In an anonymous city-center hotel room, a late middle-aged woman, businesslike in prim pencil skirt and blouse, takes a piece of paper from her handbag. Addressing her companion—a 20-something man in possession of double-take good looks—he reads from a to-do list. First on the evening’s agenda? Oral sex.
“All of my preconceived ideas of what intimacy looks like kind of shattered,” says 29-year-old Irish actor Daryl McCormack of his career-making turn playing sex worker Leo Grande in the upcoming. His services are sought out by widowed teacher Nancy Stokes , who is hoping, as she enters life’s third act, with husband gone and children grown, to finally experience the kind of physical pleasure that had evaded her during 30-odd years of marriage.
An only child, raised in a small town in Tipperary, McCormack has always, he explains, been at home among women. Raised by his mother and grandmother, he recalls a childhood making his mom laugh so much she would be bent double and his nan would need to “hobble into her en suite.” It was then the seed of performing was sewn. His most notable role since graduating from drama school was that of Isaiah inAnd having screen legend Emma Thompson in your corner can’t hurt.