James McArdle

James McArdle
McArdle at the Mary Queen of Scots premiere in 2019
Born	James John McArdle (1989-04-03) 3 April 1989 (age 35) Glasgow, Scotland
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2010–present

James John McArdle ^[1] (born 3 April 1989) is a Scottish actor. He won the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Mikhail Platonov in Platonov and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Louis Ironson in Angels in America .

Early life

McArdle was born in Glasgow, growing up in the city's Darnley neighbourhood ^[2] and attending St Ninian's High School, Giffnock. ^[3] As a child he attended PACE Theatre Company in nearby Paisley. ^{[4] [5]} Having worked as a child actor in films, at 17 he made the decision to travel by bus to London to train as a professional without informing his parents; ^[2] he was accepted to RADA after initially fluffing his audition lines but managing to return and impress the selectors. ^{[6] [3]} He left the course towards its end in 2010, and in the same year he appeared in Macbeth at The Globe and starred in the summer smash hit Spur of the Moment by Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre in London. He was also well received in his role in A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev at the Chichester Festival Theatre.^{[ citation needed ]}

Career

McArdle as his Chariots of Fire character at the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay

In 2011, McArdle played the role of Agathon in Emperor and Galilean by Henrik Ibsen at the National Theatre. He was also Robin Hood in the 2011 RSC production of The Legend, adapted by Ella Hickson.

In 2012, he starred as Harold Abrahams in Chariots of Fire , Mike Bartlett's stage adaptation of the film of the same title, which opened at London's Hampstead Theatre on 9 May and transferred to the West End on 23 June, running through to 5 January 2013.

He portrayed King James I of Scotland in Rona Munro's King James I, which was performed at the National Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in 2014.

In 2016, McArdle won the Ian Charleson Award for his 2015 performance as Platonov in Platonov at the Chichester Festival Theatre ^[7]

In 2017, McArdle's performance as Louis Ironson in Angels in America at the National Theatre Lyttleton in London earned him a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. ^{[8] [9]} In March 2018 he stayed with the production when it transferred to Broadway for an 18-week engagement at the Neil Simon Theatre and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. ^{[10] [11]}

Filmography

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Location	Ref(s)
2010	Macbeth	Malcolm	The Globe	[12]
	Spur of the Moment	Daniel Mast	Royal Court Theatre	[13]
	A Month in the Country	Aleksei Belyaev	Chichester Festival Theatre	[14]
2011	Emperor and Galilean	Agathon	National Theatre	[15]
	The Heart of Robin Hood	Robin Hood	Royal Shakespeare Company	[16]
2012	Chariots of Fire	Harold Abrahams	Hampstead Theatre	[17]
			Gielgud Theatre
2014	James I: The Key Will Keep The Lock	James I of Scotland	National Theatre	[18]
			Edinburgh International Festival
			National Theatre of Scotland
2015	Platonov	Mikhail Platonov	Chichester Festival Theatre	[19]
	Ivanov	Yevgeni Lvov
2016	Platonov	Mikhail Platonov	National Theatre
	Ivanov	Yevgeni Lvov
2017	Angels in America	Louis Ironson	National Theatre	[20]
2018			Neil Simon Theatre
2019	Peter Gynt	Peter Gynt	National Theatre	[21]
2021	The Tragedy of Macbeth	Macbeth	Almeida Theatre	[22]
2024	The Real Thing	Henry	Old Vic Theatre	[23]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Appropriate Adult	Stephen West	2 episodes
	Page Eight	Ted Finch	Television film
2013	Love and Marriage	Charlie McCallister	6 episodes
2014	New Worlds	Will Blood	Miniseries
	Salting the Battlefield	Ted Finch	Television film
	Turks & Caicos		Television film
	37 Days	Alec	Miniseries
2017	Man in an Orange Shirt	Thomas March	Television film
2021	Mare of Easttown	Deacon Mark Burton	Miniseries
2022	Life After Life	Hugh Todd	Main cast
2022	Andor	Timm Karlo	3 episodes
2024	Sexy Beast	Gal Dove	Main cast
2025	Playing Nice	Miles Lambert	Miniseries

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Private Peaceful	Lieutenant Buckland
2014	'71	Sergeant Mark McGowen
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Niv Lek
2016	On The Road	Joe
	The Chamber	Parks
2018	Mary Queen of Scots	James Stewart, Earl of Moray
2020	Ammonite	Roderick Murchison
TBA	Four Mothers		In post-production [24]

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2010	Ian Charleson Awards	Special Commendation	Macbeth	Nominated
			A Month in the Country	Nominated
	Evening Standard Awards	Outstanding Newcomer	Spur of the Moment	Nominated
2015	Ian Charleson Awards	1st Place	Platonov	Won
2016	Evening Standard Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
2018	Laurence Olivier Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Angels in America	Nominated
	Theatre World Award			Won
	Drama League Awards	Distinguished Performance		Nominated
	Drama Desk Awards	Best Actor in a Play		Nominated
2019	h100 Awards	Theatre & Performance	Peter Gynt	Nominated

References

1. "Statutory registers". Scotland's People. National Records of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
2. Scots actor James McArdle tells how roughing it in London slum helped him with role as King James I in new stage show, Daily Record, 18 May 2014
3. 'I won’t let a bunch of posh boys stop me': Angels In America co-star James McArdle on theatrical class war, the trouble with 'gay plays' and why he owes it all to his Glasgow granny The Herald, 16 July 2017
4. Star of stage and screen, and new pace patron, James McArdle reveals Paisley location of Scotland’s first dedicated young people's theatre Archived 13 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine , Renfrewshire News, 24 January 2020
5. Paisley's PACE is leading the way by opening Scotland's first dedicated children and young people's theatre, Daily Record, 24 January 2020
6. James McArdle - from drama school drop-out to sitcom star Archived 8 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine , Evening Times, 4 June 2013
7. Snow, Georgia (24 June 2016). "James McArdle wins 2015 Ian Charleson award". The Stage. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
8. Billington, Michael (4 May 2017). "Angels in America review – Garfield and Lane excel in Kushner's surreal epic". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
9. Stage, Guardian (6 March 2018). "Olivier awards 2018: complete list of nominations". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
10. Hetrick, Adam (28 May 2018). "Angels in America, Starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield, Opens on Broadway March 25". Playbill. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
11. Cox, Gordon (26 April 2018). "'Carousel,' 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Lead 2018 Drama Desk Nominations (Full List)". Variety. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
12. "Macbeth". The Globe. 21 August 2010. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010.
13. "Spur of the Moment". The Royal Court Theatre. 21 August 2010.
14. "A Month in the Country". Chichester Festival Theatre. Archived from the original on 23 November 2011.
15. "Emperor and Galilean". Royal National Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012.
16. "The Heart of Robin Hood". RSC. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012.
17. "Chariots of Fire". Hampstead Theatre. 2012.
18. "The James Plays". National Theatre of Scotland. 2014. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
19. "Young Chekhov: Three-play day". Royal National Theatre. 2016.
20. "London's Angels in America Will Transfer to Broadway". Playbill. 7 September 2017.
21. "Autumn Press Conference: 2019 and Beyond". Royal National Theatre. 2018.
22. "The Tragedy of Macbeth". Almeida Theatre. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
23. "The Real Thing". Old Vic Theatre.
24. "Screen Ireland announces film and TV projects for 2024". RTE. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.

External links

• James McArdle at IMDb