Damien Molony

Damien Molony (born 21 February 1984) is an Irish actor now based in London. He is best known for his television roles as Hal Yorke in BBC Three's Being Human, DC Albert Flight in the BBC's Ripper Street, DS Jack Weston in Channel 5's Suspects, Jon in Channel 4's GameFace and Dylan in Sky One Original comedy Brassic.

Damien Molony
Born (1984-02-21) 21 February 1984
Johnstown Bridge, County Kildare, Ireland
NationalityIrish
EducationDrama Centre London
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present
Known forBeing Human, Suspects, GameFace, Brassic Crashing
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)

Early life

Molony grew up in Johnstown Bridge, County Kildare, Ireland. After graduating from the Drama Centre London in 2011, he co-starred as Giovanni in a production of the John Ford play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, directed by Jonathan Munby.[1] He won the second prize in the 2011 Ian Charleson Awards for his performance.[2]

Career

Molony's casting as vampire Hal in the BBC Three series Being Human[3] brought him his first television credit. In an interview with SFX magazine, Molony revealed that when approaching the role of Hal he did research on drug addicts and alcoholics.[4] He has previously starred in the short film When the Hurlyburly's Done,[5] filmed in Germany.[6]

After the filming of series 4 of Being Human, Damien played the lead role of Motl Mendl in the National Theatre production of Travelling Light alongside Sir Antony Sher. Following the London run, the play toured England before returning to the National Theatre in late April 2012.[7] He returned to the National Theatre in January 2015 to play Spike in Sir Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem, which ran until 17 May 2015 and was broadcast live to cinemas across the world via NT Live on 16 April 2015. Both plays were directed by the then Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Sir Nicholas Hytner.

The fifth and final series of Being Human was screened in February–March 2013. At the same time Molony starred in the play "If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep" at the Royal Court Theatre.[8]

Damien's television slate grew when he joined the cast of Victorian BBC show Ripper Street in series 2 as Detective Constable Albert Flight. He appeared in 7 of 8 episodes, airing November–December 2013 on BBC One in the UK and February–April 2014 on BBC America. The crime drama was set in London's Whitechapel in the period following the Jack the Ripper murders.

Molony returned to theatre, alongside William Gaminara in the play The Body of an American by Dan O'Brien in January–February 2014 at the Gate Theatre (London) about the conversation of a war photographer and a struggling playwright.[9]

The actor then landed the role of Detective Sergeant Jack Weston in innovative crime procedural Suspects. The drama is shot in a documentary style, using fly-on-the-wall filming techniques. Series 1, comprising five episodes, aired in February–March 2014 on Channel 5 in the UK. The fifth and latest series of the show aired in August 2016, with a new cast line-up and a change in format[10] with Molony taking centre stage in a six part story. All five series of the show have also reached American audiences via streaming service Acorn TV.[11]

Molony was cast as Robert Putnam in an HBO pilot, The Devil You Know, created by Jenji Kohan and directed by Gus Van Sant in 2015, alongside Eddie Izzard and Karen Gillan. Set in 17th century New England and focusing on the Salem witch trials, the drama was filmed in Boston USA, but was not picked up by the network.

Damien's first role in a feature film was as the character Ross in Kill Your Friends, adapted from the novel by John Niven, set in the music industry in the Britpop era. The film's theatrical premiere via Altitude Films took place in the UK and Europe November 2015, followed by a US release with Well Go USA April 2016

His second feature film Tiger Raid, shot in the deserts of Jordan, saw him star in a leading role alongside Brian Gleeson and Sofia Boutella.[12] A dark thriller about a tiger kidnapping in Iraq, the film had its world premiere at Tribeca International Film festival April 2016,[13] with a UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival June[14] and a UK DVD and VOD release 17 October 2016.

In September–October 2015 Molony starred alongside Aidan McArdle and Adam Fergus in the RTÉ One crime drama mini-series Clean Break.

He appeared as Anthony in new Phoebe Waller-Bridge comedy Crashing in the UK January 2016 on Channel 4. The quirky sitcom became internationally available later in the year via Netflix.

Damien also returned to the stage in 2016, appearing in No Man's Land alongside Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Owen Teale.[15] Directed by Sean Mathias, the production toured the UK from August, before a run a Wyndham's Theatre in London until 17 December, with a National Theatre Live broadcast to cinemas worldwide 15 December.

21 February 2017 Molony was announced as cast in comedy sitcom GameFace, written by Roisin Conaty who also stars as the lead character Marcella. He played Marcella's long-suffering driving instructor Jon. The six episode first series aired October to November 2017 on UK TV channel E4 and became available in the US, Australia and New Zealand shortly after via on demand platforms. [16] [17]

Molony appeared on stage with Sir Ian McKellen for a second time in 2017, playing Edmund in Chichester Festival Theatre production of King Lear for a short run from 22 September to 28 October.[18]

He appears as Bourke Cockran in feature film The Current War, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon which world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2017.[19] Originally set for a theatrical released on 24 November 2017,[20] the film's cinema outing has been delayed to an undisclosed date after sexual misconduct allegations were made against Harvey Weinstein.[21]

Opening the new year in 2018, Molony starred opposite Jessie Buckley in two major BBC Radio 3 productions,[22] adaptations of the plays 'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford[23] and The Effect by Lucy Prebble.[24] He then played the title role in BBC Radio 4 Drama Judas, which aired every day in the week leading up to Easter.[25] Written by Lucy Gannon, the drama told the story of disciple Judas Iscariot from his own perspective in the days leading up to the death of Jesus.

From 20 June 2018, Damien appeared in BBC Radio 4 World War 1 serial drama Home Front, playing the new character Hardy Walsh[26] introduced in series 14, 'Needs Must When The Devil Drives'.[27]

Damien made his first appearance in a web series in October 2018, guest starring in episode 1 of Right Now, Robert Cawsey's new online comedy based on Grindr hook-ups.[28]

August 2018 Molony was announced as cast in new Sky One comedy TV series Brassic, co-created by Joe Gilgun and Danny Brocklehurst, starring alongside Michelle Keegan and Gilgun. Production on series 1 began in September 2018, filming completed in December, post-production completed 22 February 2019. [29]

A second series of GameFace was announced by Channel 4 June 2018[30], but Damien was only revealed as appearing in the new series when show writer Roisin Conaty published behind-the-scenes of him during filming, from March to April 2019.[31]. Series 2 aired 17 July 2019 Channel 4 in the UK and reached audiences in the US via Hulu shortly after.

In 2019, Molony also appeared in two short films with film festival premieres; Keep Breathing, a crowdfunded project[32] written by and starring Emmeline Hartley, which is inspired by the Me Too movement and has a sexual consent theme[33] and The Fabric Of You, an animated short, written and directed by Josephine Lohoar Self, world premiering at the 2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival.[34]

It was announced in July 2019 that Damien had joined the cast of BBC legal drama The Split for series 2.[35]

Molony starred alongside Joe Gilgun and Michelle Keegan in the first series of Sky One original comedy Brassic, as the character Dylan, August 2019. On the same day of the series 1 premiere, a second series was announced, which will air in May 2020.[36] At their Up Next 2020 showcase event, Sky announced series 3 has also been commissioned ahead of series 2. [37]

In his latest TV role, Damien plays Tyler Donaghue in the second series of legal drama The Split. [38] The series began on BBC One 11 February 2020 with the entire series immediately available to stream on the BBC iplayer.[39]

Blood Donation

Damien has been a regular blood donor since 2012 after someone close to him needed blood during cancer treatment.[40] As part of National Blood Week 2013, he was interviewed in the summer edition of Blood Donor Magazine[41] and appeared on the front cover as his Being Human character Hal Yorke, with the headline "A blood addict giving blood".[42] He has since raised awareness of the importance of blood donation and campaigned to motivate others via his Twitter page, pledging to ReTweet his followers' post-donation photos.[43] After his thirteenth donation in February 2017, Damien encouraged others to "consider registering to donate", "save lives", "burn calories" and "feel really proud".[44]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2009 Making Rosebud William West Junior[45] Short
2010 When The Hurlyburly's Done[46] Jacob[47] Short
2012 National Theatre Live: Travelling Light Motl / Nate[48]
2015 National Theatre Live: The Hard Problem Spike[49]
Kill Your Friends Ross[50]
2016 National Theatre Live: No Man's Land Foster[51]
Tiger Raid Paddy[52]
2017 The Current War Bourke Cockran[53]
2019 Keep Breathing [54] Short
The Fabric Of You [55] Animated Short
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2012–2013 Being Human Hal Yorke Series 4–5
2013 Ripper Street Detective Constable Albert Flight Series 2
2014–2016 Suspects DS Jack Weston[56] Series 1–5
2015 Clean Break Danny Dempsey[57] Series 1
The Devil You Know Robert Putnam[58] HBO Pilot
2016 Crashing Anthony Series 1
2017– GameFace Jon[59] Series 1–2
2018 Right Now Jamie[60] Web Series
2019– Brassic Dylan[61] Series 1
2020 The Split Tyler[62] Series 2

Theatre
Year Title Role Theatre Location References
2007 Riders to the Sea Bartley Touring Ireland [63]
2008 A Vampire Story Mint Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare Youth Theatre Kildare [64]
2011 'Tis Pity She's a Whore Giovanni West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds [65]
2012 Travelling Light Motl Lyttelton theatre London [66]
2012 First Person Shooter Reading WordTheatre, Latitude Festival 2012 Suffolk, England [67]
2013 If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep Jason Royal Court Theatre London [68]
2014 The Body of an American Dan Gate London [69]
2014 Heart Strings: Bittersweet Love Stories Readings WordTheatre, St. James Theatre London [70]
2014–2015 The Hard Problem Spike National Theatre London [71]
2016 No Man's Land Foster Wyndham's Theatre London [72]
2017 King Lear Edmund Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester [73]
2019 Voices from the American Heartland Readings WordTheatre, Brasserie Zédel London [74]

Audio and Radio
Year Title Type Role References
2013 The Commitments BBC Radio 4 Drama James Clifford [75]
2013 The Hill Bachelors BBC Radio NI Drama Paulie [76]
2013–2016 Poetry Please BBC Radio 4 Reading Several Readings [77][78]
2014 Raven Audiobook Reader [79]
2015 Me and the Devil BBC Radio 4 Reading Reader [80]
2017 Bottle Man BBC Radio 4 Reading Reader [81]
2018 Tis Pity She's A Whore BBC Radio 3 Drama Giovanni [82]
2018 The Effect BBC Radio 3 Drama Tristan Frey [83]
2018 Judas BBC Radio 4 Drama Judas [84]
2018 Home Front BBC Radio 4 Serial Drama Hardy Walsh[85] [86]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2007 All-Ireland One Act Drama Festival[63] Best Overall Performance Riders to the Sea Won
2011 Spotlight Prize[87] Best Actor/Actress CDS drama schools Nominated
2011 Ian Charleson Awards 2011[88] Ian Charleson Award Tis Pity She’s A Whore, West Yorkshire Playhouse Won
2013 SFX Awards 2013[89] Best Actor Being Human Nominated
2014 Off West End Theatre Awards 2014[90] Best Male Actor The Body Of An American Nominated
2016 National Television Awards 2016[91] Drama Performance Suspects Nominated

References
  1. Hutchinson, Charles. "Review: ’Tis Pity She’s A Whore, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, until May 28", The Press (York), 21 May 2011
  2. "Ian Charleson Awards 2011". westendtheatre.com.
  3. "'Being Human' death was 'horrendous', says Crichlow", BBC, 6 February 2012
  4. Being Human Series Four – Damien Molony interview, SFX, 1 February 2012
  5. "When the HurlyBurly's Done"
  6. Damien Molony 2013 Interview Archived 3 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Travelling Light" at the National Theatre site
  8. "If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep" at the Royal Court Theatre site
  9. Cavendish, Dominic (23 January 2014). "The Body of an American, Gate Theatre, review".
  10. ""Channel 5 Announce the return of Suspects: new cast and shocking storyline for series 5" damienmolony.org, 11 February 2017". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  11. https://acorn.tv/suspects/ "Suspects" acorn.tv
  12. "Tiger Raid" official site
  13. "Tiger Raid" tribecafilm.com
  14. "Tiger Raid edfilmfest.org.uk
  15. "No Man's Land" official site
  16. "Gameface gets going, Channel 4 Press"
  17. "'GameFace' on Hulu: Because We Can Always Use Another Hilarious Hot Mess". 16 November 2017.
  18. King Lear Chichester Festival Theatre official site
  19. "Toronto International Film Festival: The Current War". tiff.net.
  20. Hipes, Patrick (17 March 2017). "'Mary Magdalene', 'Current War' & 'Wind River' Get 2017 Release Dates From Weinstein". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  21. Lang, Brent; Maddaus, Gene; Setoodeh, Ramin (4 October 2017). "Harvey Weinstein Lawyers Up for Bombshell New York Times, New Yorker Stories". Variety. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  22. "Damien Molony Stars in 'Tis Pity She's A Whore' & 'The Effect' Drama on 3 Radio Productions". damienmolony.org. 2 January 2018.
  23. "Drama On 3: Tis Pity She's A Whore". bbc.co.uk.
  24. "Drama On 3: The Effect". bbc.co.uk.
  25. "15 Minute Drama: Judas". bbc.co.uk.
  26. "Hardy Walsh". BBC Radio 4 Home Front.
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  28. "Right Now". Robert Cawsey Youtube Channel.
  29. "Sky's new comedy Brassic lines up top British talent". Sky Media Centre.
  30. "GameFace recommissioned for second series". Channel 4 Press.
  31. "GameFace Series 2: Damien Molony confirmed to appear". Damien Molony Forum. 26 March 2019.
  32. "Keep Breathing Short Film". Crowdfunder.
  33. "Keep Breathing". IMDb.
  34. "The Fabric Of You". Edinburgh International Film Festival.
  35. "New TV Role Exclusive: Damien Molony joins BBC One legal drama 'The Split'". damienmolony.org. 11 July 2019.
  36. "Flippin' heck! Sky returns up North for a second series of Brassic".
  37. "Sky extends Brassic to Series 3". British Comedy Guide. 13 February 2020.
  38. "Meet the cast of The Split series 2". radiotimes.com.
  39. "The Split series 2". BBC iplayer.
  40. Blood Donor Magazine Summer 2013
  41. Interview With A Vampire: Damien Molony ‘A Blood Addict Giving Blood’
  42. Donor Magazine Summer 2013 Cover
  43. Damien Molony inspired fans to donate
  44. Damien Molony makes 13th blood donation, inspires others to "save lives", "burn calories" and "feel really proud"
  45. "Making Rosebud".
  46. "When the HurlyBurly's Done"
  47. "When the Hurlyburly's Done".
  48. "National Theatre Live: Travelling Light (2012)".
  49. "National Theatre Live: The Hard Problem".
  50. "Kill Your Friends".
  51. "National Theatre Live: No Man's Land".
  52. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  57. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  60. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXHHq5WWnNCwiYCkKjzOs1Q
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  67. "WordTheatre at The Latitude Festival in Suffolk, England – July 12, 2012 – July 15, 2012". Wordtheatre.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  68. Philip Fisher (2013). "If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  69. Lyn Gardner (26 January 2014). "The Body of an American – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  70. "Heart Strings: Bittersweet Love Stories". wordtheatre.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  71. Peter Craven (21 May 2015). "The Hard Problem review: Olivia Vinall shimmers in minor Tom Stoppard offering". SMH. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  72. Charlotte Marshall (27 April 2016). "Damien Molony joins No Man's Land". OfficialLondonTheatre. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  73. Mark Shenton (30 September 2017). "King Lear starring Ian McKellen review at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester – 'intensely moving'". The Stage.
  74. "Voices From the American Heartland: Stories by Peter Orner". WordTheatre.
  75. "The Commitments". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  76. "Afternoon Drama: The Hill Bachelors". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  77. "Poetry Please. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by WB Yeats". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  78. "Radio". Damienmolony.org. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  79. "Raven". fantomfilms.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
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  83. "The Effect". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  84. "Judas". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  85. "Hardy Walsh". BBC Radio 4 Home Front.
  86. "Home Front".
  87. "2011 Spotlight Prize Nominees announced!". Spotlight.com. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
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  89. "SFX Awards, UK". IMDb.
  90. "The Off West End Theatre Awards". offwestend.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  91. "Suspects and Damien Molony nominated in 21st National Television Awards".
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