Northern Ireland actor remains down to earth despite starring role in Spielberg sci-fi TV series

With numerous acting credits to his name, the Newry-based star appears as Ardun in the television series Halo, based on the hugely successful Microsoft game, which premiered in the US earlier this year.

But the acting bug bit Ryan, 30, from a young age, despite video games nearly being his downfall at school.

Little did Ryan know his path would lead that young gamer to the Los Angeles red carpet of the Halo premier.

“I stood on the red carpet and I looked at all the fans and I kind of tapped my heart and I said thank you,” Ryan explained.

“You’re thanking them for the opportunity to be able to be a part of this world, and I know all of us were incredibly excited every day to go to work because they have been trying to bring this adaptation of Halo to the screen for a long time.”

However, despite the critical acclaim and accolades Ryan keeps his feet on the ground.

“Dolce and Gabbana had given me a suit which was so strange,” Ryan laughs.

“And the incredible stylist Linda Mivin, who styled Denzel Washington, had styled it for me, and I said ‘Linda, do you know I’m from a small village in Ireland?’ The whole thing was so surreal.

“The next day it was back into the shorts and football jersey.”

Amongst his past credits are Derry Girls, Good Vibrations, Kissing Candice, Calm With Horses and Tale of Tales, as well as being a nominee for Best Actor in the Irish Times Theatre awards for his role in Summertime.

But Ryan explains this is a long way away from where he began:

“I was quite shy but when I was around nine there was a charity event happening in my local village and I don’t know how it came about, but I ended up being roped into doing something.

“Not long after that my mum put me into New Point Youth which has produced many fine actors over the years.”

After two years in youth drama Ryan was tackling Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream as Puck and musical roles.

It was one of those roles that convinced him he wanted to be an actor.

“I was probably 15 or 16, and we were doing High School Musical,” he said.

“I remember sitting on the stage at the end, it was a big musical number at the end of the show and I was actually sat on the stage and it was kind of a comedy show. Myself and another guy called Peter Magee were supposed to be the comic relief in the show, improvising.

“I remember sitting on the stage looking out into the audience and it was maybe 400 people packed into the school assembly hall and I could hear my heartbeat – but I have never felt so calm, and I just went wow, I have to do this.

“I come from a small village. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would've been able to do what I’m doing.

“That kind of keeps you in reality a lot of the time and keeps you very grateful and thankful to the universe.

“But I’ve applied myself, I’ve worked incredibly hard at the craft of acting to try and get closer to what I think it might be about and I’ve been incredibly fortunate that people have wanted to work with me.”

Among the unlikely roles he is recognised for is playing JonJo in the second series of Derry Girls.

“I look back at it now and it still feels a bit surreal because you’re a part of something that is sort of otherworldly and maybe you thought you might not have had the opportunity- but these people have given you the opportunity,” he explains.

“I am forever grateful for that to Lisa Magee and the whole team and it’s something that I still hold incredibly close to my heart.

"It was a ‘pinch me’ moment.”

However, his early days on stage still resonate with Ryan.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work in theatre, I hold it very close to my heart,” he said.

“The last time I was on stage doing East Belfast Boy, it frightened the life out of me, but I like to work from a place of fear because it is sort of a catalyst and drives me.

“With David Ireland’s Summertime in the Mac a couple of years ago, I look back and think how did I do that because it was frightening, a frightening experience, a frightening performance for me.

"Sometimes you have to reach into very difficult and dark places within yourself and sometimes they live with you and that’s a different ball game all together.”

The audition for Halo led Ryan to sleep on cushions on the floor at a friend’s flat in London.

“A week or two after that I was told I got the part which was strange because I don’t think I had an in-person audition in about a year, so I was super nervous going into it.”

And Ryan is under no illusions of the enormity of his current role:

“Halo is massive and I played the video games and I knew it was big and it had Steven Spielberg producing and handling,” he explains.

“I remember growing up watching Hook with the incredible Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins and those were dreams. I used to come home from school and watch those films and the thought you could ever be in a project that Mr Spielberg was attached to or was actively involved in was beyond my wildest dreams, really and truly.”

Halo is currently available on Paramount Plus streaming service.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Traynor