Chris Walley maintains an index on his mobile of all the film directors he aspires to collaborate with. “Let me give you a glimpse,” he asserts, reaching for his device. “I have a desire to collaborate with Lenny Abrahamson, Martin McDonagh more so, Steve McQueen would be terrific for me. Shane Meadows, Sean Baker, Quentin Tarantino,” he expresses, indicating emphasis. “Would be good working with Sam Mendes again… Armando Iannucci, Yorgos Lanthimos, Harry Wootliff… and also Andrea Arnold. Certainly.” He beams in anticipation, “Quite a list there.”
We’re seated in the vacant Peacock stage bar, situated in the crypt of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, where Walley has been taking time out from rehearsing for The Sugar Wife, a play by Elizabeth Kuti previously commissioned and last shown by Abbey in 2005. Even though Walley had graced the Peacock Stage in his teens, in a Gulliver’s Travels production together with Éanna Hardwicke, a friend and fellow Cork native, this play will mark his true debut at the Abbey. “It’s a significant accomplishment,” he mentions, “to give a performance on the stage of your homeland.”
Walley has recently encountered numerous such significant achievements. Although he’s perhaps most acclaimed for his role as the bumbling yet affable Jock in the sitcom The Young Offenders, the 28-year-old’s reputation has been rising thanks to an increasing number of roles in both films (most notably last year’s horror The Last Voyage of the Demeter) and television (most recently in the Irish Netflix series Bodkin).
Walley carries more gravitas and is less identifiable than his Young Offenders role, with a mane of curls now instead of the sharp fringe and a light beard supplanting the iconic moustache. While he didn’t get into acting via theatre, he mentions a fondness for it. During his adolescence, he studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Cork, with Hardwicke, a neighbouring and dear friend. Eventually, he gained admission to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he was a year senior to Máiréad Tyers, another actor from Cork who now headlines the hit Disney+ superhero comedy Extraordinary and the soon-to-be-released Prime Video dramedy My Lady Jane.
In the acting world of Leeside, prominent figures like Alison Oliver and Alex Murphy, also a fellow actor in Young Offenders, have paved a path of success. Nestled in London, Chris Walley is a key member of a group that features Claire O’Leary, his significant other and a star in the musical theatre space, Liadán Dunlea, known for Small Things Like These, and Dónal Finn, from the acclaimed Wheel of Time. There’s certainly something unique happening here.
Walley poses an intriguing question about Cork, rhetorically asking, “What’s the magic here?” He jests that it may not be wise to question a native of Cork about their origin’s charm. Walley suspects the determination to outshine Dublin, often glamourised on television, could be the motivation. He feels fortunate for his upbringing during this period, praising Cork’s School of Music and its inspirational educators. Walley affirms with a wink that “Cork is simply extraordinary.”
Reminiscing about his performance at the Rada audition brings a sour expression to Walley’s face. His memorable performance included a rendition of King Lear’s ‘bastard’ speech, a scene from The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, and a rather poor attempt at singing. His disastrous version of Whiskey in the Jar, was criticised as disrupting the harmony of the group’s choral singing, leading to him miming the words instead.
However, Walley’s acting career took flight in 2018 when he made his first appearance on West End in the reboot of McDonagh’s ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’, starring alongside Aidan Turner. His commendable performance as Davey earned him the prestigious Olivier Award for best supporting actor. In 2020, he secured another role in London, this time opposite Alison Oliver in Marina Carr’s Portia Coughlan. The experience, he notes, bestowed him with a revitalised sense of self-assurance.
“He believes that the best growth potential for an actor comes from being on stage,” he asserts. “You’re constantly discovering fresh aspects while you’re analysing elements repetitively in the rehearsal space. Then the goal becomes to put on a dynamic performance each night to move and engage with your fellow performers. This ongoing routined process is akin to exercising a muscle, and after portraying Portia he realised that he had improved as an actor and was less worried about things that used to bother him. He realised that perfecting his skills mattered more than having meetings.
The actor confesses the self-imposed stress that comes with things like ‘I must reach here’ or ‘I have to be that’. Even though he has aspirations and objectives, he believes that we often ignore how crucial it is to continue improving in order to attain our goals.
Walley highlights his admiration for three of his personal favourites, Gary Oldman, Peter O’Toole and Richard Harris, who were versatile due to their extensive repertory theatre experiences. “Their strength comes from their ability to deliver different roles in the same week, essentially becoming entirely different characters. This essential factor seems to be dwindling in the industry. Therefore, if I can, I would engage with theatre as much as possible. However, my first adoration is movies, and I intend to juggle my time between both mediums.”
He insists that he wouldn’t mind being the protagonist, but in his view, the supporting roles often have more distinctive characters. “The career paths of actors like Jesse Plemons are intriguing to me. Certainly, the responsibility of being the focal point of a film requires its own set of skills; it is necessary to be the viewer’s perspective, and they need to relate to you. However, I believe that outlandish characters on the outskirts are sometimes more enjoyable to portray.”
In the play ‘The Sugar Wife’, he plays a rather peculiar character according to him, one that bewilders him. It is a drama penned by Kuti, set in 1850s Dublin, revolving around a Quaker husband-wife duo whose belief system and life are jolted by the unexpected visit of a man from Yorkshire, Alfred Darby, portrayed by Walley, and a former slave from Georgia named Sarah, played by Tierra Porter. The lead female role is taken on by his co-star from Bodkin, Siobhán Cullen.
His character is elusive, always skirting around your expectations, much like a wisp of smoke, Walley remarks. He applauds the playwright, Elizabeth Kuti, for her astounding ability to evade stereotyping her characters. The play often captures human tendency to categorise individuals based on the time spent with them. This play, however, contradicts this tendency as characters constantly contradict their own established images. Indeed, it’s a play about morality and whether it’s possible to be considered a good person based on more good deeds and fewer faults. It is intricate but worth exploring according to him.
He doesn’t plan on putting an end to his role as Jock, he stated, with no concern of being labelled by the character. The character is caught in a Colombian prison in the current fourth installment of ‘The Young Offenders’, partly reflecting Walley’s tight schedule. The team are more family than co-workers to him, hence he didn’t require any persuasion and rather strived to find a balance to execute those specific scenes.
He has an ongoing packed schedule after ‘The Sugar Wife’, with an independent Irish film and a highly promising TV series lined up later in the year, details of which he has kept under wraps. He has remained tight-lipped about the upcoming film ‘Covenant’, penned by him and his pal, fellow actor Frank Blake, during the pandemic. The movie has received backing from Screen Ireland and production has been handed over to Jamie Dornan’s Blackthorn Pictures.
Walley holds the belief that the beauty of their profession is the ability to create opportunities for oneself. If things aren’t going your way, one is capable of penning a compelling narrative and bringing it to the notice of the appropriate people for it to become a reality. Walley and Frank, his colleague, have been co-writing two roles they wish to portray, built around an intriguing storyline, which they are due to start work on soon. Although Walley has to retain silence about the details of the project to avert complications, he hints that both he and Frank will be acting in it.
As for the kind of roles he aspires to play, Walley expresses a desire to take on roles that push his boundaries. Roles that are intricate, where humour and darkness coexist, pushing him to unique lows and exhilarating highs – roles that persuade him into wondering whether he’ll be able to pull it off.
Jokingly, he admits he would relish taking part in a western movie, despite his questionable horse-riding skills. He’s only been on horseback a handful of times but, correcting himself before it’s immortalised, he asserts that he indeed can ride a horse.
Walley’s The Sugar Wife will be showcased at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, commencing on Tuesday, the 18th of June and continuing until Saturday,20th of July. The previews will start from Thursday, 13th of June.