Dónall Ó Héalai

Ó Héalai was born in the Gaeltacht village of Inverin, County Galway and grew up in Inverin and Spiddal. He began acting at the age of 14 at a local youth club.^[8] He completed his secondary education as a boarding student at St Jarlath's College in Tuam.^[9][10]

He graduated from Maynooth University. He was awarded the Dr. H.H Stewart Literary Prize during his studies.^[11] He then trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and Bow Street Academy in Dublin.^[12][13]

In 2006, Ó Héalai made his onscreen debut as a teenager in the recurring role of Jeaic in season 1 of the TG4 coming-of-age family series Aifric.

Ó Héalai played Otis in the 2019 American psychological thriller Impossible Monsters.^[14][15] That same year, he starred as Colmán Sharkey in the Irish-language period drama film Arracht, which won Best Irish film at 2020 Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) and the Audience Award at the 2020 Glasgow Film Festival.^[16] In addition to receiving critical acclaim, Ó Héalai won the Aer Lingus Discovery Award at the DIFF as well as receiving a Best Actor nomination at the IFTAs.

Ó Héalaí stars as John Cunliffe in the Irish-language film Foscadh, an adaptation of the social novel The Thing About December by Donal Ryan.^[17] Foscadh is the Irish submission for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.