Gerard McCarthy

Similar artists via Last.fm

About Gerard McCarthy

Gerard McCarthy (born 31 March 1981) is an actor born in Northern Ireland, best recognised for his award winning performance as Kris Fisher in the British soap opera Hollyoaks from 2006 to 2010. McCarthy's acting career began when he was awarded Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Scholarship to train at Laine Theatre Arts, graduating in 2002. He made his professional debut in Perth Repertory Theatre's production of Carousel before joining the cast of the West End musical Mamma Mia! then transferring into the West End production of Saturday Night Fever, directed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Philips. For his role in Hollyoaks he won the Best TV Actor gong at the 2007 Irish Entertainment Awards and was nominated for Best Newcomer in the 2007 British Soap Awards. McCarthy's work as a presenter includes Mobile Bites for Virgin, BBC One's Inside Out, Rave On Air 2006 - LIVE! and Backstage @ V: 2007. He presented T4 on the Beach in 2008. In June 2009 he returned to Ireland to film Belonging To Laura, a modern day film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic Lady Windermere's Fan produced by Samson Films. The film received a nomination for Best Drama at the Irish Film and Television Awards and the TV Now Awards In September 2009 he played Tristram in the Lyric Theatre's production of The Miser by Molière. The production then embarked on a national tour. McCarthy was not able to reprise his role on the tour bacause of filming commitments. His version of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon was originally recorded for use in an episode of Hollyoaks and has since received over 47,000 hits on YouTube. McCarthy was named 'Media Personality Of The Year' at the FATE Awards 2010. In August, McCarthy will make his Shakespearean debut as Fenton in 'The Merry Wives Of Windsor' at Shakespeare's Globe in London before the production transfers to Los Angeles & New York. Confirming the casting, director Christopher Luscombe said: "The audition for Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor was quite a test - we needed a handsome, witty young actor, who could handle some really tricky Shakespearean verse, play the guitar and sing beautifully!" He added: "We cast the net far and wide, but Gerard was the clear winner - he made it all look easy, which is a great gift. I'm really looking forward to working with him." McCarthy began his association with the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice in October 2007 when he overcame his fear of heights by leading a fundraising abseil event, in which he had to climb down Belfast's Europa Hotel. He then went on to become a celebrity supporter of The White Sapphire Ball in aid of the NI Children's Hospice, at which a romantic dinner with McCarthy was auctioned off for £4,500. In Dec 2009, he took part in a elebrity version of Panic Attack & managed to win £1000 for the NI Children's Hospice. In Jan 2010, McCarthy led the Belfast4Haiti 5K run in his home city with Olympic Gold Medallist Dame Mary Peters. The event was organised to raise funds for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Awards and nominations 2010 FATE Awards - Best Media Personality (Winner) 2007 Irish Entertainment Awards - Best Actor (Winner) 2007 British Soap Awards - Best Newcomer (Nominated) 2007 Inside Soap Awards - Best Newcomer (Nominated)

Taken from Last.fm

471 listeners · 2,148 plays via Last.fm