By Amelia Harvey,Daniel Welsh
Copyright huffingtonpost
Netflix recently unveiled our latest favourite binge-watch, House Of Guinness. Steven Knight’s stylish new period drama follows the real-life Guinnesses (yes, the family who invented the iconic stout) after the death of their patriarch.
Since it premiered, we’ve been hooked on the sibling in-fighting, the fiery political landscape and secret romances of House Of Guinness – and judging from how popular the show has become, we’re obviously not the only ones.
The show’s cast is also full of talented young British and Irish stars, including some who are well-established and others who are still on the rise.
Here is where you may have seen them before…
Anthony Boyle
Starring as the eldest son, Arthur, Anthony Boyle’s performance is at the heart of House Of Guinness.
The Irish actor is on a successful run at the moment, having just played John Wilkes Booth in the Apple TV+ series Manhunt, which centres around Lincoln’s assassination, and Major Harry Crosby in WWII miniseries Masters Of The Air.
His other recent TV roles include playing Brendan Hughes in the 2024 drama Say Nothing, John in the screen adaptation of Shardlake and Danny Donnelly in two memorable episodes of Derry Girls.
Before all of that, Anthony rose to fame playing Scorpius Malfoy in both the West End and Broadway productions of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child. For this role, he won an Olivier and was nominated for a Tony Award.
Since then, he’s also played Kevin Maxwell in Tetris alongside Taron Egerton, Geoffrey Bache Smith in 2019’s Tolkien and a minor role in 2016’s The Lost City Of Z.
Louis Partridge
Louis Partridge stars in House Of Guinness as the ambitious Edward, who is forced to take over the family business along with his brother Arthur.
Since his movie debut as a Lost Boy in 2015’s Pan, Louis has already built up an enviable CV. You may know him from his role in Netflix’s Enola Holmes movies, the Apple TV+ drama Disclaimer or Danny Boyle’s miniseries Pistol, where he starred as rock icon Sid Vicious.
He’ll next appear as George Wickham in the upcoming miniseries adaptation of Pride And Prejudice, which also stars Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy, and has a role in the upcoming George Clooney film Jay Kelly, where he plays a young version of Billy Crudup’s Timothy.
Outside of his acting work, you might also be familiar with Louis simply because of his relationship with recent Glastonbury headliner Olivia Rodrigo.
Emily Fairn
In House Of Guinness, Emily Fairn stars as the put-upon only Guinness daughter Anne, who is tasked with finding her own way in the world without her father’s money or fame.
Emily’s first role out of drama school was in the BBC drama The Responder, where she played the drug addict Casey, sharing the screen with Martin Freeman.
Her TV work since then has included playing Polly Wright in TV’s COBRA, Frida in Daisy May Cooper’s Rain Dog and a key role in the Black Mirror episode Demon 79.
More recently, she appeared in the period drama Mary & George, playing the maid to Julianne Moore’s Mary.
She also played Laraine Newman in the film Saturday Night, which depicts the making of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, and appeared in the 2024 film drama Joy.
Fionn O’Shea
Fionn O’Shea plays the troubled youngest member of the family, Benjamin, in House Of Guinness. He is most recognisable for his role in Normal People, starring alongside Paul Mescal’s Connell and Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Marianne as a friend of the latter, who she briefly went on to date.
Last year, Fionn appeared in the star-studded Masters Of The Air alongside his House Of Guinness co-star Anthony Boyle. His other television roles include the Netflix fantasy adventure The Letter For A King, the Stephen Mangan sitcom Hang Ups and the first series of crime anthology Innocent.
On the big screen, he was IFTA-nominated for his roles in 2016′s Handsome Devil and 2020′s Dating Amber. His next big role is playing couture milliner Phillip Treacy in the upcoming Isabelle Blow biopic The Queen Of Fashion, alongside Andrea Riseborough, Richard E. Grant and Joe Cole.
James Norton
As hunky foreman Sean Rafferty, James Norton is a real scene-stealer in House Of Guinness. The English actor already has a prolific career on stage and screen, which has earned him a Bafta and an Olivier nomination.
James is best known for his roles as the sinister Tommy Royce on Happy Valley and Sidney Chambers in the detective drama Grantchester. He recently played Harold Godwinson in the BBC historical epic King & Conqueror.
His other television credits include playing Stephen Ward in the miniseries The Trial Of Christine Keeler, starring as Alex in McMafia and acting in adaptations of War & Peace as Andrei and Lady Chatterley’s Lover as Sir Clifford Chatterley, alongside Holliday Grainger and Richard Madden.
Although he’s less known for his big screen work, James also appeared in 2024’s Joy alongside his House Of Guinness co-star Emily Fairn and starred as Christopher in the Bob Marley biopic One Love. You may also remember him as John Brooke in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women adaptation.
James’ next role is in the third series of Game Of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon, where He’s set to play Ormund Hightower, the nephew of Otto Hightower.
Niamh McCormack
Niamh McCormack stars as the fiery Ellen, a passionate Republican, in House Of Guinness. She is best known for starring as Alison in Everything Now, the Netflix teen comedy, but has had minor roles in The Witcher as Lara Dorren and Niamh in the now-cancelled TV spin-off of Willow.
Niamh also played a rogue contestant in Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves and starred as Sophie in the 2022 German fantasy film The Magic Flute.
Danielle Galligan
Danielle Galligan appears as the witty, yet snobby, Olivia in House Of Guinness. Before that, she was best known for her role in the Netflix series Shadow And Bone, in which she played a Heartrender and Grisha Tailor named Nina Zenik.
Her other TV work has included the Irish crime drama Kin, the black comedy Obituary and the royal period drama The Great, alongside Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult.
So far, Danielle’s biggest film role to date is Lakelands, an Irish GAA football drama starring Éanna Hardwicke.
Jack Gleeson
After Jack Gleeson’s villainous run in Game Of Thrones as the evil King Joffrey ended in 2014, he initially revealed his plans to retire from film and TV, and later spent five years touring off-Broadway and fringe shows.
Following this hiatus from screen acting, Jack returned to TV in 2020, appearing in Sara Pascoe’s Out Of My Mind, before going on to appear in Sex Education, Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2023 adaptation of The Famous Five and the crime drama Safe Harbor.
Alongside playing the impish Byron in House Of Guinness, his last high-profile role was as Puck in the Netflix fantasy series The Sandman.
Dervla Kirwan
Playing Aunt Agnes in House Of Guinness is the latest in a long line of high-profile roles for Dervla Kirwan.
The Irish actor began her career in the 1990s BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart, going on to become a household name thanks to her appearance in Ballykissangel. Since then, she has been a mainstay in television drama, with credits including The Silence, Safe House and the 2021 thriller Smother.
Last year, Dervla appeared in the fourth season of True Detective as Silver Sky executive Kate McKitterick.
Ann Skelly, who stars as the Guinness cousin Adelaide, also appeared in The Sandman with her House of Guinness co-star Jack Gleeson, playing the gentle fairy, Nuala, in the second series of the Netflix fantasy show.
Her other TV work has included leading roles in Joss Whedon’s The Nevers, Vikings and the historical miniseries Death & Nightingales. Ann’s film roles include 2017’s Kissing Candice, 2019’s Rose Plays Julie, and alongside Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter in last year’s Four Letters Of Love.
Seamus O’Hara
Seamus O’Hara stars in House Of Guinness as the leader of the Fenians, the revolutionary nationalist group. He has racked up multiple credits over his career, but is best known to most of us for playing Lee Thompson in the BBC police TV drama Blue Lights or Mackers in Say Nothing.
His other TV work has included playing Fergus in Game Of Thrones, Sergeant Haslov in Shadow And Bone and Davey in the BBC drama My Mother and Other Strangers.
Seamus has also appeared as Audunn the Irish in Robert Eggers’ epic The Northmen and had a minor role as Presto in Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.
Michael McElhatton
In House Of Guinness, Michael McElhatton plays loyal manservant John Potter. The prolific Irish actor is best known as Roose Bolton in Game Of Thrones.
Michael has consistently worked in film and television since the 1990s. His most recent work includes roles in Prime’s Jack Ryan adaptation, The Wheel Of Time and The Alienist: Angel of Darkness.
His other TV credits include playing Dr. Philipp Lenard in Genius, Andrei Stepashin in the award-winning Chernobyl and DI Rob Breedlove in The Fall, alongside Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson.
While better known for his work on the small screen, Michael has also played Bernard Latour in Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel. His other film roles include The Zookeeper’s Wife, Handsome Devil, and Albert Nobbs.
Jessica Reynolds
You may well recognise Jessica Reynolds for playing Georgia in the musical biography Kneecap, about the controversial band.
The Irish actor’s other credits include 2020 BBC sitcom My Left Nut, a 2022 role as Weird Deirdre in Derry Girls, and she played Malva in season six of Outlander. This year, Jessica starred in Life Hack, a film about a cryptocurrency scam.
House Of Guinness is streaming now on Netflix.
