A brief history about spectacular writer and director, Martin McDonagh. Check out these facts, from his net worth to recent success, about one of the greatest movie directors today.
Martin McDonagh: The Early Years
Martin McDonagh was born on March 26th, 1970, in Camberwell, London to Irish parents. His mother and father moved back to Galway, leaving Martin McDonagh and his brother, also a writer and director, John Michael McDonagh, to grow up in London. McDonagh holds dual British and Irish Citizenship, but is known more as an Irish playwright, screenwriter and film director. Martin McDonagh, like many of the great European artists, is very private and has no social media presence to speak of. This seems to add more to their work, focusing less on ego and more on the actual work that they are inevitably known for. McDonagh has been hailed as “one of the most important living playwrights in Ireland” and he is fond of casting actors from Ireland to star in some of his biggest movie projects to date, including Colin Farrell in both In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, his first two films.
Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson in “In Bruges.”
Martin McDonagh: The Playwright
Martin McDonagh started his stunning career as a playwright. He was ambitious from the beginning, with his first six plays all woven together and separated in two trilogies. The first six plays of the young writer’s career all take place in or around Galway County in Ireland, where McDonagh spent holidays as a young boy. The first of of the epic saga is set in Leenane, which is a small village set on the west coast of Ireland, the first trilogy consists of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West. McDonagh released the first films in 1996 and 1997. The second trilogy is set off the coast of County Galway, across the Aran Islands and is comprised of The Cripple of Inishman, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Banshees of Inisheer. This was a very clever and prolific start for the future movie writer and director. Martin McDonagh had great fans from the jump and quickly bonded with actors like Christopher Walken, Brendan Gleeson and musician, Tom Waits. McDonagh’s first play that is set in the United States is A Behanding in Spokane. It premiered on Broadway in March of 2010. Lead actor Christopher Walken was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his outstanding performance as a killer looking for the hand he lost in his youth. McDonagh has also written two prize-winning radio plays, including The Tale of the Wolf and the Woodcutter. The Pillowman and Hangman are also well known plays by the enigmatic playwright. The Pillowman was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2004. Hangman or “Hangmen,” is the story of Harry Wade, England’s second best hangman. Hangmen was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2016.
A poster for “The Beauty Queen Of Leenane.”
McDonagh: The Epic Movie Director
Martin McDonagh has a style that is all his own, twisting turns that go from poignant to devastating to hilarious, sometimes within the same scene. It makes sense that the playwright eventually turned into a screenwriter and filmmaker where each movie is highly regarded amongst fans and critics alike, usually nominated for awards, if not winning, such as the Golden Globe for Best Actor for Colin Farrell in In Bruges. McDonagh is quoted as saying that he prefers writing films to plays, as he holds a “respect for the whole history of films and a slight disrespect for theatre.” The first movie put out by McDonagh was in 2004, a short film titled Six Shooter. In 2006, McDonagh won an Academy Award for movie debut starring Brendan Gleeson. In 2008, McDonagh released his first feature film, In Bruges and it garnered critical acclaim from around the world, with McDonagh being nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 81st Academy Awards. In Bruges stars Colin Farrell, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role as a suicidal hitman partnered up with Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes. McDonagh likes to collaborate with a lot of the same actors and for his second film, Seven Psychopaths, he had Colin Farrell onboard again, this time with Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits and Woody Harrelson. Seven Psychopaths was another massive strike out of left field, with more action than In Bruges, but just the same amount of plot twists and dark comedy. The latest movie by Martin McDonagh is 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and stars Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson and Peter Dinklage. 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has already won and been nominated for numerous awards including the Golden Globe for Best Director, which has McDonagh up against the likes of Nolan, Spielberg, Del Toro & Ridley Scott. Martin McDonagh might only have 3 movie titles under his belt, but all of the heavy hitters in the movie, music and writing genres want to work with the great movie writer and director.
Nominations for Best Director at the 75th Golden Globe Awards
Poster For “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
Facts & Net Worth Of Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonaugh, like many great artists, is extremely private. A lot of the actors that he frequently collaborates with tend to live the same way, with no social media to speak of and very little known about their private lives. It is reported that Martin McDonagh has a net worth of $600,000. With the success of 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and the Golden Globe and Academy Awards right around the corner, it would not be a far stretch to say that McDonagh will probably see his net worth increase by 1/4 over the next year. McDonagh stands at 6’1 and aside from that, we will have to look into his amazing movies, screenplays and work in theatre to try and find out anything else about the extremely talented man.
Martin McDonagh and Oscar.
