Chris Walley (actor)

Chris Walley (born 21 June 1995) is an Irish stage and screen actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jock O'Keeffe in the comedy film and RTÉ and BBC Three television series The Young Offenders, for which he received an IFTA Award among other nominations. He also portrayed Private Bullen in 1917.[1][2]

Chris Walley
Born (1995-06-21) 21 June 1995
Cork, Ireland
OccupationActor
Years active2016–present
Known forThe Young Offenders
RelativesWilliam Norton (great-grandfather)

Early life

Walley was born Cork, Ireland, and raised in the Glanmire area. He was a pupil of Christian Brothers College, Cork. Walley is a great-grandson of William Norton, former Tánaiste.

From an early age, Walley took an interest in Drama and Theatre studies, attending classes in the Gaiety School of Acting and the Cork School of Music.[3] As a student in the Cork School of Music Walley was a member of their Youth Theatre group, performing in productions such as Anouilh's Antigone, as well as undertaking individual lessons under the tutelage of Trína Scott.[3][4] Walley auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London after completing his secondary education, however, he was unsuccessful in his application and instead began studying full-time at Cork School of Music as part of their BA in Drama and Theatre studies. The following year Walley re-auditioned for RADA, and was offered one of their coveted 28 places, ahead of 3,500 other applicants.[3]

Career

Prior to commencing third level education, Walley had auditioned for and won a role in an independent Irish film, set to be based and filmed locally in Cork. The resulting film, The Young Offenders, written and directed by Peter Foott, became the fastest Irish film to break the €1 million mark at the Irish box office in 2016.[5] For his role as Jock, Walley was nominated for numerous awards, including the IFTA for Best Supporting Actor. With the popularity of the film, on 9 May 2017, it was confirmed that a six-episode television programme, based on the film with the same name, had been ordered by RTÉ.[6] The first series began broadcasting on 1 February 2018, broadcast by RTÉ Two in Ireland and airing through the online television service BBC Three.[7] With a popular and high reception, the series was recommissioned for a second series, the projected release date was not disclosed.[8] For his role in the television series, Walley was awarded the IFTA for Best Male Performance - Television.[9]

In 2018 Walley was cast alongside Aidan Turner in a revival of Martin McDonagh's play The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which opened at the Noël Coward Theatre in June of that same year.[10] For his performance, Walley received exceptional reviews, with TimeOut London writing, 'in a uniformly strong cast, special praise should go to Walley. A virtual newcomer, he is excruciatingly brilliant as the mullet-clad Davey, who meets each new indignity heaped upon him with an impressive mix of resignation and hysteria', Broadway World saying that, 'you would never be able to guess this is his West End debut', and The New York Times stating, 'Chris Walley ... effortlessly conveys the illogical logic and perverse mundanity of the dialogue'.[11][12][13] For this performance Walley was nominated for the Evening Standard Emerging Talent Award, and was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit, an initiative established by the British Academy of Film and Television Awards to foster the talents of up-and-coming members of the arts world by offering them mentorship for a year.[14][15]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2016 The Young Offenders Jock Murphy
2019 Spanish Pigeon John Short film
Post-production
2019 1917 Private Bullen
2020 Pixie Daniel

Television
Title Year Role Network Notes Ref(s)
The Young Offenders 2018–2020 Jock O'Keeffe RTÉ2
BBC Three		 Lead; 13 episodes [16]
Bloodlands 2020 Birdy BBC One [17]

Stage
List of theatre credits
Title Year(s) Role Theatre Notes Ref(s)
The Lieutenant of Inishmore 2018 Davey Noel Coward Theatre [10]

Awards and nominations
Year Work Award Result Notes
2016 The Young Offenders Súil Eile Award Won Shared with Alex Murphy
Ros Hubbard Award for Acting Won
2017 IFTA Best Actor in a Leading Role – Film Nominated
2018 IFTA Best Male Performance – Television Won
The Lieutenant of Inishmore & The Young Offenders BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Won
The Lieutenant of Inishmore Evening Standard Theatre Award for Emerging Talent Nominated
Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer[18] Won
2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Won

In March 2019, along with his co star from The Young offenders, Alex Murphy, Walley was jointly nominated for Comedy Performance - Male at the Royal Television Society Awards.[19]

References
  1. Clarke, Donald. "Iftas 2017: 'The Young Offenders' leads film nominations". The Irish Times.
  3. "The young contender... Cork actor Chris Walley". independent.
  4. "Trína Scott". csm.cit.ie.
  5. Molumby, Deirdre. "The Young Offenders crosses €1 million at the Irish Box Office". Entertainment.ie.
  6. Clarke, Donald. "The Young Offenders is to become a TV series". The Irish Times.
  7. "The Young Offenders - Series 1: Episode 1" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. "OFFICIAL: Brilliant news because The Young Offenders will be getting a second season". JOE.ie.
  9. "The Young Offenders star says reaction to show is 'mad'". May 31, 2018 – via www.rte.ie. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Young Offenders actor to star in Martin McDonagh play". January 12, 2018 – via www.rte.ie. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "'The Lieutenant of Inishmore' review | Theatre in London". Time Out London.
  12. Ackman, Nicole. "BWW Review: THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE, Noel Coward Theatre". BroadwayWorld.com.
  13. Brantley, Ben (July 4, 2018). "Orlando Bloom and Aidan Turner Are Drenched in Blood in London" – via NYTimes.com.
  14. "Meet the ones to watch shortlisted for our Emerging Talent Award". Evening Standard. November 6, 2018.
  15. "'I am most definitely not British' - Young Offenders star Chris Walley on his BAFTA selection as a 'Breakthrough Brit'". independent.
  16. Earley, Kelly. "RTÉ have announced that The Young Offenders TV series will be released in just over two weeks". The Daily Edge.
  17. "BBC - Further cast confirmed for BBC One crime thriller Bloodlands - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. "2018 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". 2019-01-29. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  19. "Winners of the RTS Programme Awards 2019 announced". Royal Television Society. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
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