Louis McCartney is a Northern Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Henry Creel in the original West End and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

stage productions of '' Stranger Things: The First Shadow'', which earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play.

Early life

From

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 ...

, he is the son of screenwriter Michael McCartney. His mother is a holistic therapist. He has an older brother who works as an ocean explorationist. He studied acting at

Bow Street Academy Bow Street Academy — the National Screen Acting School of Ireland (known simply as Bow Street) is a film and television acting academy in Dublin, Ireland. Named after its location on the road that was once home to the original Jameson whisky ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Career

In 2022, McCartney appeared in ''Comedy Blaps'' episode ''William of Orangedale'' on ''

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

''. He had small roles in '' The Tourist'' and ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''. He had a recurring role as Shay O’Hare in Northern Ireland crime drama series '' Hope Street''. McCartney could be seen in the lead role in 2023 British film ''

Silent Roar ''Silent Roar'' is a 2023 British film. It is written and directed by Johnny Barrington in his feature length debut. Synopsis Dondo (McCartney) is a young surfer mourning his father’s disappearance at sea with a crush on Sas, who dreams of ...

''. His performance was described by

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

in ''

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 ...

'' as “intelligent and sympathetic”. In December 2023, he made his London

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

debut in '' Stranger Things: The First Shadow'' playing Henry Creel. 20 years old at the start of the run, he had never been in a West End Theatre prior to his casting. David Benedict in ''

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), ...

'' said the success of the play "is due in no small part to the way cCartneyholds focus even in the midst of one coup-de-theatre after another". He won Best Performer in a Play at The Stage Debut Awards in 2024. He reprised the role when the play transferred to

in the United States, appearing from April 2025, at the

Marquis Theatre The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1986, it ...

in New York, where he received multiple award nominations for his performance including the

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway ...

Acting credits

Film and television

Theatre

References

External links

* 2003 births Actors from Belfast Alumni of the Bow Street Academy Living people Male film actors from Northern Ireland Male stage actors from Northern Ireland Male television actors from Northern Ireland Theatre World Award winners {{UK-screen-actor-stub