Acting

Acting

Steve Nallon's life as an actor has ranged from film and television to radio and theatre, with roles varying from the quirky and the comic to the strange and forbidding. Steve is essentially a character actor, the kind who finds the individuality in each role - a classic 'shape-shifter', you might say, the type of actor whose instincts are to discover the otherness in others and then make that part of themselves. And he's damn good at it, too.

film rell of Steve Nallon faces
 

Like many actors, Steve Nallon's early performances were in school plays and these included TOAD OF TOAD HALL, CHARLEY'S AUNT and ANDROCLES AND THE LION. After leaving school, Steve went on to study Drama and English at The University of Birmingham. In the 1980s, the Birmingham Drama Department was one of the most respected and prestigious practical courses in the country, covering various performance styles, ranging from Brecht and musical theatre to Shakespeare and Stanislavski. Steve's degree was put to good use for in subsequent years his professional work has ranged across all media, from film and television to radio and theatre.

As an actor, Steve has appeared in the sci-fi movie 51 DEGREES NORTH as astro-physicist Professor Richards, which was directed by the German born film director Grigorij Richters and had a new and original score played by Queen's Brian May. In the cult TV series JONATHAN CREEK (BBC), Steve featured as Rupert, Caroline Quentin's 'hot date'. And in the short film THE GANZFELD PROCEDURE, produced by the BBC and directed by Keith McCarthy, Steve played the experimental scientist Professor Edmund Spencer. Steve's other film roles include the family doctor in THE GIRL WITH BRAINS IN HER FEET, the investigating immigration officer in THE REFUGE and the journalist Dave in FRANKIE AND JOHNNY. He has also appeared in the award winning short film NUMBER THIRTEEN as Mrs McCrory, a strangely possessive demonic mother figure.

On stage, Steve Nallon has performed in several musicals, including the role of Jacque in CARNIVAL (The 'Lost Musicals Season' at the Barbican Theatre in London), the Narrator in THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Leicester Haymarket), and Ted the Cloggie in THE CLOGGIES (Theatr Clwyd). At the Greenwich Theatre in 2017, Steve played the Irish journalist John Bland in the play CHINESE WHISPERS, a comedy about the Victorian fraudster Sir Edmund Backhouse. The production proved to be timely in a world of 'fake news' and the play had a successful run and was well received ("entertaining and engaging", THE LONDON THEATRE).

In the stage production of IN THE LIFE, a history of the gay language of polari mixing documentary, comedy sketches and dramatic recreations, Steve played a variety of characters, including Field Marshall Lord Montgomery, Quentin Crisp and Sir John Gielgud. IN THE LIFE has been performed in several London venues, including in 2013 at the St James Theatre (now The Other Palace) and in 2018 at the South London Theatre.

In 2013, Steve toured the UK in the highly praised production of CISSIE AND ADA, playing Roy Barraclough/Cissie, a drama centred around the friendship of the actor Roy Barraclough and the comedian Les Dawson, and their creation of the comic duo 'Cissie and Ada'. In the audience at the Lowry in Manchester was the daughter of Les Dawson who afterwards thanked the cast for giving her "two more hours in the company of my father." CISSIE AND ADA also toured to the Buxton Opera House which led to Steve being offered Dame for their pantomime season fulfilling a life-long ambition. Steve's performance as Dame Trott in the Buxton Opera House production of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK garnered universally good reviews and the show broke all box office records.

As an actor Steve has worked extensively in BBC radio drama. Lead roles include Bobby in PROPS, Barry, Bradley Walsh's side-kick, in the highly popular BBC sit-com KING OF THE ROAD, and Attenborough in the comedy series PEOPLEWATCH. Playing opposite the legendary Leslie Phillips in MACLEAN - THE MEMOREX YEARS, Steve took on the roles of several former Prime Ministers, including Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, and in EDEN'S END, written by and featuring Shaun Williamson, Steve played Gerald Fleming, Mr Gresham and Bob Gilbert. In the cult radio comedy series BELIEVE IT!, which took place inside the head of its star Richard Wilson, Steve took on the role of Jorgen Riise, the Scandinavian incarnation of 'Victor Meldrew'. Other acting roles in radio include the dramas PRIZEGIVING, A LOVESONG FOR ALFRED J HITCHCOCK, BEDSPRINGS, REMEMBERING LIVE AID and the series THE MUSIC MACHINE. In the biographical series MAD COMPOSERS, Steve played every character voice, including Beethoven, Satie, Grainger, Gesualdo, Gurney and Ives.

Steve is a member of Actors' Equity, The Royal Television Society and The British Academy of Television and Film.

Individual Pages Dead Sheep Thatcher Cissie and Ada 51 Degrees North Cissie and Ada Acting showreel