Barry Ward
Born
Dublin, Ireland
Alma materMaynooth University
OccupationActor
Years active1994–present
Children1

Barry Ward is an Irish actor. He began his career as a child actor in the RTÉ/BBC series Family (1994) and Plotlands (1997), and the film Sunburn (1999). His films since include Jimmy's Hall, Blood Cells (both 2014), Extra Ordinary (2019), and Dating Amber (2020), the latter of which won him an IFTA.

On television, he is more recently known for his roles in the RTÉ series Rebellion (2016), Taken Down (2018) and Clean Sweep (2023), the Sky Atlantic series Britannia (2017–2019) and Save Me (2018–2020), and the BBC series The Capture (2019).

Early life and education

Ward grew up in Blanchardstown, a northwestern suburb of Dublin. He went to school at St. Declan's College in Cabra. He studied English and Philosophy at NUI Maynooth.[1]

Career

Ward made his television debut as a child actor starring as John Paul Spencer in the 1994 BBC One and RTÉ One miniseries Family. He made his stage debut the following year in Buddleia at the Dublin Theatre Festival and London's Donmar Warehouse. He returned to television in the 1997 period drama Plotlands as Fionn Mulligan, also on BBC One. He made his feature film debut in Pip Broughton's Soft Sand, Blue Sea in 1998. He then starred alongside Cillian Murphy and Paloma Baeza in the comedy-drama film Sunburn in 1999.[2]

In 2014, Ward starred as the titular James Gralton in Ken Loach's biographical film Jimmy's Hall, which premiered at the 67th Cannes Film Festival,[3] and Adam in Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull's drama film Blood Cells, which premiered 71st Venice International Film Festival.[4] He also appeared in the film Shooting for Socrates and then starred in the 2015 crime thriller film Pursuit.

In 2016, Ward had roles as Arthur Mahon in the RTÉ historical drama miniseries Rebellion and Dr Patrick Spencer in the third series of the BBC Two crime drama The Fall. He portrayed DUP politician Ian Paisley Jr in Nick Hamm's The Journey and appeared in Mateo Gil's science fiction film Realive. The following year, he starred in the film Maze and as Sawyer the first series of the Sky Atlantic series Britannia. He would reprise his role as Sawyer in Britannia's second and third series as a guest. He also had a small role in the Channel 4 comedy-drama The End of the F***ing World as Leslie.

This was followed by a main role as Matt in the RTÉ Two crime drama Taken Down and a recurring role as Barry McGory in the Sky Atlantic drama Save Me. He played Charlie Hall in the first series of the BBC One thriller The Capture in 2019 and starred in the horror comedy film Extra Ordinary. For his performance in the 2020 film Dating Amber, Ward won the IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. Also in 2020, he played DI Steve McCusker in the ITV miniseries Des and Mike Walker in the Netflix series White Lines. He portrayed Thomas Cromwell in Anne Boleyn on Channel 5 in 2021.

Personal life

Ward lives in East London with his partner Laura Kavanagh, who works in film, and their son Tom.[5]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Soft Sand, Blue Sea Trevor
Lipservice Darren O Murchu Short film
1999 Sunburn Robert Fiske
Dilemmas Short film
2000 The Claim Young Dillon
2001 Watchmen Ray Short film
2008 Danger High Voltage Mick Short film
2010 The Tenement Ghost The Groom
2011 The Opening Mick Short film
2012 Songs for Amy Rory Jarvis
2013 The Fallen Anthony Short film
2014 Jimmy's Hall James Gralton
Shooting for Socrates Jimmy Quinn
Bypass New Supplier
Blood Cells Adam
2015 L'accabadora Albert
The Survivalist Forager
Pursuit Diarmuid
Insulin The Pharmacist Short film
2016 The Truth Commissioner Michael Madden
Realive Dr. West
The Journey Ian Paisley Jr.
2017 My Father, My Blood Cillian Short film
Maze Gordon Close
Take Me Swimming Thady Short film
2018 Time Traveller John Paul Short film
2019 Extra Ordinary Martin Martin
The Yearning Mick Short film
Lily Meets Charlie Charlie Short film
Taxi Henry Short film
2020 Dating Amber Ian
2022 The Ulysses Project Leopold Bloom
Burial Tor Oleynik

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Family John Paul Spencer Miniseries; main role
1997 Plotlands Fionn Mulligan Miniseries; main role
2005 ShakespeaRe-Told: Macbeth Roddy Television film
2007 Silent Witness Ashley Harris 2 episodes
2008 The Bill Jez Jenkins Episode: "Shadow Stalker"
City of Vice Patrick Jones Miniseries; 1 episode
2009 Psych Ward Jimmy Murphy Main role
2013 Coming Up Slick Rick Episode: "Call it a Night"
2016 Rebellion Arthur Mahon Main role; miniseries (4 episodes)
The Fall Dr. Patrick Spencer 4 episodes
2017 The End of the F***ing World Leslie 2 episodes
2017–2019 Britannia Sawyer Main role, series 1; guest, series 2–3
2018 Taken Down Matt Main role
2018–2020 Save Me Barry McGory 9 episodes
2019 Gomorrah Patrick 1 episode
The Capture Charlie Hall 6 episodes
2020–2021 Feel Good Arnie Rivers 2 episodes
2020 White Lines Mike Walker 7 episodes
Des DI Steve McCusker Miniseries; 3 episodes
2021 Anne Boleyn Thomas Cromwell Miniseries; 3 episodes
2022 Pistol John's Dad Episode: "Track 5: Nancy and Sid"
Bad Sisters Ferghal 4 episodes
2023 Clean Sweep Jason Mohan

Music videos

Song Year Artist Notes
"The Golden Sands" 2014 Ultan Conlon [6]

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
1995 Buddleia The Boy Dublin Theatre Festival / Donmar Warehouse, London
2000 Down the Line Johnny Abbey Theatre, Dublin
A Quiet Life Gary
2004 Take Me Away Kev Project Arts Centre, Dublin Fringe Festival
2008 Lay Me Down Softly Dean Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref
2016 IFTA Awards Rising Star Award Nominated
Best Lead Actor in a Drama Rebellion Nominated
2018 Best Supporting Actor in a Film Maze Nominated
2020 Best Lead Actor in a Film Extra Ordinary Nominated
2021 Best Supporting Actor in a Film Dating Amber Won [7]

References

  1. "'It has the ingredients to be a massive hit... and people have no choice but to watch it' - Barry Ward talks Netflix series White Lines". Independent.ie. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2021.(subscription required)
  2. "What Are You Like? Actor Barry Ward". Irish America. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  3. Wyche, Elbert (3 July 2015). "Barry Ward and Simone Kirby, 'Jimmy's Hall'". Screen Daily. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  4. "Blood Cells". The Times. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  5. Rideout, Annie (16 July 2016). "An actor's life: Barry Ward, on fatherhood". The Early Hour. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  6. "Ultan Conlon - The Golden Sands {Official Video}". YouTube. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  7. "2021 IFTA Awards". ifta.ie. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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