Damien Molony is an Irish actor. 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.
Molony's casting as vampire Hal in the BBC Three series Being Human[5] 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.[6] He has previously starred in the short film When the Hurlyburly's Done,[7] filmed in Germany.[8]
After the filming of series 4 of Being Human, in January 2012 Damien played the lead role of Motl Mendl in the National Theatre production of Travelling Light alongside Sir Antony Sher. Following a long run at the Lyttelton Theatre, the play toured England and was broadcast in cinemas worldwide with National Theatre Live.[9][10] 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 also had a worldwide broadcast via NT Live, on 16 April 2015.[11][12] Both plays were directed by the then Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Sir Nicholas Hytner.
Rising popularity (2012–present)
The fifth and final series of Being Human was screened in February–March 2013.[13] 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.[14]
Damien's television slate grew when in the same year he joined the cast of Victorian BBC show Ripper Street in series 2 as Detective Constable Albert Flight.[15][16] He appeared in 7 of 8 episodes on BBC One in the UK and 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.[17]
The actor then landed the role of Detective Sergeant Jack Weston in innovative crime procedural Suspects.[18] The drama, shot in a documentary style using fly-on-the-wall filming techniques, premiered in the UK February 2014. The show ran for five series, the last airing August 2016, with a new cast line-up and a change in format and Molony taking centre stage in a six part story.[19][20] All five series of the show have also reached American audiences via streaming service Acorn TV.[21]
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.[22]
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 in April 2016.[23][24]
He next starred alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge in her first TV comedy Crashing as the character Anthony.[29] The series premiered January 2016 on Channel 4 in the UK and later in the year internationally, via streaming platforms.
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.[31][32]
Opening the new year in 2018, Molony starred opposite Jessie Buckley in two major BBC Radio 3 productions,[37] adaptations of the plays 'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford[38] and The Effect by Lucy Prebble.[39] He then played the title role in BBC Radio 4 Drama Judas, which aired every day in the week leading up to Easter.[40] 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[41] introduced in series 14, 'Needs Must When The Devil Drives'.[42]
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.[43]
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, as the character Dylan. Production on series 1 began in September 2018, filming completed in December, post-production completed 22 February 2019.[44] The series premiered August 2019. A second series was announced on the same day.[45]
A second series of GameFace was announced by Channel 4 June 2018,[46] 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.[47] 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[48] written by and starring Emmeline Hartley, which is inspired by the Me Too movement and has a sexual consent theme[49] and The Fabric Of You, an animated short, written and directed by Josephine Lohoar Self, world premiering at the 2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival.[50] Both films had a wide release on Vimeo during 2021.[51][52]
It was announced in July 2019 that Damien had joined the cast of BBC / Sister legal drama The Split for series 2,[53] with Molony in the role of new character Tyler Donaghue. The series premiered on 11 May 2020 on BBC One in the UK,[54][55] shortly followed by a release in the United States on Sundance TV, 15 May 2020.[56]
In 2020 Damien also appeared in Brassicseries 2, which premiered on SKY in the UK in May. Ahead of the second series, Sky announced a third had also been commissioned, at their Up Next 2020 showcase event.[57] Filming for series 3 began in October 2020 and took place during the pandemic, with a premiere date of 6 October in the UK.[58] Series 4 has also been announced and is currently filming.[59][60][61]
A third and final series of The Split was announced and began production in June 2021, with Damien confirmed to return as Tyler Donaghue.[62][63]
It was announced in July 2021 that Damien would be appearing in the third series of Channel 4 drama anthology series On The Edge, in "gut-wrenching" horror Cradled.[64]
Molony will play the titular role of Jersey detective Jim Bergerac in a reboot of the BBC series Bergerac.
Personal life
As of 2019, Molony resides in London and is married with a son and a daughter.[65]
Molony began regularly donating blood in 2012, after someone close to him needed blood during their cancer treatment.[66] As part of National Blood Week in 2013, he was interviewed in the summer edition of Blood Donor Magazine and appeared on the front cover as his Being Human character Hal Yorke, with the headline "a blood addict giving blood".[67][68] He has since raised awareness of the importance of blood donation and campaigned to motivate others via his Twitter page.[69] After completing his 13th donation in February 2017, he encouraged others to consider donating in order to "save lives, burn calories, [and] feel really proud".[70]
