Desmond Eastwood is a stage, television and film actor from Northern Ireland.
Early life Born in Lisburn, the son of Mary and Desmond Eastwood, he attended Friends' School, Lisburn. He graduated with a law degree from Queen's College, Belfast in 2014, before moving to Dublin to study acting at the Gaiety School of Acting. He has five siblings. His brother Colum is a film maker.
Career He has appeared in television productions including Krypton, Vikings and Blood, working alongside Adrian Dunbar, and worked on Game of Thrones. He also appeared in his brother's first feature film Black Medicine, which starred Antonia Campbell-Hughes.
He could be seen in 2020 television series Normal People, playing Niall who befriends the character Connell, played by Paul Mescal. For his role in the series, he was nominated for best supporting actor at the 17th Irish Film & Television Awards. Eastwood and Mescal were performing in The Lieutenant of Inishmore together on stage in Dublin when the production was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee labelled his Normal People character "the soundest one", and Eastwood later appeared in her series as Benny.
He has roles in the 2023 Liam Neeson film In the Land of Saints and Sinners, and Pierce Brosnan film The Last Rifleman.
He plays Detective Sergeant Murray Canning in the first two series of the BBC One Northern Ireland police drama Blue Lights.
He can be seen in the 2024 Finnish drama Stormskerry Maja and the Christoph Waltz comedy action film Old Guy.
Partial filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released Year Title Role Notes 2018 Krypton Taz-Ran 2020 Normal People Niall 2020 Vikings Messenger 2021 Black Medicine Conor 2022 Derry Girls Benny 2023 In the Land of Saints and Sinners Curtis June 2023–2024 Blue Lights DS Murray Canning 2023 The Last Rifleman Tony McCann 2024 Stormskerry Maja Lieutenant John Wilson 2024 Old Guy Colton 2025 Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints Saint Patrick 2026 No Ordinary Heist "Red" Post-production
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