Justin McDonald (born 21 March 1983) is a British actor of film, television and theatre.

Early life

Justin Mark McDonald was born in Gateshead,

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

in North East England. His keen interest in Art and Literature led him into acting at an early age and he was soon awarded a scholarship by the prestigious

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. F ...

in London where he gained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

Honours Degree in Acting.

Career

McDonald went on to complete his studies early in order to film on the television drama '' Distant Shores'' for ITV Granada, playing series regular Ben McCallister. Following this he has appeared in many acclaimed television productions such as '' Holby City'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...

'', ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'', '' Afterlife'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'', ''

Wolfblood ''Wolfblood'' is a fantasy teen drama television series targeted at a young audience. Created by Debbie Moon, it is a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE. The television series revolves around the life of the species known as wolfbloods. Th ...

'' and the crime detective series ''

Inspector George Gently ''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a 2008 British television crime drama series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector G ...

''. McDonald's first major film saw him appearing alongside

Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...

and

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

in the

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

biopic ''

Miss Potter ''Miss Potter'' is a 2006 biographical drama film directed by Chris Noonan. It is based on the life of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, and combines stories from her own life with animated sequences featuring characters from her ...

'' as the young William Heelis, who encouraged the young Beatrix Potter to write and illustrate her stories. He then went on to appear in another British biopic playing Steve in ''

And When Did You Last See Your Father? ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?'' is a 2007 British drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by David Nicholls is based on the 1993 memoir of the same title by Blake Morrison. Plot While Blake Morrison, his mother, and ...

'' which starred Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth. The film was based on the memoirs of the same title written by Blake Morrison. McDonald's stage debut came in 2010, playing the role of

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...

in the original stage adaptation of ''

Backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a p ...

''. The untold story of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

during their early

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days. As well as acting on stage and screen, McDonald is an accomplished voice over artist. He played the voice of Frank Simmons in the critically acclaimed

Nintendo Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

Video Game ''

Cursed Mountain ''Cursed Mountain'' is a 2009 action-adventure survival horror video game co-developed for the Wii by Sproing Interactive and Deep Silver Vienna, and published by Deep Silver. A Europe-exclusive port for Microsoft Windows was developed and r ...

''. His voice career has also led him to the '' Monty Python'' comedy troupe, playing the voice of young David Sherlock in the animated feature film '' A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman''''A Liar's Autobiography''
''JustPressPlay'' article (16 October 2012)

Personal life

He married actress Kate Hodgson in the Lake District in 2013.

Selected work

References

External links

*
Justin McDonald at the Film & TV Database of the British Film Institute''Miss Potter'' MovieJustin McDonald at the website of Payne ManagementJustin McDonald at the website of Just Voices
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdonald, Justin 21st-century English male actors English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors Actors from Gateshead Living people 1983 births Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts