Name Maclean Stewart Spouse Suzanne McShane (m. 2004) | Role Actor | |
Born 24 May 1976 (age 47) ( 1976-05-24 ) Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland Education Queen's University Belfast Movies Mad About Mambo, An Everlasting Piece Parents Dominic McLean, Bridgeen Stewart | ||
Maclean Stewart (born Paul McLean, on 24 May 1976) is a Northern Irish actor and playwright. He was an original member of The Company Youth Theatre and one of the earliest members of the Rainbow Factory, School of the Performing Arts.
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Personal
Stewart was born in Belfast, to Bridgeen Stewart and Dominic McLean. The name change was due to the British Actors' Equity Association rule that no two actors can share the same name. He chose his parents surnames after a trying a number of unsuitable options.
He trained at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher education and Queen's University of Belfast. However, he attributes most of his training to a place called the Rainbow Factory School of the Performing Arts in Belfast. As a member of the Rainbow Factory, he was given the opportunity to train with some of the top practitioners in the business, including Augusto Boal.
Before he became successful at acting, he was employed in a variety of positions. A video store clerk, a Skateboard shop manager, a security guard and an Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician. He also taught drama in various projects around Northern Ireland and has worked as a video editor. As Paul McLean, he worked for the Belfast Giants ice hockey team, as an announcer.
He married Suzanne McShane on 10 December 2004.
Career
While at the Rainbow Factory, Stewart accidentally walked in to an audition for the teen film Mad About Mambo. He was meeting a friend, Gerard McCabe, who was auditioning for the film and was asked to take part three times, he agreed on the third request, which came from the Casting Agent's attractive assistant. A few months and two recalls later, he was given a role in the film, starring alongside Keri Russell and Brian Cox.
Since then he has worked alongside Dan Aykroyd, Robbie Coltrane and Barry Levinson. He frequently shows up in the quirkier roles, usually cast against type, and has attracted decent reviews from critics worldwide. Recently, he has been working alongside Joe Rea in advertisements for the Dogs Trust, as the comedy characters, the Neuter Boys.
Stewart is regularly used as a voice over artist for Radio Commercials. He has also appeared in the BBC Northern Ireland series Give My Head Peace.