Theatre McArdle's work with the
Royal Shakespeare Company includes the title role in
Richard III and the role of
Puck in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He also appeared in the title role of a stage adaptation of
John Irving's
A Prayer for Owen Meany by Simon Bent at London's
Royal National Theatre in 2002, along with the role of Joseph Surface in
Deborah Warner's 2011
The School for Scandal at the
Barbican Centre.
Film His first foray into the Hollywood film industry was as Slannen, an elf who secretly aspires to be a lawyer, in the 2004 movie
Ella Enchanted.
Television McArdle is well known for his numerous television roles, the majority of which are period roles. He played a number of roles in biographical TV films. These roles include
Dudley Moore in the 2004 television movie
Not Only But Always;
Albert Einstein in the 2005 biography ''Einstein's Big Idea
(aka E=mc²
); and Igor Stravinsky in the 2005 production Riot at the Rite''. In 2009 he appeared as a supporting character, Jewish anarchist Saul Landau, in an episode of the BBC TV series
Casualty 1909. McArdle starred in ''
Garrow's Law as John Silvester, and in the comedy television series Beautiful People (2008–09) as Andy Doonan. In the British period drama Mr Selfridge about the founder of the department store Selfridges, he played Lord Loxley, who becomes an arch-enemy to Harry Selfridge. Another prominent role was as a defence lawyer in The Fall''. From 2022, he appeared in the ITV series
Ridley. ==Personal life==