Gavin Drea

Gavin Drea
Drea at the British Library in 2023
Born	February 1990 (age 34) Dublin, Ireland
Alma mater	University College Dublin
Years active	2010–present

Gavin Drea (born February 1990) is an Irish actor and comedian. He is known for his roles in the RTÉ series Love/Hate (2011), Resistance (2019), the BBC drama My Mother and Other Strangers (2017), and the Star series Wedding Season (2022). His voice work includes Cyberpunk 2077 (2020).

Early life

Gavin Drea was born in Dublin.^[1] He attended Gonzaga College. He graduated from University College Dublin in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Film Studies.^[2]

Career

Drea made his television debut a 2010 episode of the TV3 series Jack Taylor. In 2011, he joined the cast of the RTÉ One drama Love/Hate for its second season as Luke. The following year, he made his feature film debut in Lenny Abrahamson's What Richard Did. Drea was cast in the Druid Theatre Company production of A Whisper in the Dark, which was staged in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For his performance as Des, Drea was nominated for the Irish Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[3]

This was followed in 2014 by roles in Philadelphia, Here I Come! at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Breaking Dad at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. That same year, Drea founded the comedy collective Dreamgun with Stephen Colfer, Heber Hanly and James McDonnell, through which they had a comedy show and podcast titled Dreamgun Film Reads.^[4]

Drea returned to television when he appeared in the 2016 History Channel docudrama Barbarians Rising. In 2017, he played Barney Quinn in the BBC Northern Ireland drama My Mother and Other Strangers^[5] and appeared in the space opera film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The following year, he played Laertes in Hamlet at the Gate Theatre.^[6] He would go on to reprise the role at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. He also starred in the Irish film We Ourselves.

Drea portrayed Michael Collins in the 2019 RTÉ miniseries Resistance, taking over the role from Sebastian Thommen, who had portrayed Collins in Rebellion back in 2016.^[7] Also in 2019, Drea appeared in Blood Wedding at the Young Vic in London.^[8] He had small film roles in Sweetness in the Belly and My Salinger Year.

In 2022, Drea starred as Stefan opposite Rosa Salazar in the series Wedding Season, made for the Star platform on Disney+. Drea performed his own wire stunt for the series.^[9] He also had recurring roles in the Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla as Eadric Streona and the Hulu miniseries adaptation of Daisy Jones & the Six as Nicky Fitzgerald, Daisy's (Riley Keogh) antagonistic husband.^[10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	What Richard Did	Stephen O'Brien
2014	Cruelty	Jude	Short film
2017	Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets	Sergent Cooper
2018	Vanilla	Smell	Short film
2018	We Ourselves	Mikey
2019	Break Us	Mark	Short film
2019	Sweetness in the Belly	Phillip
2020	My Salinger Year	Mark
2024	Sharp Corner	Erickson

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Jack Taylor	Christian Tracey	Episode: "The Priest"
2011	Love/Hate	Luke	Season 2 (6 episodes)
2016	Éirí Amach Amú	Mick	1 episode
2016	Barbarians Rising	Alaric	Docudrama (2 episodes)
2017	My Mother and Other Strangers	Barney Quinn	Miniseries
2018	The Alienist	Roundsmen Barclay	Episode: "Silver Smile"
2018	Origin	Andrew	Episode: "A Total Stranger"
2019	Resistance	Michael Collins	Main role
2022	Vikings: Valhalla	Eadric Streona	Season 1 (3 episodes)
2022	Wedding Season	Stefan	Main role
2023	Daisy Jones & the Six	Nicky Fitzgerald	Miniseries (3 episodes)
2024	Baby Reindeer	Shea	Miniseries (1 episode)

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	World War Z	Cutter II
2020	Assassin's Creed Valhalla	Flann Sinna	[11]
	Cyberpunk 2077	V
2023	Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	DruidMurphy: A Whistle in the Dark	Des	International tour
2014	Philadelphia, Here I Come!	Private Gar	Lyric Theatre, Belfast
2014	Breaking Dad	Traolach	Gaiety Theatre, Dublin
2015	DruidShakespeare	Various	Ireland tour
2017	Tribes	Daniel	Gate Theatre, Dublin
2018	Hamlet	Laertes	Gate Theatre, Dublin / St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn
2019	Blood Wedding	Leonardo	Young Vic, London

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2013	Irish Theatre Awards	Best Supporting Actor	DruidMurphy: A Whistle in the Dark	Nominated

References

1. "Love/Hate's Luke: Life goes on – but with more hair!". Independent.ie. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
2. "Two recent UCD graduates shortlisted Irish Times Theatre Awards". University College Dublin. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
3. Goyal, Darshita (15 September 2022). "Gavin Drea Is Just As Funny Off Screen As His Wedding Season Character Is On Screen". Bustle. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
4. Fetherston, Sinann (27 July 2018). "Going Back To The Future with Dreamgun Film Reads". RTÉ. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
5. Flynn, Fiona (6 January 2019). "Here's where you recognise the stars of RTÉ's 'Resistance' from". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
6. Clement, Olivia (15 May 2018). "Ruth Negga to Play Title Role in Dublin Hamlet". Playbill. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
7. Turbridy, Ryan (7 January 2019). "Gavin Drea - being Michael Collins". RTÉ Radio. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
8. "Inside... Blood Wedding". Young Vic. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
9. Browning, Matt (9 September 2022). "'I didn't tell my mum' Wedding Season star Gavin Drea kept daring stunt a secret". Daily Express. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
10. Donohoe, Amy (31 March 2023). "Dublin actor Gavin Drea on becoming the 'Irish prince' in new series Daisy Jones and the Six". Independent.ie. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
11. Cashin, Rory (14 December 2020). "Love/Hate actor is the star of one of 2020's biggest games". Lovin Dublin. Retrieved 23 August 2023.

External links

• Gavin Drea at IMDb
• Gavin Drea at Spotlight
• Dreamgun website