Dromina actor Dónal Finn: ‘I felt proud to be acting in my Cork accent’

As Dónal Finn returns to our screens in The Wheel of Time, Esther McCarthy meets the actor topping 2025’s ‘ones to watch’ lists and hears about his star turn in the West End production of Hadestown

Sat, 01 Mar, 2025 - 01:00

A new generation of Irish actors are driving a green wave of success internationally, with actors like Lola Petticrew and Hazel Doupe ( Say Nothing), Máiréad Tyers ( Extraordinary), Éanna Hardwicke ( The Sixth Commandment), and Alison Oliver ( Saltburn) taking leading roles in huge projects.

You can add Dónal Finn to that list.

The actor from Dromina, North Cork, will shortly return to our screens in season three of Prime Video’s global hit, The Wheel of Time.

Fresh from a hit run as Orpheus in the West End production of Hadestown — which he was delighted to perform in his own accent — Finn has also been cast as the villainous James Moriarty in Guy Ritchie’s forthcoming Young Sherlock.

The Wheel of Time is based on the best-selling Robert Jordan fantasy book series, in which a humble farm boy learns he is the Dragon Reborn — a dangerous figure from history destined to save the world… or break it.

The sets are epic and the onscreen worlds colossal in the show in which he plays the colourful Mat Cauthon.

“I think the production design on the show is so well realised in the sense that they operate on the micro and the macro level,” says Finn of the show’s massive scale. “They might be developing a town or a city and the city’s culture or style or its energy.

“What are the merchants or the traders? What’s the music of that place? What’s the spirit of that place?

“All of that is imagined by the production team, and that goes for costume and makeup as well, and our set design. When you get on to set, that vision is so vivid. It makes our job as actors so much easier.”

It’s a job he evidently loves, and the fact that it’s set in one of Europe’s most stunning and historic cities, Finn says, is a bonus.

“I’ve been quite lucky on this that our main base of shooting has been Prague in the Czech Republic for most of my experience of season two and season three. It’s a beautiful city. There’s a great expat community there. It has a great history. With the end of season two, we shot in Morocco. And the end of season three, we shot in South Africa.”

The striking international landscapes, he says, only adds to the scope of the series.

“I think that feeds into the visual language of the show as well, because you’re looking at landscapes that you’ve never seen before.”

As a boy, Finn honed a long-held passion for drama and musical theatre, performing in community halls around Cork, taking part in pantos in Fermoy, along with musicals in the Opera House.

One of eight children from a farming family in Dromina, he credits the support of his family who always encouraged his interests.

Still, making a career out of acting is another thing entirely. With the support of family and acting teachers, the young Finn applied to several acting schools in London — including the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda), where he was accepted. Another turning point for the young actor was being cast in successful TV series SAS Rogue Heroes, the historical drama from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.

When he graduated from college, other early screen credits included How to Build A Girl and the Netflix series, The Witcher. He also took to the New York stage for a run of the musical adaptation of John Carney’s Irish drama, Sing Street.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 21: (L to R) Cast members Gloria Onitiri, Grace Hodgett Young, Donal Finn, Madeline Charlemagne, Christopher Short and Waylon Jacobs bow at the curtain call during the press night performance of "Hadestown" at The Lyric Theatre on February 21, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

He starred as Brendan, the colourful brother played by Jack Reynor in the original film. Theatre remains one of his greatest passions and, last year, he played a leading role of Orpheus in Hadestown — which proved to be a huge hit on its West End run.

“It was amazing,” he says of the experience. “It’s funny, you know, talking about being from Cork — but one of the things that I really loved about the job was that, until it came to London, its entire iteration had been… it’s a Greek tale. It’s the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, and it is a beautiful and tragic love story, a big story about loss, risk, and chance within moments. It lives in this ancient fable, but also its design elements come from New Orleans in the 1930s. Aesthetically, that’s what you see when you look at the story and the choice of that comes from the music, stunning from Anais Mitchell, and she’s influenced by jazz.

“I think the really class thing about theatre is that, when I was auditioning for it, I was encouraged by casting and by the director that it was such a human story, that there was no expectation to put a layer on or that you should do this as if you are someone from America.

“All previous recordings had an American accent. So when they said bring yourself to it, I just felt really proud that I got to perform this in a voice that felt like it was as close to my own voice as possible, my experience.

“I think musical theatre is a big part of communities in Ireland. A lot of people find a love for musical theatre in Ireland — whether it’s through school, or as a young person growing up through those communities.

“I felt really proud to be performing in my Cork accent, doing that show, and that people responded to it.

“The start of the show is acknowledging that we’re actors and we’re going to tell the story, and that you’re in a theatre, and we see you as the audience, and you see us as the storytellers. You are not watching someone whose first name is Orpheus.

“You’re watching an actor play the role, and they bring themselves to it.”

He was moved, he says, by how many friends and family travelled to London to see him onstage. “Many people from Cork and mates from other parts of the country came over.

“I’m grateful for that support, because I recognise that for any of those people to come over, they book holidays, they pay for the flights, they organise the tickets. I am really grateful for that unity.”

Dónal Finn: As well as the new series of The Wheel of Time, it was recently announced that he’ll star as Sherlock Holmes’s arch-nemesis, James Moriarty, in a forthcoming new TV series.

Finn’s screen career is blossoming.

As well as the new series of The Wheel of Time, it was recently announced that he’ll star as Sherlock Holmes’s arch-nemesis, James Moriarty, in a forthcoming new TV series.

Young Sherlock will be directed by Guy Ritchie, the prolific filmmaker whose hits include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Gentlemen.

For all his onscreen success, Finn says he hopes that the theatre performance he fell in love with as a boy will always be a part of his life as he looks to other Irish actors who have succeeded in striking that balance.

“The actors that I am inspired by have done this incredible job of balancing stage and screen in a way that I just really admire.

“As you think down through Irish actors, Cillian Murphy has that amazing collaborative relationship with Enda Walsh.

“Andrew Scott, Jesse Buckley, Allison Oliver, Éanna Hardwicke, Chris Walley — all people that have balanced that in their careers.”

Having studied in the British capital, Finn continues to base himself in London, though he comes home to see family regularly. It is a huge benefit, he says, that the city is also a base for several close Irish actor friends.

“It’s probably the thing that shapes my experience of living in London the most, I think, is that collective of Irish actors, this bubble of really good friends that are all doing the same thing. We all share in each other’s experience. We do meet up a lot, and it’s a brilliant thing to have so much energy to support your mates and your friends.

“This is a big industry, and this is a big and a busy city.

“It is great just to have this sense of homecoming within that and a support system built on really good friendships.”