Tom McKay (actor)
British actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom McKay (born 27 December 1979) is a British actor. He trained at LAMDA and spent the early part of his career working predominately in theatre, performing for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and at the National Theatre, Almeida, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, the Globe, in the West End and at the Public Theater in New York.
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Tom McKay | |
|---|---|
McKay in 2025 | |
| Born | 27 December 1979 Solihull, Warwickshire, England |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2001 – present |
He went on to work more frequently in television, including lead roles in History Channel's Emmy-winning series Hatfields and McCoys, the BBC's acclaimed costume drama The White Queen, and more recently his portrayal of Mark Preen in the Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business. [1][2][3][4]
He is known for his role as Henry of Skalitz in Warhorse Studios’s medieval RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, for which he’s received nominations, including a Golden Joystick Awards Nomination for Best Performer and a BAFTA Game Award Nomination for Best Lead Performance.[5][6]
Early life and education
Thomas McKay was born in Solihull, Warwickshire on the 27th December 1979.[7] He graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2001 and got his first job the day he graduated at the National Theatre playing China Mary in Mother Clap's Molly House.[8]
Career
Following his training at LAMDA, McKay has been in numerous theatre performances, including many Shakespeare productions. Notably he played the role of Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which was performed at the Shakespeare's Globe in 2014, directed by Dominic Dromgoole. His first job was at the National Theatre in Mark Ravenhill's Mother Clap's Molly House, directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner.[9][10]
Other roles include the Duke of Gloucester and the Lord Scrope of Masham in Henry V at the National Theatre, also directed by Hytner, and Lennox in Macbeth at the Almeida Theatre directed by John Caird. In 2010 he played various roles in The Great Game: Afghanistan in the US, directed by the current Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham, and Nicolas Kent. At the Gielgud Theatre in 2006 he performed as Jim Reston in Frost/Nixon directed by Michael Grandage. Most recently he played Arnholm in Ibsen's The Lady From the Sea at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. [11][12][13][14]
In 2005, McKay played the role of Piers as part of an ensemble cast in the film Chromophobia, starring Ralph Fiennes and directed by Fiennes' sister, Martha. In the same year he appeared in Imagine Me & You, and in the docudrama I Shouldn't Be Alive for one episode where he played Jim, a young parent trapped in a blizzard with a five month old child.[15]
Since 2006 he has appeared in many long running British TV shows, including the likes of Casualty, Silent Witness, Doctors, Waterloo Road, Spooks, New Tricks, and Endeavour.[16] In 2007 he appeared in the British feature film The Feral Generation directed by Andrew Jones, which won Best Feature Film - UK at the Swansea Film Festival in 2008.[17] In 2009 he featured in an episode of TV show Primeval, and in the third installation of the Wrong Turn Franchise, Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead.
In 2012 he played Jim McCoy in Hatfields & MCoys, an American TV mini series about the Hatfield-McCoy feud. The show won five Primetime Emmy Awards.[1] In 2013 McKay adopted the role of Jasper Tudor in the highly regarded historical drama series The White Queen. The show was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a People's Choice Award.[2][3][4]
In 2016, McKay got the role to play Henry of Skalitz in the kickstarter funded video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance, set in 15th Century Bohemia. The voice and motion capture role took two years to complete before the game's release in 2018.[18] [19]
In 2020 he appeared in the TV show Devils, and reprised the role of Chris Bailey in 2022 for the second season. In 2022 he appeared as Max K in the British thriller series The Undeclared War, and will return in the second season.[20]
Also in 2022 McKay played the role of DJ in ITV's The Suspect starring Aidan Turner, based on the book of the same name by Michael Robotham. In 2024 he featured in the Brazilian biographical drama miniseries based on the life of racing driver Ayrton Senna. He played the role of Alex Hawkridge, Senna's team boss at Toleman.
In 2025, the sequel Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was released, which saw McKay reprise his role as Henry of Skalitz. He recorded 508 hours of dialogue for the role across 127 sessions.[21] He received a Golden Joystick Awards Nomination for Best Performer and a BAFTA Game Award Nomination for Best Lead Performance.[5][6] At the 22nd BAFTA Game Awards, Warhorse Studios won Best Narrative for the game.[22]
In his most recent role, McKay plays Mark Preen in Channel 4's Dirty Business. The series covers a decade-long investigation on sewage-contaminated water in Oxfordshire.[23] In 1999 the Preen family lost their eight year old daughter due to E-coli poisoning. [24] Following the release of the show campaign group Surfers Against Sewage have launched a new petition to put pressure on the government to put public health above profit.[25] The Guardian praised the show, stating "If this doesn't incite righteous anger over our filthy water then nothing will."[26]
Acting Credits
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Chromophobia | Piers | |
| 2005 | Imagine Me & You | Michael 2 | |
| 2007 | Joe's Palace | Uncredited | TV Movie |
| 2007 | The Feral Generation | Crackhead | |
| 2008 | Clubbed | Skank | |
| 2008 | The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall | Rueben | TV Movie |
| 2009 | Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead | Brandon | |
| 2012 | I Think, Therefore | Gary | Short Film |
| 2014 | Globe on Screen: Julius Caesar | Brutus | |
| 2014 | The Lost Legion | Taranis Maldras | |
| 2016 | Granate | Architect | Short Film |
| 2016 | Kill Command | Robert Cutbill | |
| 2016 | The Harrow | Miller Lee | |
| 2021 | The Interrogation of Rudolf Hess | Rudolf Hess | Short Film |
| 2024 | Touchdown | Henry Newton MP |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | I Shouldn't Be Alive | Jim | Season 1 Episode 2 "Lost In The Snow" |
| 2006 | Casualty | Alan Curren | Season 20 Episode 42 "Needle" |
| 2007 | Silent Witness | DS Jimmy Case | Season 11 Episode 3 "Suffer the Children: Part 1"
Season 11 Episode 4 "Suffer the Children: Part 2" |
| 2008 | Casualty | Mike | Season 23 Episode 9 "The Line of Fire" |
| 2009 | Doctors | Frankie Mellors | Season 10 Episode 215 "Cows" |
| 2009 | Primeval | Joe | Season 3 Episode 9 "Herd Logic" |
| 2010 | Waterloo Road | Mark Moran | Season 5 Episode 12 "#5.12" |
| 2010 | Spooks | Saul De Vries | Season 9 Episode 2 "#9.2" |
| 2010 | New Tricks | Jason Bishop | Season 7 Episode 5 "Good Morning Lemmings" |
| 2010 | The Little House | Ruth's Father | |
| 2012 | Hatfields & McCoys | Jim McCoy | TV Mini Series |
| 2013 | The White Queen | Jasper Tudor | Season 1 Episodes 2-5, 6 (Voice Only), 8-10 |
| 2014 | The Transporter: The Series | Jeremy Donne | Season 2 Episode 7 "Sex, Lies and Videotape" |
| 2015 | The Bastard Executioner | Gruffud's Aide/Rhys | Season 1 Episode 6 "Thorns/Drain"
Season1 Episode 10 "Blood and Quiescence/Crau a Chwsg" |
| 2016 | Endeavour | Cole Matthews | Season 3 Episode 4 "Coda" |
| 2020-2022 | Devils | Chris Bailey | Main Cast |
| 2020 | Moving On | Joe Kelly | Season 11 Episode 1 "Time Out" |
| 2022-present | The Undeclared War | Max K | Season 1 Episodes 1-5
Season 2 TBA |
| 2022 | The Suspect | DJ | Season 1 Episodes 2-5 |
| 2023 | Black Cake | Bossman | Season 1 Episode 3 "Eleanor" |
| 2024 | Ellis | Eric Mercer | Season 1 Episode 1 "Hanmore" |
| 2024 | Senna | Alex Hawkridge | Season 1 Episode 2 "Belonging"
Season 1 Episode 3 "Ambition" |
| 2026 | Dirty Business | Mark Preen | Episodes 1-2 |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre/Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 - 1994 | Macbeth | Fleance | Royal Shakespeare Company | Barbican Theatre in 1993, moved to Stratford in 1994 |
| 1995 | Lord of The Flies | Roger | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1997 | Romeo & Juliet | Romeo | Playbox Theatre | |
| 1997 | Edmund Ironside | Alfred | Royal Shakespeare Company (Fringe Festival) | |
| 1998 | Kissing Angels | Romeo | National Youth Theatre | |
| 1999 | Coriolanus | Coriolanus | London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art | |
| 2000 | Today | Victor | London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art | |
| 2000 | Romeo & Juliet | Romeo | London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art | |
| 2000 | Mother Clap's Molly House | Phil | London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art | |
| 2001 | Mother Clap's Molly House | China Mary | Royal National Theatre | |
| 2002 | Mother Clap's Molly House | Thomas Orme/Josh | Aldwych Theatre | |
| 2002 | Elizabeth Rex | Tom Travis | Birmingham Repertory | |
| 2003 | Simplicity | William | Richmond Orange Tree | |
| 2003 | Henry V | Duke of Gloucester
Lord Scrope of Masham |
Royal National Theatre | |
| 2004 | Shakespeare's R & J | Romeo | Theatre Royal Bath Tour | |
| 2005 | The Arab Israeli Cookbook | Fadi/Daniel | The Gate Theatre | |
| 2005 | Macbeth | Lennox | Almeida Theatre | |
| 2005 | Gladiator Games | Robert Stewart | Sheffield Crucible and Stratford East | |
| 2006 | On The Third Day | Robbie | Ambassadors Theatre | |
| 2006 | Frost/Nixon | Jim Reston | Gielgud Theatre | Donmar Warehouse West End |
| 2007 | The Final Shot | Michael Fine | Theatre 503 | |
| 2008 | The Herbal Bed | Rafe Smith | Salisbury Playhouse | |
| 2010 | Rough Cuts | Unknown | Royal Court Theatre | |
| 2010 | Greta Garbo Came to Donegal | Harry Caulfield | Tricycle Theatre | |
| 2010 | The Great Game: Afghanistan | Dickenson, James Kite, 1st Deputy, Graham, Sergant Jay Watkins | Tricycle Theatre | Tricycle Theatre/U.S Tour/Public Theatre NYC |
| 2013 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Oberon | The Lamb Players | |
| 2014 | Julius Caesar | Brutus | Shakespeare's Globe Theatre | |
| 2016 | Dedication | William Shakespeare | Nuffield Theatre | |
| 2016 | Drones, Baby, Drones | Doug/Pete | Arcola Theatre | |
| 2017 | The Lady From The Sea | Arnholm | Donmar Warehouse |
Video Games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Venetica | Various | NPC Role |
| 2018 | Kingdom Come: Deliverance | Henry of Skalitz | Voice (English Version) & Motion Capture |
| 2025 | Kingdom Come: Deliverance II | Henry of Skalitz | Voice (English Version) & Performance Capture |
Other Media
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Britain's Finest | Self | TV Series |
| 2006 | The Sunday Programme | Henry V | TV Series |
| 2006 | The Play's The Thing | Self | TV Series |
| 2015 | Supreme Tweeter | Self | YouTube Series |
| 2026 | Oaths & Empires | Solus | Podcast |