Kevin Trainor is an Irish actor of stage and screen.

Early life

From

Kilkeel Kilkeel () is a small town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish on the Irish Sea coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the main fishing port on the Down coast, and its harbour is home to the largest fishing fleet in Northern Irel ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, Trainor attended St Colman's College in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

, where he was a close contemporary of fellow actor Michael Legge, before attending

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, where he read English. After Cambridge, Trainor trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

from 2001 to 2004.

Career

Making an early cameo appearance in the 2001 film '' The Hole'' while at RADA, he also appeared in the 2005

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

season. He is notable for portraying the younger version of

Trevor Bruttenholm Trevor Bruttenholm (Pseudonym, alias: Prof. Trevor Broom) is a fictional character in the comic book series ''Hellboy'', created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne (comics), John Byrne. His first appearance was in the comic book ''Hellboy: Seed of De ...

(played as an older man by

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

) in the film ''

Hellboy Hellboy is a superhero created by Mike Mignola and appearing in comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various miniseries, one-shots ...

''; as the character John in ''

The Catherine Tate Show ''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television comedy sketch programme written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten featuring a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' aired on BBC Two and was shown worldwide through the BBC ...

'' (from the "Ulster Mum" series of sketches); as Charles Adams in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

''; and as "

living statue A living statue, also known as a human statue, usually refers to a performer who poses as a statue or mannequin, usually with realistic statue-like makeup. ''Living statue'' may also refer to art installations created by an artist using living ...

" Keiran Barker in Sky 1 television comedy-drama '' The Café''. Trainor earned critical accolades for his appearance in the special flash-back

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

that launched the 2014 second series of Channel 4's ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

''. His performance as Mr Omida, an immaculate and punctilious torturer, was described by

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

as ''"the most chilling torturer committed to screen in a long time"'' and by Geeks Unleashed as ''"the very neat, precise and sinister Mr Omida, who wins the creepiest man alive award"''. Kevin also appeared in the documentary drama 'Titanic Birth of a Legend' as Alfred Cunningham, apprentice fitter.

Selected Theatre Work

In 2008, Trainor appeared as Moth to Peter Bowles's Don Armado in Sir Peter Hall's ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...

'' at the

Rose Theatre, Kingston The Rose Theatre Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London, England. The theatre seats 822 around a wide, thrust stage. It officially opened on 16 January, 2008 with the play ''Uncle V ...

. Trainor played Jonesy, a

savant Savant syndrome ( , ) is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment. Those with the condition generally have a neurodevel ...

with

pervasive developmental disorder The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), was a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and ...

in the first production of ''Lost Monsters'' by Laurence Wilson at the

Everyman Theatre, Liverpool The Everyman Theatre stands at the north end of Hope Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1964, in Hope Hall (once a chapel, then a cinema), in an area of Liverpool noted for its bohemian environment and political edge, ...

in 2009. In 2010, he played Trent Conway in ''

Six Degrees of Separation Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is al ...

'' at the Old Vic, London. In the same year Trainor took a leading role in Jonathan Harvey's new play, ''Canary'', in 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 on tour. His character was unrepentant gay man ''avant la lettre'' and campaigner, Billy, whose life as portrayed spans the modern period of

gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoff ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Billy's initial betrayal at the hands of his

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

lover and, later, that of society in the form of

committal In law, a committal procedure is the process by which a defendant is charged with a serious offence under the criminal justice systems of all common law jurisdictions except the United States. The committal procedure replaces the earlier grand ju ...

for

aversion therapy Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is intended to cause the patient to associate the stimulus wit ...

, leads ultimately to the character's imprisonment when he kills his treating doctor in an encounter in a gay bar. Harvey offers this as a reminder to his audience of the numerous hopeless casualties of the struggle for

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

. Trainor himself has spoken of his pride in being centrally involved in such a ''"campaigning piece"''. In 2011, Trainor starred as

Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intellige ...

in the revival of ''

By Jeeves ''By Jeeves'', originally ''Jeeves'', is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics and book by Alan Ayckbourn. It is based on the series of novels and short stories by P. G. Wodehouse that centre around the character of Bertie Woost ...

'', a musical by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

and

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. As of 2025, he has written and produced 90 full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen ...

, at the

Landor Theatre The Landor Theatre is a Public house, pub theatre in Clapham, South London. Originally the Cage Theatre upon its opening in 1994, the Landor became "Upstairs at the Landor" in 1995 and finally the Landor Theatre in 1998, following a refit of th ...

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

, London. He was off-stage for just thirty seconds during the performance. Later in the year, he returned to the Old Vic to play a ''"strapping"'' Shawn Keogh in ''

Playboy of the Western World ''The Playboy of the Western World'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge, first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. The work is considered a centerpiece of the Irish Literary Revival move ...

'' directed by John Crowley. Trainor returned to his native Northern Ireland in 2012 to appear in the ensemble play ''Titanic (Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry 1912)'' by Owen McCafferty at the new MAC Theatre in

Belfast 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 ...

. In 2013, Trainor starred as

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

us opposite Siobhan Redmond's

Mephistopheles Mephistopheles ( , ), also known as Mephostophilis or Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore, originating as the chief devil in the Faust legend. He has since become a stock character appearing in Mephistopheles in the arts and popular ...

in Marlowe's '' Doctor Faustus'' in an ''avant-garde'' co-production between Glasgow's

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat ...

and the Leeds

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 ...

. New scenes were written to complement Marlowe's incomplete text by Irish playwright

Colin Teevan Colin Teevan (born 1968 in Dublin) is an Irish playwright, translator and writer for screen. Teevan has written for multiple shows including Das Boot (Sky), Silk (BBC) Vera ( ITV) and Single Handed ( ITV). He also created, wrote and was co-exec ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Curriculum vitae
of Kevin Trainor {{DEFAULTSORT:Trainor, Kevin Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Male stage actors from Northern Ireland People from Kilkeel Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge People educated at St Colman's College, Newry Male television actors from Northern Ireland Actors from County Armagh Actors from County Down