Justin McDonald
Born
Justin Mark McDonald

(1983-03-21) 21 March 1983
Gateshead, England
Alma materItalia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
OccupationActor
Years active2005–present
SpouseKate Hodgson
Children2

Justin McDonald (born 21 March 1983) is a British actor of film, television and theatre.

Early life

Justin Mark McDonald was born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear in North East England. His keen interest in Art and Literature led him into acting at an early age and he was soon awarded a scholarship by the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London where he gained a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Acting.

Career

McDonald went on to complete his studies early in order to film on the television drama Distant Shores for ITV Granada, playing series regular Ben McCallister.[1] Following this he has appeared in many acclaimed television productions such as Holby City, The Bill, Torchwood, Afterlife, Casualty, Emmerdale, Wolfblood and the crime detective series Inspector George Gently.

McDonald's first major film saw him appearing alongside Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in the Beatrix Potter biopic Miss Potter as the young William Heelis, who encouraged the young Beatrix Potter to write and illustrate her stories. He then went on to appear in another British biopic playing Steve in And When Did You Last See Your Father? which starred Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth. The film was based on the memoirs of the same title written by Blake Morrison.[2] More recently McDonald played a lead Detective in feature film Winter Ridge.

McDonald's stage debut came in 2010, playing the role of Klaus Voormann in the original stage adaptation of Backbeat. The untold story of The Beatles during their early Hamburg days.[3]

As well as acting on stage and screen, McDonald is an accomplished voice over artist. He played the voice of Frank Simmons in the critically acclaimed Nintendo Wii Video Game Cursed Mountain.[4] His voice career has also led him to the Monty Python comedy troupe, playing the voice of young David Sherlock in the animated feature film A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman[5]

Awards and nominations

In 2023, McDonald won a Royal Television Society award for drama performance of the year in British Film Institute short film Fist.[6]

Selected work

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005 Distant Shores Ben McCallister Series 1, episodes 1–6 (main cast)
2005 Holby City Matthew Samuels Series 7, episode 16 "Live and Let Die"
2005 The Bill Eddie Clark Series 21, episode 64 "337"
2006 Afterlife Cameron Series 2, episode 5 "Mirrorball"
2006 Torchwood Matt Series 1, episode 2 "Day One"
2008 Casualty Lewis Cork Series 22, episode 21 "Adrenaline Rush"
2008 Doctors Robin Hartnall Series 9, episode 207 "Hopelessly Devoted"
2009 Inspector George Gently Jed Jimpson Series 2, episode 4 "Gently Through the Mill"
2012 Emmerdale Trevor Cunningham Recurring Role
2013 Casualty Rory Timpson Recurring Role
2016 Wolfblood Dr Jones Series 4
Film
Year Title Role
2006 Miss Potter Young William Heelis
2007 Vampire Diary Brad
2007 And When Did You Last See Your Father? Steve
2012 A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman Young David Sherlock (voice)
2018 Winter Ridge Tom Harris
2019 A Modern Magician Jim
2021 Evie Jeremy
2021 The Almond and the Seahorse Simon
2022 Fist Aaron
2023 Goodwin Island Kai
Theatre
Year Title Role Theatre Notes
2010 Backbeat Klaus Voormann Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow Based on the 1994 film of the same name
2016 The Fighting Bradfords Roland Boys Bradford Gala Theatre, Durham, England
Voice
Year Title Notes
2009 Cursed Mountain Video game
2020 Total War Saga: Troy Video game

References

  1. ↑ Distant Shores on ShareTV
  2. ↑ French, Philip (8 October 2007). "All about my father". London: The Observer review. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  3. ↑ "Backbeat". Citizens Theatre. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Cursed Mountain". Neoseeker review. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  5. ↑ A Liar's Autobiography JustPressPlay article (16 October 2012)
  6. ↑ "RTS North East tv awards". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
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