have been her Bridgerton co-star, Regé-Jean Page, in 2023’s extremely big budget Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

“Jesus Christ, that was a bit mad! Walking around and seeing Chris Pine on one of those electric scooters. I’m sorry, that’s never going to become normal!”

The surroundings were altogether more familiar last year when Niamh appeared as the teen Wendy in Chris O’Dowd’s Small Town, Big Story. The fortysomething Wendy being played by Christina Hendricks.

“Chris is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” she resumes. “Sometimes going to work on a show you’re like, ‘Oh God, what are they going to be like behind closed doors?’ but he’s just like he is in the media. So funny, so welcoming. He put his heart and soul into that show, which was shot in various parts of Ireland. Sitting with Chris and dissecting the scene was really special and I’d love to work with him again in the future. If he’d have me!”

From Bad Sisters and Say Nothing to the Kneecap movie and indeed Small Town, Big Story, international audiences are routinely now getting to see the real Ireland rather than the “Ah, sure, begorrah” version of ourselves that we used to present to the world. Are there any other series or movies that Niamh feels represent us well?

“Hardy Bucks, purely to understand our sense of humour,” she suggests. “It’s such an incredible show. Father Ted is another classic and I only watched The Commitments for the first time the other day. The character acting is phenomenal, You can really feel the heart of Dublin in that movie. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long but I fecking I loved it!”

FIRST GIG

Before being bitten by the respective modelling and acting bugs, Niamh’s young heart was set on being a singer. What was the first gig she went to?

“I was afraid you were going to ask me that!” she flinches. “Boyzone. But I also followed my parents’ taste in music which was The Beatles and Queen. Other artists I love are The Cranberries, Fontaines D.C. who are massive in England and Sinéad O’Connor.”

It must have been great for the teenage McCormack to have somebody as brave and determined as Sinéad as a role model.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised that she really was speaking out for hundreds and hundreds of people who had no voice – and how brave that was at the time for a woman. Which really ties into the character I play in the House Of Guinness.

“Ellen Cochrane represents those hundreds of Irish women who’ve been written out of history. Doing that characterisation, I pulled great inspiration from Sinéad and am really sad that she’s no longer around to fight for the underdogs in our society.”

Does she have a musical party piece?

“I get real down with Amy Winehouse’s version of ‘Valerie’ when I sing it. Which is usually after a few pints!”

If all goes according to plan, you’ll also be seeing Niamh soon in Cold Mind, a pan-European production which focuses on an American tech genius who uses AI to recreate his murdered brother.

Needless to say, nothing good comes of it…

“We’ve done the pilot, so now it’s gone into that second stage of whether they’ll shoot the whole series,” she concludes. “I hope they do because it’s a very exciting, topical show with loads of plot twists.

“I can’t say what it is or when it is, but I’ll also be returning to Dublin later this year and making my stage debut which is very exciting too.”
Watch this space…

• House Of Guinness is on Netflix now.