This time a year ago, Daryl McCormack was best known to most of us for his recurring role in the TV drama Peaky Blinders, with a few minor film roles to his credit.
All of that changed in 2022, though, when he played a pivotal role in one of the year’s most exciting new shows (Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters), and shared the screen with a bona fide screen icon in a challenging two-header, earning rave reviews and not one, but two Bafta nominations.
If all of that sounds like an exhausting 12 months, spare a thought for the man himself.
Daryl’s role in Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – in which he portrayed a young sex worker hired by Emma Thompson’s character to help tick a few things off her sexual bucket list – was the break-out moment that really put him on the map.
He first heard about the project in early 2021, and within the space of a few days was already meeting with his future co-star and finding out he’d landed the part, in a whirlwind that mirrors his own ascent to Bafta nominee status.
“I loved the script, I loved the character, I loved what the film was speaking to,” he recalls. “I quite quickly realised that it was a two-hander, and so initially, I started to feel a little bit overwhelmed or daunted by the endeavour to do a task with just one other person in itself.
“And then to do it alongside someone like Emma is extra daunting.
“But I auditioned, and within the same week I met Emma, and found out then that I was going to be playing Leo. In four days or something, I went from getting the first tape audition to being cast.”
And yes, that was all as overwhelming as it sounds.
“Of course it was!” Daryl says with a laugh. “Within the space of a few days, I’d landed the biggest job that I’ve done to date. It took a while to sink in.”
Much has been made in the press about Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’s sexual content and nudity, but for Daryl, “the film speaks to so much more than just physical intimacy”.
“It’s really about how two people from different walks of life can really connect with one another, and kind of offer something to each other that is valuable and transformative,” he says.
“That, to me, is kind of the deeper message of the film. And I think, luckily enough, people really got that from it.”
Despite the initially-intimidating prospect of going toe-to-toe with a national treasure – not to mention the film’s daring themes – Daryl insists he didn’t really have reservations about playing Leo Grande.
He explains: “I’d never take on a project if I didn’t really believe in it. That film required us to be quite vulnerable and commit to everything that we were doing, so that had to be there in order for me to dive fully into it.”
Of his famous co-star, Daryl adds: “Emma’s amazing – she is Emma Thompson for a reason. She’s bigger than life, her acting career is incredible, and to work with her in that way, in that capacity, I don’t think you could really say no to such an opportunity.”
Because of the nature of many of their shared scenes, it was important for Daryl and Emma to be comfortable around one another, and found they bonded quickly in a short space of time.
“After we initially met and spoke about the film, I don’t think I saw Emma until a few days prior to rehearsal,” Daryl says. “So, we really had that week of rehearsal to get to know one another.”
“We had to really feel a level of comfortability with each other, and know that we needed to rely on each other in order to make this film,” he adds.
This is how Daryl found himself in the unique position of having a two-time Oscar winner instruct him how to correctly insert a lemon into a chicken’s bum.
“Before we started rehearsals, we were in this cute AirBnB, and we cooked a lovely dinner,” he says, pausing to heap praise on Emma’s “amazing” cooking skills.
“We were about to start the first day, and the Sunday before we cooked a roast, and that was our first kind of bonding exercise. We were helping each other out in the kitchen, and she said the best thing to do is to stick a lemon up a chicken’s bottom to get the lemon juice and flavour to the chicken.
“So, that was fun. I learned how to cook a decent Sunday roast. Olive oil mash! I learned to cook an amazing olive oil mash.”
Once he made it to set, and was working so closely with Emma, Daryl learned to put any preconceptions he may have held about his new colleague aside.
“A privilege of working alongside someone so intimately is that you get another side to them that people don’t always see,” he reveals. “And I think that was where I really bonded with Emma.
“Obviously, I wasn’t expecting for us to be in hysterics coming into work every day, or for her to entertain me, you know. I saw her as an individual who cared about a project that I equally cared about. And that’s where it began.
“I don’t think it would have been actually helpful to put someone on a pedestal that they didn’t want to be put up on. I think she really wanted to collaborate on this, on equal terms.”
That’s why, aside from a few tips about chickens, lemons and, of course, olive oil mash, Daryl didn’t come away with too much advice from Emma.
He says: “People always think, when you look up to someone as a mentor, that they sit you down and give you these long pieces of advice and stuff.
“But actually, the real people who’ve found their way, really trust that you can do the same for yourself. And Emma just really encourages the instinct and intuition that I’ve had really my whole life.
“That’s the thing that is helpful, is seeing someone like her being able to go, ‘follow your gut, follow your heart’. She’s just encouraging in that sense.”
When the time came for the cast and crew to say goodbye to one another, Daryl admits it was a “bittersweet” feeling.
“At that point, Emma, Sophie [Hyde, the director of Good Luck To You, Leo Grande] and I had spent a really intense four weeks together,” he shares. “We really fell in love with the project – and with each other – and had such a good bond.
“It felt almost odd that we weren’t going to be starting the next week in that room again, shooting the film. But that’s a testament to how much we cared about it, and really threw ourselves fully into it.”
For that reason, Daryl is looking forward to crossing paths with Emma at the Baftas, where she’s also in the running for Best Actress.
“I’m sure we might go for a boogie,” he jokes. “Who knows? If there’s a dance floor there, we might find one.”
As well as his Best Actor nod, Daryl has also received recognition in the coveted Rising Star category, previous winners of which have included Tom Hardy, James McAvoy, Daniel Kaluuya, Kristen Stewart and Letitia Wright.
Daryl admits that his initial reaction to the nomination was a “slow burn”, saying: “At first I was kind of excited, but the excitement grew over time, because it started to sink in a little bit more.
“It’s a category that has a little bit of a spotlight on it, it’s kind of special in that regard. I’ve always looked to it, to see which actors are coming through. So to be on it this year, it marks kind of a moment, I guess.”
One thing he does feel excited about, though, is being part of a new wave of Irish talent to have been in the spotlight, which includes Oscar nominees Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Colin Farrell and Paul Mescal, as well as recent Olivier winner Jessie Buckley.
“It feels great,” he beams. “To kind of share this moment with all of these people I’ve looked up to, particularly at the Baftas, is a real treat.
“Even if I’ve only met a handful of them once or twice, I’m really proud of them.”
Because of his hectic schedule (at the time of our conversation, he is in a car from Heathrow airport, having just flown from Belfast where he’s working on the new drama The Woman In The Wall), Daryl wasn’t able to celebrate his two nominations properly, but did mark the occasion in his own way.
“I had to learn lines for the next day, because I was working, but I said, ‘do you know what, I can’t not celebrate’,” he says. “So I went to a really nice little pub in Belfast, had a Guinness, learned my lines and that was it, you know?
“In those quiet moments, I think you can take a second to really see your journey, and how far you’ve come. So, there definitely was a sense of, ‘wow, this is a bit of a pinch me moment’.
“There was a sense of pride as well, because you do work hard to try and keep going, and for your work to be recognised on such a scale is definitely, definitely something that makes you happy and proud.”
Despite his faith in Good Luck To You, Leo Grande from the get-go, Daryl balks at the suggestion that he ever saw awards recognition on the horizon.
“You don’t walk into your first day of filming thinking of awards ceremonies,” he insists. “I’m sure people do, but for me, I definitely don’t. I try to take each day as it comes and focus on creating the project itself, you know?
“You kind of want to focus on the beginning, when you’re at the beginning. That, to me, would really put my head in the wrong place.”
Still, he can’t deny it’s “so exciting” to have been nominated.
“I’m so grateful to be a part of it, you know?” Daryl says. “ To have my moment to really celebrate the year, celebrate the film, and I just can’t wait, I think it’ll be a good night.
“At this point, it’s really not about winning for me, it’s about the whole moment. I feel so much joy to be here that I don’t think I need any more. That’s done it for me, like. I’m happy now.
“To win… it would take me by surprise, I’d probably be up there fumbling and mumbling like an idiot, not knowing what to say.”
“I have to just take a moment and be appreciative of this moment,” he adds. “Careers inevitably will have ups and downs and all sorts of surprising moments. But I’m definitely soaking all of this in right now.”
Voting for the EE BAFTA Rising Star award is now open at ee.co.uk/BAFTA and closes at 12pm on Friday 17 February 2023.