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 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 in London where he gained a Bachelor of Arts 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.Distant Shores on ShareTV Following this he has appeared in many acclaimed television productions such as Holby City, The Bill, Torchwood, Afterlife, Casualty, Emmerdale, Wolfblood and the crime detective series Inspector George Gently.
McDonald's first major film saw him appearing alongside Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in the Beatrix Potter biopic Miss Potter 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? which starred Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth. The film was based on the memoirs of the same title written by Blake Morrison. More recently McDonald played a lead Detective in feature film Winter Ridge.
McDonald's stage debut came in 2010, playing the role of Klaus Voormann in the original stage adaptation of Backbeat. The untold story of The Beatles during their early Hamburg 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 Wii video game Cursed Mountain. 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 ChapmanA Liar's Autobiography JustPressPlay article (16 October 2012)
McDonald also played the role of 'Ronnie' in Rag'n'Bone Man music video Hard Came The Rain LP for Sony Music.
Awards and nominations
In 2023, McDonald received a Royal Television Society award for his performance in British Film Institute film Fist.
Selected work + Television Year Title Role Notes 2005 Distant Shores Ben McCallister Series 1, episodes 1–6 (main cast) 2005 Holby City Matthew Samuels Series 7, episode 16 "Live and Let Die" 2005 Eddie Clark Series 21, episode 64 "337" 2006 Afterlife Cameron Series 2, episode 5 "Mirrorball" 2006 Torchwood Matt Series 1, episode 2 "Day One" 2008 Casualty Lewis Cork Series 22, episode 21 "Adrenaline Rush" 2008 Doctors Robin Hartnall Series 9, episode 207 "Hopelessly Devoted" 2009 Inspector George Gently Jed Jimpson Series 2, episode 4 "Gently Through the Mill" 2012 Emmerdale Trevor Cunningham Recurring Role 2013 Casualty Rory Timpson Recurring Role 2016 Wolfblood Dr Jones Series 4
+ Film Year Title Role 2006 Miss Potter Young William Heelis 2007 Vampire Diary Brad 2007 And When Did You Last See Your Father? Steve 2012 A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman Young David Sherlock (voice) 2018 Winter Ridge Tom Harris 2019 A Modern Magician Jim 2021 Evie Jeremy 2021 The Almond and the Seahorse Simon 2022 Fist Aaron 2023 Goodwin Island Kai
+ Theatre Year Title Role Theatre Notes 2010 Backbeat Klaus Voormann Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow Based on the 1994 film of the same name 2016 The Fighting Bradfords Roland Boys Bradford Gala Theatre, Durham, England
+ Voice Year Title Notes 2009 Cursed Mountain Video game 2020 Total War Saga: Troy Video game
References
External links
Justin McDonald at the Film & TV Database of the British Film Institute Miss Potter Movie Justin McDonald at the website of Just Voices