Marcel McCalla (born February 1981) is a British actor, voice artist and musician from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He has appeared in several stage productions and television shows, including ''
Grange Hill
''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...
'' for five series and ''
Footballers' Wives
''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives, broadcast on ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focuses on three very different couples, but ...
'' for two series.
Theatre
McCalla's first role was aged 14 in 1995 in
Oliver!
''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens.
It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...
. He has had roles in two plays by
Roy Williams, Emile in 2003's
Fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
and Kev in the 2005 production of
Little Sweet Thing.
Also in 2005 he played Casey Motsisi in
Who Killed Mr Drum?. In 2006, he played Andre in
Tanika Gupta
Tanika Gupta (born 1 December 1963) is a British playwright. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television, film and radio plays.
Early life
Tanika Gupta was born in London to immigrant parents from Kolkata, ...
's
Sugar Mummies and a mentally-ill patient in
Joe Penhall
Joe Scott Penhall (born 1967) is an English-Australian playwright and screenwriter, best known for his award-winning stage play ''Blue/Orange'', the award-winning West End musical ''Sunny Afternoon'' and creating the Netflix original series '' ...
's
Blue/Orange,
[ and he played Jimmy in ]A Taste of Honey
''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...
at the Royal Exchange, Manchester
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...
in 2008.
In 2010, he starred in Mustapha Matura
Mustapha Matura (17 December 1939 – 29 October 2019) was a Trinidadian playwright living in London. Characterised by critic Michael Billington as "a pioneering black playwright who opened the doors for his successors", Matura was the first Br ...
's Rum and Coca-Cola
"Rum and Coca-Cola" is a popular calypso song composed by Lionel Belasco with lyrics by Lord Invader. The song was copyrighted in the United States by entertainer Morey Amsterdam and was a hit in 1945 for the Andrews Sisters.
History
The son ...
as Slim.
Television
McCalla's television roles include parts in Grange Hill
''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...
, 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 on ...
, Footballers' Wives
''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives, broadcast on ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focuses on three very different couples, but ...
, and Trexx and Flipside, and he appeared in a BBC Film Network short film called ''Attack'' in 2005. He also voiced Freezbone in the children's animation show ''Freefonix
''Freefonix'' is a children's animated television series created by Magnus Fiennes, Alex Tate and Simeon Warburton and co-produced by Cinnamon Entertainment, Toonz Animation-Trivandrum and Method Films for CBBC, in association with Isle of Man ...
'', and he voiced Gomez in ''Matt Hatter Chronicles
''Matt Hatter Chronicles'', is an animated series produced by UK's Platinum Films, Arc Productions, and Dream Mill. It began airing on Teletoon on 8 September 2012.
It aired on Cartoon Network in India on 19 May 2014. Season 3 premiered on 13 ...
''.
McCalla's role in Footballers' Wives was in the third series as the gay black footballer Noah. He faced negative public reactions due to the role. He said of the role that "He's a character that's so different from myself: I don't earn loads of money. I'm not gay, so to play a character like that is a challenge.".[
In 2011, he was the uncredited voice of Ongo in '']Jelly Jamm
''Jelly Jamm'' is a 3D animated children's television series created by Carlos L. del Rey, Víctor M. López and David Cantolla. The series is a production of Vodka Capital and 737 SHAKER, two Spanish producers based in Madrid and Segovia, res ...
''. In 2015, he was the voice of Roley the road roller in the UK dub of the ''Bob the Builder'' reboot. From 2015 to the present, Marcel was the voice of Asher in ''Chuggington
''Chuggington'' (also known as ''Chuggington: Tales from the Rails'' since series six) is a British computer-animated children's television series aimed at toddlers, produced by Ludorum PLC (Series 1–5) and Herschend Entertainment Studios ( ...
''. From 2017 to 2021, Marcel was the voices of 2, 4, 8, 13, 20, 23, 26, 29, 40, 55, 80 and 200 in ''Numberblocks
''Numberblocks'' is a British animated television programme for preschoolers that debuted on CBeebies on 23 January 2017. The programme was created by Joe Elliot and produced by Alphablocks Ltd with Blue Zoo. It was commissioned by the Brit ...
'', and is the voices of Branch, Smidge, and Guy Diamond in Season 4 of '' Trolls: Trollstopia''.
References
External links
*
Marcel McCalla
at the British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
Film & TV Database
McCalla's YouTube channel
featuring two musical performances
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCalla, Marcel
Black British male actors
English male television actors
English male stage actors
Living people
1981 births
21st-century British male actors