Amy Molloy is a Northern Irish actress born in
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
. She resides in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
Career
Molloy's work on screen includes;
''Animals'', ''
Call the Midwife
''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...
'', ''
'71'',
''The Fall'' and the screen adaptation of
John Banville
William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...
novel ''
The Sea'', as well as the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
film of ''Cyprus Avenue'' for BBC Four (2020) by
David Ireland, opposite veteran actor Stephen Rea.
Amy Mollloy most recently played Private Sarah Jane, opposite
Rory Kinnear
Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor. He won two Olivier Awards, both at the National Theatre, in 2008 for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in ''The Man of Mode'', and for playing the William Shakespeare villain ...
,
Anthony Boyle
Anthony Boyle (born 8 June 1994) is a Northern Irish actor. A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Boyle began his acting career on London stage and rose to prominence for originating the role of Scorpius Malfoy in the West ...
and
Lola Petticrew in Disney/FX series
Say Nothing based on the book of the same name by
Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe (born 1976) is an American writer and investigative journalist. He is the author of five books—''Chatter,'' ''The Snakehead,'' '' Say Nothing,'' '' Empire of Pain,'' and ''Rogues''—and has written extensively for many pu ...
.
She was nominated for Best Actor in a Female Role at the
Richard Harris International Film Festival
The Richard Harris International Film Festival (RHIFF) is an annual film festival held in Limerick, Ireland, named for the actor Richard Harris (1930–2002), a native of the city. The festival is affiliated with the Irish Film and Television A ...
2020, for her lead role as Rosie Curran, in the short film ''Bound''. Her performance also earned her a special mention at the
Cork International Film Festival
Cork International Film Festival (CIFF), also known the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City, Ireland. It was established in 1956 as part of An Tóstal, and is Ireland's oldest and largest film festival. It is typi ...
in 2019, with
Film Ireland
''Film Ireland'' is a cultural cinema magazine published from 1987 to 2013 by Filmbase (aka Film Base) Centre for Film and Video in Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's longest-running film publication.Flynn, Roderick and Patrick Brereton. "Film Bas ...
remarking that her "powerful performance carries the film".
Molloy plays
Holliday Grainger
Holliday Clark Grainger (born 27 March 1988), also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series '' Roger and the Rottentrolls'', Lu ...
's sister in the 2019 film ''Animals'' 2019. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' described her performance as ‘tamed wild child’ Jean as "excellent" when the film premiered at
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
. ''The Telegraph'' also noted her performance in their 4 star review of the film.
Her theatre career includes; work for the Royal Court Theatre
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...
and
Public Theater
The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: A ...
NYC, in the original and shocking dark comedy,
Cyprus Avenue
"Cyprus Avenue" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. It refers to Cyprus Avenue, a residential street in Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In perfor ...
, playing opposite actor
Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea ( ; born October 31, 1946) is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a member of Dublin's Focus Theatre, and played many roles on the stage and on Irish television. He came to the attention of inte ...
, originating the role of his daughter Julie. The production was screened on
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 in 2019 and via Royal Court Theatre online, in 2020. It was listed in the Top 50 Plays of the 21st Century, by ''The Guardian''.
In 2022 Amy Molloy was nominated for Best Female Performance by the ''
Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland The Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) are an annual event awarding performances "substantially produced in Scotland, or developed, rehearsed and premiered in Scotland".
Awards ceremony
The ceremony is itinerant in terms of location, sw ...
'', for her solo performance in ''
This Is Paradise'' by writer Michael John O’Neill, at
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
2021 and 2022, on both
Traverse theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded as The Traverse Theatre Club in 1962 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes, Richard Demarco, Terry Lane, Andrew Muir, John Martin and Sheila Colvin.
The Traverse Th ...
stages.
Receiving rave reviews, the performance and production garnered five stars by
the Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
and many other publications and was praised across the board, variously described as a performance of “fierce, fragile strength and subtlety”, both “captivating” (
The Skinny) and a “hypnotic” (
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...
), “spellbinding performance” (
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
) and “superbly performed” (
The List), by “an excellent Amy Molloy” (
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
).
The National wrote, “an exceptional Molloy..a bravura, emotionally dexterous and deeply moving performance...one of the most moving and convincing evocations of personal trauma witnessed, in 30 years as a theatre critic”.
In 2023, she teamed up with the same writer again in the play ''Akedah,'' performed at the ''
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers.
History
The original ''Hampstead Theatre Clu ...
'' and winning her an
OFFIE nomination for Best Lead Performance, giving a “magnetic central performance” (
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...
), with
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
noting, “...the tremendous Amy Molloy reappears in this O’Neill play, as the nerve-shot Gill..a dark symphony of flinches and flails”.
At the end of 2019, she appeared as Bridget in ''
Translations
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
'' by
Brian Friel
Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...
at the
Royal National Theatre
The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
London, in a production directed by
Ian Rickson
Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006. , with a cast including
Ciaran Hinds.
That same year, her solo performance as Aoife in ''Cotton Fingers'' by
Rachel Tresize
Rachel Trezise (born 1978) is a Welsh author. Her debut collection of short stories, ''Fresh Apples'', won the inaugural Dylan Thomas Prize in 2006.
Early life
Rachel Trezise was born in Cwmparc, Rhondda in 1978. Her family is of Cornish peopl ...
at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
2019, won her praise for her performance of a young woman from Belfast having to travel alone to terminate a pregnancy in Wales. She won a
Lustrum Award for excellence and the show was listed as one of The Stage ‘Best Shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, 2019’.
Molloy has appeared on stage at the
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...
Dublin and the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues.
BAM was chartered in 18 ...
, New York in a revival and new adaptation of Ibsen's
John Gabriel Borkman
''John Gabriel Borkman'' is a 1896 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was his penultimate work.
Plot
The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to ...
by
Frank McGuinness
Professor Frank McGuinness (born 1953) is an Irish writer. As well as his own plays, which include '' The Factory Girls'', '' Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'', '' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me'' and '' Dolly West's Kitche ...
, which starred
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...
,
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She did extensive work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, as well as in film and television. In 2020, she was listed at No. 29 o ...
and
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan (born 7 November 1950) is a Scottish actress. She is the recipient of three BAFTA nominations and one Scottish BAFTA nomination, as well as two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her work on stage. She has starred in sever ...
.
Molloy has also worked for the prestigious
Druid Theatre Company
The Druid Theatre Company, referred to as Druid, is an Irish theatre company, based in Galway, Ireland.
As well as touring extensively across Ireland, the company's productions have played internationally to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the ...
Ireland, starring alongside Tony Award Winner
Marie Mullen
Marie Mullen (born 1953) is an Irish actress. She is known for co-founding the Druid Theatre Company, located in Galway, Ireland. She is also known for her performance in the 1998 production of ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'', for which she ...
as her daughter Susanne, in 2024's Gaiety Theatre production of “The House” by
Tom Murphy.
She has also played Louise Kendall
in the
Gate Theatre, Dublin production of ''
My Cousin Rachel
''My Cousin Rachel'' is a Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier, published in 1951. Bearing thematic similarities to her earlier and more famous novel ''Rebecca'', it is a mystery-romance, set primarily on a large estate i ...
'', in an original dramatic adaptation by
Joseph O’Connor.
In 2015, Molloy's performance in one woman show, ''Tea Set'', at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
,
The Pleasance
The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Stu ...
Courtyard, was one of Lyn Gardner's top ticket picks and The Guardians Top Tickets, describing her performance as "packing a wallop" and "perfectly judged". ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'' ranked it as "one of the top rank performances to be seen at the Fringe" that year. Molloy was asked to write an article for the online branch of ''The Scotsman'', on the play and its topics of loneliness, isolation and grief,
teaming up with
Age Scotland in order to raise awareness for Silverline and other local charities.
Filmography
Television
References
External links
*
‘How Art Can Come From Grief’, first-time fringer, rated by Alan Rickman, performing in TeaSet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molloy, Amy
Film actresses from Northern Ireland
Stage actresses from Northern Ireland
Living people
Actresses from Belfast
21st-century actresses from Northern Ireland
Year of birth missing (living people)