Actress Niamh McCormack spoke to David Hennessy about her career so far which includes starring in House of Guinness, Sky’s Small Town, Big Story and the recent production of The Crucible at The Gaiety.
Dublin actress Niamh McCormack (25) is recognisable from Netflix hit House of Guinness.
Her breakout role came as Alison in hit series Everything Now, also from Netflix.
Other notable credits include The Witcher, Disney+’s fantasy epic WILLOW and Chris O’Dowd’s Sky series Small Town, Big Story.
Niamh’s feature film credits include Who We Love, The Magic Flute and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves.
Earlier this year Niamh did her first play when she starred in The Crucible at The Gaiety in Dublin.
Last November Niamh was honoured with the Ros Hubbard Award for Acting at the conclusion of the Irish Film Festival London. She has since gone on to become a patron of Irish Film & TV UK (IFTUK, formerly Irish Film London).
To come Niamh can be seen starring in the lead role in Cold Mind.
Niamh took time to chat to the Irish World.
You recently starred in The Crucible at Dublin’s Gaiety. That was your first play, wasn’t it?
“Yeah, well I played Mary in the nativity play when I was five years old.
“The Crucible was such an incredible experience because it’s such a colossal play to do.
“I was definitely just thrown in the deep end, I wanted to be though.
“I think as an actor, you should be challenged.
“As a person, I just don’t think you’ll grow if you’re not ever challenged or put out of your depth.
“I got an email in from my agent and they said, ‘Would you like to go for this audition for Abigail in The Crucible?’
“And I didn’t really know the play that well so I read it and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m doing this, I want to audition for this so bad’.
“I got the role which was incredible and I was thrust into this room of really talented Irish actors who had been doing this forever so I really got imposter syndrome.
“But I loved it.
“I really fell in love with that character even though she is the villain.
“She’s the antagonist but I think as an actor you can’t view the characters you play as either good or bad, you need to find out why they are the way they are.
“I really enjoyed it and I would definitely do more theatre.”
How did you enjoy working with that cast?
“Charlene (McKenna) is an incredible actor, also just an incredible person.
“We had incredible actors like Rory Nolan and he’s incredible.
“And we had Dennis Conway and Bríd Ní Neachtain, just incredible Irish actors, legends, and they were all so nice.
“You do create sort of a family during rehearsals.
“Bríd Ní Neachtain was bringing me in this special hummus from her corner shop and I was making her these special dates and every Monday we’d come in and swap commissary like we were swapping things in prison.
“Bríd Ní Neachtain was kind of like a grandmother to me and she was such a lovely lady.”
Let’s talk about your role in House of Guinness. You certainly had something to get your teeth into with fenian organiser, Ellen Cochrane..
“I don’t even know where to begin.
“If I could have written the dream role, it probably would have been Ellen Cochrane: A woman representing the Irish fight for freedom.
“Women, as we know, were written out of history, especially Irish history.
“I could talk about a few women that were completely written out of the 1916 rebellion for example but I think for her to be at the centre of that fight was incredible.
“Also, she’s so layered.
“I brought in a lot of softness and vulnerability towards the end of the season that I found she needed to have to be human.
“You can’t have just strong characters all the time without that little bit of sensitivity or vulnerability because it’s not human, it’s just not real.
“She’s so strong and powerful and she wants to change the world but you need to have moments that she is a human and you do see that underneath it all.”
Did you do a lot of research for the role?
“I’m a big nerd.
“I love preparation before starting filming.
“I got a few books on old Ireland and I went into the importance of why they wanted independence from Britain during this time.
“It was just after the famine which was a hugely traumatic time for the whole of Ireland so it was really important to make sure I knew why- Obviously I know why but on a deeper level, why these people wanted independence from Britain and what it meant for them.
“That was really, really important for my prep for Ellen.
“And she was just a badass.
“She was so much fun to play.
“What I thought was great about House of Guinness was all the women were very strong and they were driving the plot at some times.
“The men were all going, ‘Oh, what do we do?’
“And then the women were like, ‘We know what to do’.
“It was so much fun to play.
“I also found out through preparation that my great great grandfather was in the Irish Republican Brotherhood which was really cool to go back into my history and have a direct link to that.
“It made it a little bit more real and close to home that way.”
You also starred in Small Town, Big Story, what was it like to be part of Chris O’Dowd’s latest drama with a cast that included Christina Hendricks in the lead?
“Chris is such an amazing guy.
“He was so friendly, so engaging.
“He really, really cared about the show.
“Myself and Cillian Lenaghan were playing the younger versions of the main characters so he took a lot of care with us and he wrote more scenes for us which was amazing.
“I remember one day we had finished filming and he looked at us and he goes, ‘What are you guys doing for the rest of the day?’
“And we were like, ‘Nothing’.
“And he was like, ‘Well, do you want to film another scene?’
“And we were like, ‘Yeah, sure’.
“He gave us the lines and then we filmed it.
“It was the craziest thing I’d ever done: Just like that, not even thinking about it too much, not having any prep.
“And it was a brilliant scene.
“Christina was so lovely.
“I met her a few times.
“We have shared a glass of Prosecco or two.
“I think she’s such a legend.
“I’m such a big fan of her in Mad Men. I think she’s an incredible actress and has so much time for everyone.
“So it was lovely to be able to share the screen with her.”
Something you have coming up is the short film, Charity!..
“That was so much fun.
“Our writer and director Stephen Lally created this concept and it’s like a queer 90s Britney Spears-esque musical short film.
“It is maybe one of the craziest things I’ve ever done.
“It’s so camp, it’s so out there.
“The costumes were incredible.
“Stephen had such a vision for this.
“It’s very inspired by the Spice Girls or Britney Spears, that whole 90s era.
“I essentially play a pop star in the 90s who has her kind of voice taken away from her.
“She’s not really allowed to express herself in the way that she wants to.
“I sing in it and I dance in it.
“I’m not the most confident dancer but again, it was a challenge.
“I love being challenged.
“I’m looking forward to seeing that.”
With Who We Love you part of a very exciting Irish cast. What was it like to be part of something exploring themes of homophobia and bullying?
“Graham Cantwell is an incredible director who I met when I was really young on a screen acting course.
“He was making a short film called Lily and it was basically Who We Love.
“It was the same premise and it was incredible.
“It was my first ever time being on a set and I had a very small role but it was a lovely, comfortable environment because it was all Irish and it was a small team and you were making something quite sensitive and it was done with a lot of care.
“And then a few years later, we came back for Who We Love and that was a special film because everyone knew how sensitive the topic was and knew how it needed to be handled and they really cared about it.
“I think they cared about the story being made and there was a lot of queer people attached to it and it was their chance to be given the stand to talk and to be heard and listened to.
“It was a really brilliant young cast full of incredible Irish talent who are still doing incredible things.
“I think it was one of the first Irish films that had been given that chance to speak on this topic and it was done in a sensitive way but also it didn’t shy away from those hard to watch parts of the film.
“Those things do happen, violence against the LGBTQ community so it was great to be given that platform to show, and especially in Ireland because homophobia and all that is still rampant unfortunately even in 2026, so it was great to be a part of something like that.”
Another thing that film shows is girls bullying other girls and how vicious it can be, was that important to show?
“Definitely.
“I was bullied in school, not to that extent but so many people were bullied in school and I don’t think they realised the impact it does have on a person.
“It’s hard to watch, hard to digest nearly because you don’t really want to believe that this kind of stuff can happen in schools.
“It really did a great job of showing so many different parts of being a teenager in Ireland and what it entails.
“I was very happy to be a part of something like that.
“I think it was important.”
IFTUK hold their Pride Festival this week. Who We Love was part of their inaugural festival last year. It seems you, like Q-IFTUK, are committed to telling such stories. Who We Love, Everything Now and Charity! All have queer themes to them..
“Oh my God, yeah.
“I think that’s super important as an artist to be able to reach your audience.
“If you have a platform, it’s really important to speak on topics and to raise awareness for issues that are going on in the world.
“I actually hadn’t even realised the direct link between all of those but yeah, I really gravitate towards telling stories that either haven’t been told before or need to be told again and again and again and again until they don’t need to be told anymore.
“These are issues that are going on in the world and within our own communities and as young teenagers and as young adults, it’s important to be given a voice and to be heard and to be listened to.
“I still get such beautiful messages about Everything Now and how that’s touched so many young teens or young adults and I think that’s why you do what you do: To have an impact on your audience.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to take part in some beautiful creations and had that chance so I hope to continue that in the future.”
I bet those messages from affected youths mean more than any review. You spoke about being bullied yourself in school..
“Definitely, I think that just being able to give a young person being bullied a sense of hope is so special.
“As a young child being bullied, I would have loved that and I did find solace in TV shows and other people who maybe had gone through the same thing.
“I think when you’re being bullied, you think, ‘Why is it me?’
“And it’s not, it’s always the perpetrator so I think to be able to give someone hope or a sense of comfort is super, super important.
“That’s another element of this job that I find really, really special and I hold deep in my heart.”
You were awarded the Ros Hubbard award for acting at the Irish Film Awards last year. Previous winners included Chris Walley, Eanna Hardwicke, Alison Oliver, Daniel McCormack and Clare Dunne. What was it like to get such an award?
“Oh, such an honour.
“Honestly the people who have been given that award are all doing such incredible things.
“Like I said on the night, Ireland’s really having its moment.
“There’s such talent that’s always been here and now that the recognition worldwide is happening, it just feels super special that Ros was able to come in person as well and to honour me with that award.
“I was super grateful to be in that pool of incredible actors and it was such a special night of celebrating Irish film, especially being in London.
“It was super special because I obviously live in London and I think to be surrounded by incredible Irish talent and celebrating Irish culture was really cool.
“Such an honour for me.”
What has been a highlight of your career so far?
“I think moving to London with Everything Now was pretty special just given the subject matter.
“I was 21 and I had just booked this lead on a Netflix show.
“It seemed pretty colossal at the time and my life changed essentially from then because I left Dublin and I moved to London and I started a whole new life essentially.
“The Crucible was such a big thing for me as well.
“I think that was pretty special just because I couldn’t have imagined doing something like that.
“If you told me this time last year that I was going to be starring in a Gaiety production of The Crucible with no theatre training, I would have been like, ‘No, no way’.
“That was such a big highlight doing that and feeling like I’d really given it my all.”
You are often listed online as starting your career in TG4’s An Crisis but that’s not actually correct, is it?
“I don’t know where that comes from.
“I went to an Irish language speaking school in Dungarvan so I used to be fluent in Irish but unfortunately it’s left my old noggin.
“I can definitely speak it and understand it but I wouldn’t be so confident.”
Would you perhaps do something in the Irish language in the future? I guess it depends what comes up..
“Definitely, I think it’s all about the story and the people behind it.
“One of my favourite films of the last few years was An Cailín Ciúin.
“I would love to do something but also I would not want to offend any native Irish speakers with my bad Irish at this stage.
“But I would definitely do it if I could really have some time and go and brush up on my own Irish just for my own sake.
“I think as an Irish person, I wouldn’t want to go and speak bad Irish but I’d love to immerse myself in that again, maybe spend a few weeks in the Gaeltacht and be around native Irish speakers because I went to an Irish speaking boarding school for a year and I loved it.
“We played Gaelic football and camogie, not that I was any good at it but it still was fun to delve into your culture.”
IFTUK Pride Film Festival continues Saturday 27 July at Century Club, Soho.
For more information, go to iftuk.com.
