Daryl McCormack starred alongside Dame Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande last year
(Picture: REUTERS)
We might only be 17 days into the month, but 2023 is already on the up and up for actor Daryl McCormack, who on Tuesday was revealed as one of this year’s Bafta EE rising star nominees alongside Naomi Ackie, Sheila Atim, Emma Mackey and Aimee Lou Wood.
To be fair, 2022 wasn’t half bad for 29-year-old Daryl, who starred alongside the one and only Dame Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. The sex-positive dramedy was a hit among critics and saw Daryl play sex worker Leo opposite Dame Emma’s Nancy, a middle-aged widow looking to spice up her life.
Metro.co.uk caught up with Daryl after his Bafta nomination was announced, and we picked the Irish star’s brains on all things sex scenes and working with one of Britain’s all-time most treasured talents.
First up, can Daryl tell us how he’s feeling following his nomination in three words? ‘Humbled, grateful and excited,’ he quickly replied.
Could he have envisioned this happening 10 years ago? ‘It would have been 2013. I would have been going into my final year of drama school,’ he said after careful consideration.
‘You have visions and you don’t know how it’s going to unfold, but I think the journey itself is up and down,’ he added of the past decade.
Daryl and fellow nominees Naomi Ackie and Sheila Atim (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande was a hit with critics (Picture: AP)
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‘And then the last year was kind of a response and recognition to some of the work that I’ve done [and] that’s been really kind and really made it all a bit of a moment.’
‘I’ve really just been grateful for that,’ he noted, adding: ‘Because over the last eight years I’ve been trying to make this [into] something and to have that response from people like Bafta solidifies it.’
Next up? Dame Emma, of course.
When asked about what it was like meeting someone as famous as Dame Emma for the first time, Daryl confessed he was initially star struck.
‘It takes a while [to get over that initial feeling]. For me it took a while, it didn’t happen straight away.’
Daryl confessed he was initially star struck when he met Dame Emma (Picture: Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Daryl also shared his best advice for shooting sex scenes (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
The talented actor went on: ‘The first time we met was on Hampstead Heath, and Emma’s really good at blending in – she’s very personable. She doesn’t draw a lot of attention to her when she’s out.
‘But I could see people’s jaws on the floor when we walked past. She didn’t recognise it because she’s in her own world. But I was like, “I can’t believe this is happening”.’
Daryl added: ‘[When] we started shooting, then I just started to calm myself down a bit.
‘But I think that’s the natural process of the job, when you’re in environments that you just haven’t been in yet. You have nothing to compare it to.’
Much of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’s praise was centred around the compassionate intimacy between Daryl and Dame Emma.
So, now that Daryl has done his fair share of love-making on camera, we wondered what advice he’d give other actors gearing up for similar scenes.
He was quick to emphasise that ‘good prep’ is key, sharing: ‘Whether through an intimacy coordinator or through the people that you’re making the film with, [it’s key] you feel safe and you feel like you’ve been fully heard and you’ve fully explored all the ideas that you have.’
Daryl continued: ‘Then, it’s just about trusting yourself. And actually, it’s just about having fun at that point, when you know you’re in safe hands and everything is being taken care of.
‘You have to just let go at that point, because all of that work and prep and safety is in place, so you just have to let go and enjoy yourself. That’d be my main advice.’
We had one final question for Daryl: What is he bringing into 2023, and what is he leaving in 2022?
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‘Trust and doubt,’ he replied.
Voting for the EE rising star award is now open at ee.co.uk/BAFTA and the winner will be announced at the EE BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday February 19 on BBC One.
2023 is shaping up to be a banger for Darryl.
