From a TV soap to Mr Darcy

From starring in one of Britain’s most popular soap operas to playing the male lead in a theatre adaptation of one of literature’s most enduring love stories, Neil McDermott’s acting career is varied.

The 32-year-old London-based actor, who has Irish ancestry, is playing Mr Darcy in Belfast’s Lyric Theatre Company’s ‘Pride and Prejudice – The Musical’ at Cork’s Everyman Theatre. McDermott played Ryan Malloy in the BBC’s EastEnders for two years, until 2011.

McDermott left EastEnders because he wanted variety. “People who aren’t in the acting business or the arts think it’s very risky to leave a really well-paid job and go freelance. But I’m not driven by money and certainly not by fame and celebrity. I left EastEnders to play other parts and to work with people in theatre, as well as TV, and to try and improve as an actor. That’s what drives me.”