But the 31-year-old from Belfast has more similarities to the show – which featured an ‘English fella’ forced to attend an all-girls’ school in 90s Northern Ireland due to safety concerns – in his own life.
The actor, who is playing 1st Baron Ardilaun in the new show, has credited his rise to theatrical prowess, tackling roles in everything from Game of Thrones to political thriller Say Nothing as IRA activist Brendan Hughes; partially to being one of only 15 males of 2,000 pupils in St Louise’s Comprehensive College.
‘I got expelled from boy’s schools in Belfast and the only one that would take me was an all-girls’ school called St Louise’s,’ he told RTÉ’s The Late Late Show.
‘There were 2,000 girls and ten boys it worked out alright. It was such a mad experience. You know, you’re 16 and there’s 2,000 girls.’
He added there were ‘a lot of hijinks’ – but also, a very well established drama department.
‘I got to act every day,’ he continued. ‘I got to actually do what I loved everyday… They needed males for the parts so I got to play a lot of different things for three years… it was good craic.’
Speaking to Backstage in 2024, Anthony said he had ‘behavioural problems’ and ‘would do crazy s**t’ as a teen.
The actor, who is playing 1st Baron Ardilaun in the new show, has credited his rise to theatrical prowess, tackling roles in everything from Game of Thrones to political thriller Say Nothing as IRA activist Brendan Hughes; partially to being one of only 15 males of 2,000 pupils in St Louise’s Comprehensive College
‘Maybe it was something to do with being frustrated by my dyslexia, which I didn’t know I had until later,’ he continued.
‘I’ve never really liked authority, so I didn’t respond to that in a positive way. I ended up going to an all-girls school in Belfast, which was an experiment where they invited 15 of the worst-behaved local lads to attend.
‘Luckily, they had an amazing drama department, and I would just spend all day there. My ‘dance first’ energy was celebrated, and I loved it.’
He also spoke up about health issues he faced as a child to the outlet.
‘I had Perthes disease as a child, which affects the bones. It meant I couldn’t walk for a number of years, and I couldn’t play sports like the rest of my family,’ Anthony explained. ‘So I spent a lot of time observing people. I’d watch their physicality and how they behaved around others.
‘I spent so much time not being able to be involved that when I could walk again and join in, I became the first to volunteer for anything. Since then, I’ve never been a wallflower.’
Anthony went on to star in small theatre productions, before beginning training at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2013. In 2016, he graduated with a BA in acting.
It followed with great success in the West End, as he got the role of Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
‘I was 21, and it just felt so huge, a real baptism by fire. On the first night, I remember walking out the stage door to thousands of people screaming, and thinking, Holy f**k – this is real. That role really set me up, especially winning the Olivier Award, which felt like a real stamp of approval. It changed everything for me.’
Anthony’s progression from stage to screen saw him tackling a myriad of notorious, and perhaps historical figures – including Brian Wood, a solider who fought in the Battle of Danny Boy.
He has also recently been announced for a future role as convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
Last year, he had starring roles in four TV shows, including the critically acclaimed Masters of the Air, where he played Major Harry Herbert Crosby.
‘I sent over the tape and it was like a bad James Dean impression. And then they sent me a clip of the character ‘Crosby’, who I ended up playing, and I just fell in love with him as soon as I saw him,’ he told Spotlight.
‘In this clip of him speaking – a 10 minute clip – he seemed so unique, he seemed so bizarre. It seemed like every other character on the page was in Band of Brothers and Crosby was in an Adam Sandler movie. He was nervous, he was throwing up on people. So I really wanted to play him.
‘He had written a book called ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’, which is like a memoir of him in war. I just read that constantly. I had clips of him speaking.
‘We’d done a three-week bootcamp where we had an old army general call us maggots every day and make us do push-ups. So he got us into shape and got us into the mental space that we needed to be there to play these brave men.’
Before starring as the eldest son at the helm of one of Ireland’s most infamous fortunes in Netflix ‘s latest political dynasty series, House of Guinness, actor Anthony Boyle charmed viewers as the local heartthrob in heartwarming sitcom Derry Girls
It followed with great success in the West End, as he got the role of Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Elsewhere, in a miniseries called Manhunt, he also played John Wilkes Booth – the man who assassinated American president Abraham Lincoln, and in Shardlake, John Swaine, an English draughtsman and engraver.
In 2024 he was also part of the hit Say Nothing, a historical drama set during The Troubles, as IRA activist Brendan Hughes.
He was hugely praised for the portrayal, telling Gold Derby that it was a ‘great honour’ to bring the part to life.
‘It’s interesting, man. There’s a great clip of a British army officer talking about him, and he says that “we had the full might of the British army trying to chase down Brendan, and he just stood there in a dinner jacket and a handgun shooting back at us. You couldn’t help but admire the plucky little bugger”,’ he shared.
‘They still have admiration for him. I think it just goes to show you the kind of guy he was terms of the whole charisma thing.
