MARTY Maguire is a familiar face on stage and screen. In recent months the West Belfast man has appeared in the movie Kneecap and the Disney+ series Say Nothing and is currently starring in A Christmas Carol at The Lyric.
His journey on the road to acting began some 40 years ago when he was in Sixth Year at La Salle in Andersonstown when he landed the role of Danny Zuko in the school’s Christmas production of Grease. That was 1982. He thought it would be a one-off, but it unintentionally set in motion a series of events that would lead to a successful acting career.
“I had no notion of doing Grease, but I remember Seán O’Doherty, who was the English teacher and who produced the school shows, pointing at the Grease LP and pointing at me, and I’m thinking to myself, what’s he on about? A long story short, I got the part of Danny Zuko and I’ve been getting slegged about it ever since – even though it’s over 40 years ago. It’s been brilliant though. Some of the young lads who were in the chorus still come up to me now and say, you don’t remember me, but I was in Grease.”
Marty says a couple of years later his dreams of becoming a social worker came to an abrupt end when “Jordanstown decided to part company with me”.
“I was working in Top Man at the time and then an invite came through our letter box in early 1985 and it was for open auditions to the Ulster Youth Theatre’s production of Grease at the Opera House and I said, 'where did this come from? I never submitted myself for this'.
Marty Maguire as Danny Zuko in La Salle's 1982 production of Grease
“And then my mate Eamon McKenna got an invite as well because he was Kenickie in Grease in La Salle. It turned out that Seán O’Doc had seen the ad in the paper and submitted us both. Both Eamon and I got the parts but then Eamon injured his foot and couldn’t continue and that’s really when the wheels started turning. After that I got offered a professional show with Marie Jones, so my first paid gig was a Marie Jones play called The Girls In The Big Picture and now I’ve just turned 60 and I’m doing a Marie Jones play, so talk about full circle.”
Around the same time Marty and his band Pushin’ Zs famously played in the front window of Top Man in the city centre during Thursday night shopping. He also sang with Shorty and the Heartbeats, and later The Chevrolet’s (The Chevies,) but then the acting really took over as he began being offered more roles.
By the late 1980s he was off to the States where he did a bit of acting while working in a bar – and starting a family. After nearly two decades in Los Angeles he returned home to Belfast in 2008, where the theatre scene had changed and there were more opportunities for TV roles.
Younger people will recognise Marty as a PSNI officer from the multi-award-winning movie Kneecap which was released last year and tells the story of the West Belfast rap band of the same name.
Marty Maguire plays the bad cop in Kneecap
Is he surprised by the success of the film?
“When I was on the set, I remember being in the scene where I was interrogating young Liam Óg who refuses to speak English and I say to him ‘why don’t you speak the Queen’s English?’ and JJ gets brought in as the interpreter and I remember thinking, these lads are brilliant, because I remember there was talk of actors coming in and playing them. But they were absolutely brilliant.
“I remember the camaraderie on set and thinking there was something a wee bit special going on here. They had a rehearsal read-through and some of the bigger names couldn’t be there but even then I was thinking, there’s something different here. They were the lads to tell the story because this is their story and there’s no better fellas and they got the chops to do it.
“I wasn’t familiar with their music but my sons Dylan and Brandon love their music living in America, so when I got this gig I said, finally after 40 years of acting I’m finally cool."
Marty is currently onstage at The Lyric Theatre with A Christmas Carol which has been running throughout December and closes on Saturday, January 11. He is on familiar ground, working with director Marie Jones who gives a Belfast reimagining to the Dickens’ classic.
Marty Maguire, left, as Marley in A Christmas Carol, alongside Dan Gordon
“It’s hard work,” admits Marty, who plays several of the much-loved characters, “but it’s so enjoyable. Marie Jones has done a brilliant job making it Belfast and Dan Gordon, of course, is excellent as Scrooge. This is my first time working with Dan as an actor. I’ve been directed by him three times but it’s our first time having the chance to work together but it’s been absolutely brilliant.”
With the final show this Saturday, Marty is looking forward to the new acting challenges that lie ahead in 2025.
“At the start of your acting career you’re the young fella; then you’re the dad; and then your job now is to outlive other fellas in your age group,” he laughs.
Tickets are still available for A Christmas Carol here.
