Northern Ireland's Ryan McParland to star in Paramount+ HALO

Ryan McParland is a promising young actor hailing from Northern Ireland, who is making his US acting debut with HALO the highly anticipated live-action military science fiction series based on the Microsoft video game of the same name. In the series, Ryan plays an exciting new character named Adun Saly, which we will find out more about once the series premieres on Paramount+ on March 24th.

Boasting an impressive resume of international credits, McParland has appeared in acclaimed films across the pond including CALM WITH HORSES, executive produced by Michael Fassbender and directed by Nick Rowland, starring Cosmo Jarvis and Barry Keoghan which premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival. The film garnered multiple nominations including a 2021 BAFTA nomination for ‘Outstanding British Film.’ He starred in Irish director Aoife McArdle’s bleak and compelling drama KISSING CANDICE with actress Ann Skelly, which also screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival before receiving its European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. He appeared in famed Italian director Matteo Garone’s only English-speaking film, THE TALE OF TALES, alongside Vincent Cassel and Salma Hayek which was nominated for the 2015 Palme d’Or. Ryan also appeared with Jodi Whitaker in the 2013 BAFTA-nominated film GOOD VIBRATIONS, about Belfast punk impresario Terri Hooley, and in Peter Mackie Burns’ universally lauded indie feature DAPHNE produced by the award-winning French/British company, Le Bureau. He also starred in the award-winning short film THE INVISIBLE BOY,
 
For television, got his start on a series called SIX DEGREES for the BBC about six university students in
Belfast trying to find their way through life and school. It was a hugely popular series at the time and set Ryan off on a path to his current success. He has also appeared on the hit international series, DERRY GIRLS (Netflix) and COLD COURAGE (AMC) and just completed shooting a ½ hour comedy pilot entitled DISABILITY BENEFITS for Channel 4 in the UK for Merman Television.

Hailing originally from the theater (where he was discovered) he was praised by UK’s The Guardian for his portrayal of the title role in the UK premiere of the play TEDDY FERRARA directed by Dominic Cooke (Donmar Warehouse) which is loosely based on the suicide of US student Tyler Clementi in 2010. The play, written by Pulitzer Prize nominated writer Chris Shinn premiered at the US in 2013 before making its way to the UK in 2015.

He also received rave reviews for his performance in the one man play EAST BELFAST BOY, which premiered in 2018 at the MAC in Belfast as part of the Edge Fest series of new theatre work highlighting mental health issues relating to men, as well as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and more. In the play, Ryan gives a 90-minute riveting and emotional solo performance as ‘Davy’ as he shares his character’s stories on drugs, street-life, bonfires, school, and other subjects. It is part of a well-received trilogy of ‘nearly true stories’ about East Belfast’s inhabitants. He also starred in the play SUMMERTIME (MAC, Belfast) written by David Ireland for which Ryan received an Irish Times Best Actor nomination at 23-years-old and HOW MANY MILES TO BABYLON (Lyric Theatre, Belfast) and DRUM BELLY (The National Theatre of Ireland, Dublin), Richard Dormer’s (Game of Thrones) visceral play about the Irish American mob in 1960s New York.

Ryan, a former semi-pro teen soccer player, currently resides in Ireland, with deep ties to the country (his family has resided there since the mid 1800’s) near the historical Ring of Gullion.