Daryl McCormack

Daryl McCormack (born 22 January 1993) is an Irish actor. Trained at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and the Gaiety School of Acting, he made his acting debut in the soap opera Fair City (2015–2016). He appeared in the BBC series Peaky Blinders (2019–2022), the film Pixie (2020), and the Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters (2022). His portrayal of the title role in the sex comedy-drama Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022) earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2023, he won the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival.

Daryl McCormack
McCormack at the Berlinale 2022
Born	(1993-01-22) 22 January 1993 (age 32)[1] Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland
Education	Dublin Institute of Technology Gaiety School of Acting
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2015–present

Early life and education

McCormack was born on 22 January 1993 in Nenagh, County Tipperary.^[1] He is the son of an Irish mother, Theresa McCormack, and an African-American father, Alfred Thomas, from Baltimore.^[2] He holds dual citizenship in Ireland and the United States. His parents met in California in 1992. His mother returned to Ireland upon getting pregnant, and raised McCormack in Nenagh, County Tipperary. He maintains a good relationship with the paternal side of his family, especially his grandfather Percy Thomas, who would visit McCormack and take him to the theatre.^[3]

McCormack attended Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan and St. Joseph's CBS. He played basketball and participated in the Choral Society.^[4][5] He went on to study at the Gaiety School of Acting, and at Dublin Institute of Technology's Conservatory of Music and Drama (now TU Dublin Conservatoire) graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in drama 2014.^[6][7][8][9]

Career

Upon graduating in 2014, McCormack was cast in his first professional role in the play The Grapes of Wrath at the Project Arts Centre.^{[citation needed]} The following year, he made his television debut in the RTÉ One soap opera Fair City as Pierce Devlin, a character he would play until 2016.^{[citation needed]} Also in 2015, he led Romeo and Juliet as Romeo at the Gate Theatre and starred as the titular Othello at the Theatre Royal Waterford.^{[citation needed]}

He made his West End debut in 2018 as Brendan in The Lieutenant of Inishmore. In his early career, he was almost cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.^[10][2][11] In 2019, he starred alongside Olivia Cooke and Ben Hardy in Barnaby Thompson's comedy-thriller film Pixie and joined the cast of Peaky Blinders for its fifth series as Isaiah Jesus.^[6][7][12]

In 2021 he was named as a Screen International star of tomorrow.^[13] He had a recurring role as Aram in the first season of the Amazon Prime fantasy series The Wheel of Time in 2021. In 2022, he starred as Matthew Claffin in Sharon Horgan's Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters and opposite Emma Thompson as the titular character of Sophie Hyde's film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,^[14][15][16] the latter of which earned him nominations for two British Academy Film Awards and a British Independent Film Award.

In 2023, he starred in Alice Troughton's thriller film The Lesson and the BBC thriller series The Woman in the Wall.^[17][18]

McCormack appeared in Lee Isaac Chung's Twisters sequel and has forthcoming roles in the family thriller Anniversary^[19][20] and Rian Johnson's Wake Up Dead Man.^[21]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	The Randomer	Ray
2019	How to Fake a War	Matt
	A Good Woman Is Hard to Find	PC Reeves
2020	Pixie	Harland McKenna
2022	Good Luck to You, Leo Grande	Leo Grande
2023	The Lesson	Liam Sommers
2024	Twisters	Jeb
2025	Rogue Trooper	Helm (voice)	Post-production
	Wake Up Dead Man	Cy Draven	Post-production
TBA	Anniversary	Rob	Post-production
TBA	I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning	Conor	Filming[22]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015–2016	Fair City	Pierce Devlin	36 episodes
2016	Dawn	Ukkanaak	Television film
2017	Vikings	Young Man	Episode: "The Prisoner"
2018	Immortality	Pio	Miniseries
	A Very English Scandal	Luke Mackenzie	Episode #1.1
2019	Cleaning Up	Ryan	Episode #1.5
2019–2022	Peaky Blinders	Isaiah Jesus	11 episodes
2021	I Am...	David	Episode: "I Am Maria"
	The Wheel of Time	Aram	3 episodes
2022–2024	Bad Sisters	Matthew Claffin	12 episodes
2023	The Woman in the Wall	Colman Akande	6 episodes

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist	Notes
2018	"Half a Life"	Roisin El Cherif

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	The Grapes of Wrath	Casey	Project Arts Centre, Dublin
2015	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo	Gate Theatre, Dublin
	Othello	Othello	Theatre Royal Waterford
	Enjoy		Project Arts Centre, Dublin
2017	A Whisper Anywhere Else	Garda	Peacock Stage, Abbey Theatre, Dublin
	The Mouth of a Shark		The Complex, Dublin
2018	The Lieutenant of Inishmore	Brendan	Noël Coward Theatre, London
2019	Citysong		Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2022	Peabody Awards	Entertainment	Bad Sisters	Won	[23]
	British Independent Film Awards	Best Joint Lead Performance (shared with Emma Thompson)	Good Luck to You, Leo Grande	Nominated	[24]
	Online Association of Female Film Critics	Best Breakthrough Performance		Nominated	[25]
	Women Film Critics Circle	Best Screen Couple (shared with Emma Thompson)		Nominated	[26]
2023	Cannes Film Festival	Trophée Chopard		Won	[27]
	British Academy Film Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Good Luck to You, Leo Grande	Nominated	[28]
		Rising Star Award		Nominated	[29]
	Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male	Good Luck to You, Leo Grande	Nominated	[30]