Martin McCann (actor)

Martin McCann (born 20 July 1983) is a Northern Irish actor. In 2020, he was listed as number 48 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[2]

Martin McCann
Born (1983-07-20) 20 July 1983
Belfast, Northern Ireland[1]
OccupationActor

Biography

McCann was born to Martin John Paul McCann and Anne McCann. He grew up with a brother and sister in the working-class Divis Flats area of Falls Road in Belfast.[1][3] He joined YouthAction NI's Rainbow Factory, a cross-community drama troop for Catholic and Protestant children and also got to spend time in the United States in the summer as part of an exchange programme.[1][3] His mother found a role for him by checking the local newspapers, and he soon won the stage production part of the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist. He got lead roles in productions of Bugsy Malone and The Crucible.[3]

Popular in Northern Ireland for various sketches (including the trendy priest) in Dry Your Eyes, he had a feature role in a short film by Simon Fitzmaurice called The Sound of People. He followed that up with his feature film debut (as Jimmy Riley) in Closing the Ring (2007), directed by Richard Attenborough.[1] Attenborough cast McCann in the film after seeing him in a stage production of A Clockwork Orange.[4] McCann had a role in the film My Boy Jack (as Guardsman Bowe), about Rudyard Kipling and his son, who was killed in World War I.[1]

McCann played Sergeant R. V. Burgin in the miniseries The Pacific, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, which aired in March 2010.[1] In an interview for Film Ireland, McCann says he auditioned several times for the role in London and twice in Los Angeles. He contacted Lord Attenborough's assistant to send Spielberg samples of his work to increase his chances of getting the role.[5]

In early 2010, he was shooting in Belfast for the music-comedy Killing Bono, a film released in April 2011 about the life of one of Bono's classmates who tries to make it in the music business, only to have his failures and frustrations magnified by the continued rise of U2. McCann played the supporting role of Bono. In 2011, McCann completed a principal role in Terry George's Whole Lotta Sole, He was also cast in Titanic: Blood and Steel, a twelve-part mini-series drama chronicling the building of the Titanic and the story about the ship before it left on its maiden voyage.[6]

In February 2011, McCann won the award for best lead actor in a feature film at the 8th Irish Film & Television Awards for his performance as Occi Byrne in Swansong, produced by Zanzibar Films.[7]

He starred in the Oscar-nominated and BAFTA winning 2014 short film Boogaloo and Graham. He also starred in the 2014 short film Magpie,[8] later expanded into the 2015 film The Survivalist[9] in which he starred as 'the Survivalist'.[10] McCann was nominated for the award for best lead actor in a feature film at the 13th Irish Film & Television Awards for his performance in The Survivalist.[11]

In 2016, he voiced Bobby Sands in reenactments in the documentary film Bobby Sands: 66 Days.[12] In 2016, he also appeared in an episode of the BBC series, The Fall as Alvarez.[13]

In the 2017 film Maze, depicting the 1983 prison break at HM Prison Maze outside of Belfast, McCann played Oscar, one of the imprisoned IRA officers.[14] Also in 2017, actor Woody Harrelson cast Martin McCann in his directorial debut Lost in London. This was the first 'live streamed' feature film direct to cinemas.

In 2018, he starred in the British thriller Calibre, directed by Matt Palmer. He played Marcus, an Edinburgh businessman who takes his friend on a hunting trip in the Scottish highlands. The film won the Michael Powell award for Best British Film at the 2018 Edinburgh International Film Festival. He was nominated for the award for best actor in film at the 2018 British Academy Scotland Awards for his performance.

In 2020, McCann starred as Bobby Barrett in the third series of Nordic noir detective series Marcella.[15][16]

In 2023, McCann starred in Blue Lights, a BBC1 drama in which he played Stevie Neil, an experienced police officer partnered with a rookie, Grace Ellis, played by Siân Brooke.[17]

Other

McCann is a Patron of the charity YouthAction Northern Ireland, whose Rainbow Factory School of Performing Arts is one of the largest youth arts projects with 500 young people taking part in a range of workshops and classes.

References
  1. Barter, Pavel (9 December 2007), "Home Town Boy – Interview", The Sunday Times
  2. Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara (13 June 2020). "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  3. Ingle, Roisin (30 June 2007), "The writing's on the Wall", The Irish Times.
  4. Dougan, Andy (20 December 2007), "Attenborough and Spielberg back Martin for Stardom", Evening Times
  5. "Interview: Shadow Dancer's Martin McCann talks to Film Ireland – Film Ireland". filmireland.net. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  6. "Martin McCann & Billy Carter among cast for 'Titanic – Blood and Steel'". IFTN. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  7. "IFTA 2011 Winners Announced". IFTN. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  8. "Magpie (2014)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  9. Kermode, Mark (14 February 2016). "The Survivalist review – a beautifully bleak end to civilisation". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  10. Gush, Charlotte (20 January 2016). "premiere: watch the intense trailer for mia goth's next film, 'the survivalist'". i-D. Vice Media. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  11. "IFTA 2016 NOMINEES AND WINNERS". IFTA Film & Drama Awards. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  12. Clarke, Donald (4 August 2016). "Bobby Sands: 66 Days review: A gripping tale of terrible times". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. The Fall(2013-2016, archived from the original on 25 January 2021, retrieved 12 January 2022
  14. "Maze (2017)", IMDb, archived from the original on 4 February 2018, retrieved 4 August 2018
  15. Giannetti, Charlene (24 June 2020). "Anna Friel returns in Season Three of Marcella". Woman Around Town. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  16. "Marcella Season 3 Is Coming To ITV In Early 2021". www.tyla.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  17. "Blue Lights: Release date, cast and latest news for BBC police drama". Radio Times. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
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