John Michael McDonagh (born 7 November 1967) is a screenwriter and film director with Irish and British nationality. He wrote and directed ''

The Guard The Guard may refer to: * ''The Guard'' (TV series), a Canadian drama series portraying about the Canadian Coast Guard * ''The Guard'' (1990 film), a 1990 Soviet film about a soldier who kills his entire unit * ''The Guard'' (2001 film), a 2001 ...

'' (2011) and '' Calvary'' (2014), both films starring

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times fo ...

, receiving a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

nomination for the former. He was born in London in 1967. He is the older brother of playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh.

Early life

McDonagh was born in London in 1967. He was raised in England with his younger brother, playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh, although they spent their summers in his mother's Irish hometown of

Easky Easky or Easkey (; ) is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. It is on the Atlantic coast, from Sligo and from Ballina, County Mayo. The village name derives from the Irish language term for fish ("iasc") and "Iascaigh" literally means "aboundi ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

, which was the setting for '' Calvary.'' Like his brother, McDonagh dropped out of secondary school, and ended up unemployed. He pursued a career as a writer and, after writing several unpublished novels, decided to try writing for film.

Film career

McDonagh made his first foray into writing and directing with '' The Second Death'', a short film released in 2000, which his

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

served as executive producer for. Next McDonagh adapted

Robert Drewe Robert Duncan Drewe (born 9 January 1943) is an Australian novelist, non-fiction and short story writer. Biography Robert Drewe was born on 9 January 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria. At the age of six, he moved with his family to Perth. He grew ...

's 1991 novel ''

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'' into the screenplay for the 2003 film ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

'', which was directed by

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. McDonagh gained considerable attention in 2011, with the theatrical release of his feature film directorial debut ''

'', starring

and

Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned nom ...

. The film received critical acclaim, and went on to become the most financially successful independent Irish film of all time. Among several honours, McDonagh was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Original Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1984, when the original category (BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay) was split into two awards, the other being the B ...

. He followed this up in 2014 with '' Calvary'', a blackly comic drama about a good priest tormented by his community. The film also starred Gleeson as the main character. McDonagh returned to the crime comedy genre for his 2016 feature, '' War on Everyone'', which stars

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and

Michael Peña Michael Anthony Peña (; ; born January 13, 1976) is an American actor. He has starred in many films, including ''Crash'' (2004), '' World Trade Center'' (2006), '' Shooter'' (2007), '' Observe and Report'' (2009), '' Tower Heist'' (2011), '' Batt ...

as a pair of intractable Albuquerque police detectives. His fourth feature, '' The Forgiven'', was released in 2022.

Future projects

McDonagh has mentioned numerous forthcoming projects, including an adaptation of

Percival Everett Percival Everett (born December 22, 1956) is an American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. Life Everett lives in Los Angeles, California. Literary career While completing his AM degree at B ...

's novel ''Assumption'', ''The Bonnot Gang'', a period gangster film based on the true story of a group of French anarchist bank robbers who operated before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and ''Chaos Inc'', a television series about a

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based in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. In 2014 McDonagh spoke of plans to end the "trilogy" begun with ''The Guard'' and ''Calvary'', reteaming him with star

. The film, titled ''The Lame Shall Enter First'', will follow a paraplegic ex-policeman in London who has developed a hatred for able-bodied people and who gets caught up in a new investigation after one of his friends is murdered. It is intended to be an amalgamation of themes and tones present in his first two directorial features.

Filmography

Film

* (2011) ''

'' - Writer/Director * (2014) '' Calvary'' - Writer/Director * (2016) '' War on Everyone'' - Writer/Director * (2021) '' The Forgiven'' - Writer/Director

Short film

* (2021) '' The Second Death'' – Writer/Director

Screenwriter

* (2003) ''

'' – Writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonagh, John Michael Living people People from Camberwell English screenwriters English male screenwriters English people of Irish descent Film directors from London Writers from London 1967 births