In his early career, MacNeill appeared in such films as
Fifty Dead Men Walking and
Peacefire directed by Macdara Vallely. He made a cameo appearance as 'Fanta' in
Cherrybomb. He also played the character of Dave in
Five Minutes of Heaven, which was directed by
Oliver Hirschbiegel and premiered at the 2009
Sundance Film Festival. He starred as Ciaran MacIonraic in the Irish comedy-drama
An Crisis, for which he received a nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy drama series at the 2010
Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo. He performed extensively on stage in Ireland. Acting in productions at
Lyric Players' Theatre,
Gate Theatre, and
Project Arts Centre. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2011
Irish Times Theatre Awards. In 2011, he appeared, with
Brendan Fraser in
Whole Lotta Sole directed by
Terry George He also appeared alongside
David Wilmot in
RTÉ's
Saving The Titanic playing Frank Bell. MacNeill made his
London stage debut in 2012 at the
Donmar Warehouse, appearing on stage alongside
Daniel Radcliffe in
The Cripple of Inishmaan by
Martin McDonagh, directed by
Michael Grandage at the
Noël Coward Theatre throughout the summer of 2013. In spring 2014, this production transferred to
Broadway at the
Cort Theatre in New York for a limited run. The show garnered six
Tony Award nominations. In 2016, MacNeill appeared in Whit Stillman's film
Love & Friendship and in the final episodes of the RTE/BBC series
The Fall. In 2017, he appeared in series 2 of
No Offence on Channel 4. He reprised the role of Gavin in series 3 in 2018. In April 2017, he appeared in
The Ferryman at the
Royal Court Theatre, ahead of a transfer to the
Gielgud Theatre in the
West End. He reprised his role as Diarmuid Corcoran in the Broadway transfer of the show at
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in late 2018. MacNeill had a small role as
William Kemmler in
The Current War in 2017. In 2023, MacNeill appeared as Martyn Smith in
BBC One's true crime drama
The Sixth Commandment, portraying the crimes of
Ben Field. In February 2024, it was announced that MacNeill had been cast as Ned Gowan in the
Outlander prequel series
Outlander: Blood of My Blood. MacNeill appears in the thriller film
Bring Them Down, due to be released in Irish and UK cinemas on 7 February 2025. ==Filmography==