Dónall Ó Héalai
Ó Héalai at the 2020 Dublin International Film Festival
Born (1987-11-28) 28 November 1987
Inverin, County Galway, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Alma mater
OccupationActor
Years active2006–present
AgentCurtis Brown[1]

Dónall Ó Héalai (Irish: [ˈd̪ˠoːnˠəl̪ˠ oː ˈheːlˠiː]) (born 28th November 1987) is an Irish actor and voice actor. He was named a 2020 Screen International Star of Tomorrow[2] and one to watch in 2021 by The Irish Examiner.[3]

Early life and education

Ó Héalai was born in the Gaeltacht village of Inverin, County Galway and grew up in Inverin and Spiddal. He began acting at the age of 14 at a local youth club.[4] He completed his secondary education as a boarding student at St Jarlath's College in Tuam.[5][6]

He graduated from Maynooth University. He was awarded the Dr. H.H Stewart Literary Prize during his studies.[7] He went on to train at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and Bow Street Academy in Dublin.[8][9]

Career

In 2006, Ó Héalai made his onscreen debut as a teenager in the recurring role of Jeaic in season 1 of the TG4 coming-of-age family series Aifric.

Ó Héalai played Otis in the 2019 American psychological thriller Impossible Monsters.[10][11] That same year, he starred as Colmán Sharkey in the Irish-language period drama film Arracht, which won Best Irish film at 2020 Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) and the Audience Award at the 2020 Glasgow Film Festival.[12] In addition to receiving critical acclaim, Ó Héalai won the Aer Lingus Discovery Award at the DIFF as well as receiving a Best Actor nomination at the IFTAs.

Ó Héalaí stars as John Cunliffe in the Irish-language film Foscadh, an adaptation of the social novel The Thing About December by Donal Ryan.[13] Foscadh is the Irish submission for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

Other ventures

A native speaker of Irish, Ó Héalaí founded the cultural initiative Celtic Consciousness and, in 2018, gave a TEDxBerkeley talk on the Irish Language and Beauty.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Skint Billy Short film
2014 Sínte Seán Short film
2015 My Name is Emily Young Policeman
Pursuit Oisín
Traders Kicker
2016 Catch 22 Mikey
2017 Loud Places Garrett [1]
2019 Impossible Monsters Otis
Arracht Colmán Sharkey
2021 Foscadh John Cunliffe

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Aifric Jeaic 5 episodes[4][5]
2010–2011 Seacht Quinn 3 episodes
2013 The Siege 1922 Various Television film
2011–2014 Corp & Anam John Glynn / Garda Óg 3 episodes
TBA North Sea Connections Shane McDonagh Upcoming

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 O'Driscolls [15]

Music videos

Song Year Artist Notes
"All the Others" 2014 The Coronas

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref
2015 Irish Screen America Rising Star Award Sínte Won [16][17]
2020 Dublin International Film Festival Aer Lingus Discovery Award Arracht Won [18]
Irish Film & Television Awards Actor in a Leading Role – Film Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 Curtis Brown. "Dónall Ó Héalai".
  2. ↑ Charles Grant (28 September 2020). "Stars of Tomorrow 2020: Dónall Ó Héalai (actor)".
  3. ↑ Esther McCarthy (3 January 2021). "Bright Lights: Ones to watch in 2021". Irish Examiner.
  4. 1 2 Kernan Andrews (9 July 2015). "Connemara actor Dónall Ó Héalaí @ Galway Film Fleadh". Galway Advertiser.
  5. 1 2 "Young Cois Fharraige man looks for lucky break in New York's acting circle". Galway Advertiser. 2 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Where football is more than a religion". The Irish Times. 2 October 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "NUI Awards 2009" (pdf). National University of Ireland.
  8. ↑ "Our Programme Graduates: 2014". Bow Street.
  9. ↑ Andrews, Kernan (9 July 2015). "Connemara actor Dónall Ó Héalaí @ Galway Film Fleadh". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "IMPOSSIBLE MONSTERS Starring Santino Fontana to Screen at HBO New York Latino Film Festival". Broadwayworld. 30 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "Impossible Monsters". Cinequest.
  12. ↑ Niall Murphy (9 March 2020). "Irish drama Arracht wins awards in Dublin and Glasgow". www.Scannain.ie.
  13. ↑ Nathan Griffin (6 November 2019). "Filming begins on Foscadh, Seán Breathnach's debut Irish Language feature film". IFTN.
  14. ↑ Dónall Ó Héalaí (13 March 2018). The Irish Language and Beauty (Video). Youtube TedXBerkeley. TEDxBerkeley.
  15. ↑ Pavel Barter (4 November 2018). "Irish voice actors dumbstruck by videogame hit". The Times.
  16. ↑ "Dónall Ó Héalai". Voicebank.ie.
  17. ↑ "IRISH SCREEN AMERICA'S Inaugural Film Fest Sells Out Opening Ceremonies". Broadwayworld. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "Aerlingus Discovery Award". DIFF.ie.


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