Daryl McCormack

Daryl McCormack (born 22 January 1993) is an Irish actor. Trained at 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.

Early life and education
McCormack was born on 22 January 1993. He is the son of an Irish mother, Theresa McCormack, and an African-American father, Alfred Thomas, from Baltimore. 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.

McCormack attended Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan and St. Joseph's CBS. He played basketball and participated in the Choral Society. He went on to study at the Dublin Institute of Technology's Conservatory and the Gaiety School of Acting, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in drama 2014.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

In 2021 he was named as a Screen International star of tomorrow. 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,  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.

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