Peter McDonald

This attractive, stage-trained light-haired actor broke through with his understated performance as a recently released criminal forced to collaborate with Brendan Gleeson's irascible Bunny at the behest of a crime lord in the underrated and unjustly overlooked Irish film "I Went Down" (1998). Dublin native Peter McDonald began his career in earnest in fringe theater while studying at University College. He made his film acting debut in the little-seen "Have You Ever Heard of Jimi Hendrix", as an alcoholic busker obsessed with the American rock star but it was "I Went Down" (which was a box-office hit in Ireland) that made audiences and others take notice. McDonald subsequently played an Australian who agrees to accompany a sea captain (Bob Hoskins) to the Arctic in "Captain Jack" (also 1998) and reteamed with the actor for Atom Egoyan's "Felicia's Journey" (1999). McDonald also reunited with co-star Gleeson and scriptwriter Conor McPherson for the latter's directorial debut "Salt Water" (2000), an adaptation of the play "This Lime Tree Bower".

• Also Credited As:
  Peter Daniel McDonald
• Born:
  January 28, 1972 in Dublin, Ireland
• Job Titles:
  Actor

Education

• University College, Dublin, Ireland, English, BA, 1993
• University College, Dublin, Ireland, English, MFA, 1994

Milestones

• 1998 Breakthrough screen role as the lead in "I Went Down", scripted by McPherson and co-starring Brendan Gleeson
• 1998 Played an Australian who joins Bob Hoskins on a voyage to the Arctic in "Captain Jack"
• 1999 Had supporting role alongside Hoskins in Atom Egoyan's "Felicia's Journey"
• 2000 Cast as a movie-loving teacher who finds an unlikely romance in "When Brendan Met Trudy"; screened as part of The Shooting Gallery film series
• 2000 Co-starred with Gleeson and Brian Cox in McPherson's feature directorial debut "Salt Water" adapted from the play "This Lime Tree Bower"
• 2000 Played Stanislas Joyce in the biopic "Nora"
• 2001 Acted on the London stage in Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind"
• 2001 Appeared opposite Catherine McCormack in Neil Jordan's one-act "White Horses"
• Acted in a BBC Radio 4 version of Conor McPherson's "This Lime Tree Bower"
• Began performing as an undergraduate at University College, Dublin
• Film acting debut in "Have You Ever Heard of Jimi Hendrix"
• Joined Fly By Night Theater Company; first met Conor McPherson