Damien Molony is an Irish actor. He is best known for his television roles as Hal Yorke in BBC Three's Being Human, DC Albert Flight in the BBC's Ripper Street, DS Jack Weston in Channel 5's Suspects, Jon in Channel 4's GameFace and Dylan in Sky One Original comedy Brassic.
Early life
Molony was born in Johnstownbridge. He studied at Clongowes Wood College in Clane, followed by Trinity College in Dublin, where he completed a degree in business and politics and became involved in the acting society. He soon moved to London to attend Drama Centre London.
Career
Early work (2007–2011) After graduating in 2011, Molony co-starred as Giovanni in a production of the John Ford play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, directed by Jonathan Munby. He won the second prize in the 2011 Ian Charleson Awards for his performance.
Molony's casting as vampire Hal in the BBC Three series Being Human brought him his first television credit. In an interview with SFX magazine, Molony revealed that when approaching the role of Hal he did research on drug addicts and alcoholics. He has previously starred in the short film When the Hurlyburly's Done, filmed in Germany.
After the filming of series 4 of Being Human, in January 2012 Damien played the lead role of Motl Mendl in the National Theatre production of Travelling Light alongside Sir Antony Sher. Following a long run at the Lyttelton Theatre, the play toured England and was broadcast in cinemas worldwide with National Theatre Live. He returned to the National Theatre in January 2015 to play Spike in Sir Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem, which ran until 17 May 2015 and also had a worldwide broadcast via NT Live, on 16 April 2015. Both plays were directed by the then Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Sir Nicholas Hytner.
Rising popularity (2012–present) The fifth and final series of Being Human was screened in February–March 2013. At the same time Molony starred in the play "If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep" at the Royal Court Theatre.
Damien's television slate grew when in the same year he joined the cast of Victorian BBC show Ripper Street in series 2 as Detective Constable Albert Flight. He appeared in 7 of 8 episodes on BBC One in the UK and BBC America. The crime drama was set in London's Whitechapel in the period following the Jack the Ripper murders.
Molony returned to theatre, alongside William Gaminara in the play The Body of an American by Dan O'Brien in January–February 2014 at the Gate Theatre (London) about the conversation of a war photographer and a struggling playwright.
The actor then landed the role of Detective Sergeant Jack Weston in innovative crime procedural Suspects. The drama, shot in a documentary style using fly-on-the-wall filming techniques, premiered in the UK February 2014. The show ran for five series, the last airing August 2016, with a new cast line-up and a change in format and Molony taking centre stage in a six part story. All five series of the show have also reached American audiences via streaming service Acorn TV.
Molony was cast as Robert Putnam in an HBO pilot, The Devil You Know, created by Jenji Kohan and directed by Gus Van Sant in 2015, alongside Eddie Izzard and Karen Gillan. Set in 17th century New England and focusing on the Salem witch trials, the drama was filmed in Boston USA, but was not picked up by the network.
Damien's first role in a feature film was as the character Ross in Kill Your Friends, adapted from the novel by John Niven, set in the music industry in the Britpop era. The film's theatrical premiere via Altitude Films took place in the UK and Europe November 2015, followed by a US release with Well Go USA in April 2016.
His second feature film Tiger Raid, shot in the deserts of Jordan, saw him star in a leading role alongside Brian Gleeson and Sofia Boutella. A dark thriller about a tiger kidnapping in Iraq, the film had its world premiere at Tribeca International Film festival April 2016, with a UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June and a UK DVD and VOD release 17 October 2016.
Appearing alongside Irish talent Aidan McArdle and Adam Fergus, Molony's next TV project was in RTÉ One crime drama Clean Break, which aired in Ireland September 2015.
He next starred alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge in her first TV comedy Crashing as the character Anthony. The series premiered January 2016 on Channel 4 in the UK and later in the year internationally, via streaming platforms.