Simon shoots for the stars

Tuam actor landing roles on Netflix shows

TUAM native and actor Simon McPhillips – or to use his stage name, Simon Phillips – is pretty content with the way his career is going at the moment, having appeared in two hugely popular Netflix shows, The Witcher and FUBAR, in recent months.

Along with Stranger Things, The Witcher, starring Superman’s Henry Cavill, has been a massive hit for the streaming service and for Simon to secure a role in a show that he admits he is a fan of is a testament to just how far he has come.

Simon is a bandit in the second episode of season three, just another unsavoury character in a litany of ruffians and miscreants he has played in his career. “This year, I got to do a Hallmark Christmas movie, the kind of movie that your mum loves, and it is the first time I’ve done something that my mum loves,” laughs Simon, who chats from the other end of a Zoom call from Canada, where he now lives.

“Other than that, though, it has been gangsters and drug dealers or the guy in The Witcher, who seems to be a gangster, drug dealer and pimp – he seemed to be everything, all in one scene!”

Indeed, Simon’s face was succinctly decorated with artwork to give him that little extra menace, not that he required it. As those familiar with his work will testify, few do menace better than Simon…

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