Ruairí O’Connor

Ruairí O'Connor grew up in Howth, a coastal village north of Dublin where the wind cuts across your face. In 2012 he landed a tiny role in What Richard Did. It was his first real experience on a professional set, before finishing his formal studies in 2015. The learning process was slower than he had expected.

Nobody handed him a way into the British industry.

An Obsession with Historical Detail

In 2016, he appeared in Handsome Devil and began to realize his career would not follow the path of classical Irish theater. He was looking for something more physical. So he spent months studying calligraphy and the gestures of nobility for his audition for The Spanish Princess.

In 2019, he played Henry VIII. It was a risky bet, since audiences had the image of other actors in the same role fixed in their minds. O’Connor chose to play the character's vulnerability rather than his tyranny to set himself apart from the rest.

And the gamble paid off.

The series was shot between 2019 and 2020. During those months, the actor barely left his hotel room in Bristol so he wouldn't lose the English accent he had perfected. His commitment to the script required him to keep an aristocratic posture even during lunch breaks.

The Exorcism That Changed Everything

The move to the United States was not an easy transition.

In 2021, he joined one of the most commercially successful horror franchises with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. He played Arne Cheyenne Johnson, the first person in U.S. legal history to claim demonic possession as a defense in a murder trial.

For this role, he lost a dramatic amount of weight. He spent twelve hours a day screaming or writhing on the set floor during the prison scenes. The physical strain left him with minor back injuries that lingered for months, but it gave the director the intensity he was after.

But the film grossed more than 200 million dollars at the global box office. As a result, his name started circulating in the offices of major Los Angeles studios as a solid option for high-intensity dramatic roles.

Milestones and Mature Projects

In 2021, he joined the cast of The Morning Show for Apple TV+. He shared scenes with Jennifer Aniston playing Ty Fitzgerald, a character who had little to do with Tudor armor or Connecticut demons.

That shift in register also allowed him to star in The Thicket in 2024. In this dark western, he worked alongside Peter Dinklage under the direction of Elliott Lester. Shooting in Calgary was grueling, with bone-chilling sub-zero temperatures that made it hard to move the cameras.

In 2023, he starred in Surprised by Oxford. It was an intellectual romantic drama that moved away from big budgets to focus on character-driven storytelling. The film was shot on location at a British university over a six-week period.

For logistical reasons, the actor keeps his residence split between London and Dublin. In 2024, his industry profile at talent agencies highlighted his ability with five different accents and his training in professional fencing.