Dominic was the youngest of six children in an Irish Catholic family growing up on the moors that fringe Sheffield. His father worked in the plastics industry, making vandal-resistant bus shelters and this afforded him to send his final child to the most elite of private schools. He studied at Eton (a couple of years below David Cameron) and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 1995.

His early screen appearances included Mona Lisa Smile, True Blue and Chicago opposite Renée Zellweger; he also played Spartan politician Theron in 300. But his career-defining move was securing the role of Jimmy McNulty in The Wire. “I just did my best De Niro impression,” he told the Guardian. And there are obvious similarities with some of the skulking, unpredictable, but somehow competent characters associated with De Niro.

As a theatre actor he has extensive experience and has appeared as Konstantin in Peter Hall-directed The Seagull (1996), Orlando in David Lan’s As You Like It (2005) and more recently he played the lead role of Jan in Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll (2007) in London’s West End.

Guardian columnist Marina Hyde will be interviewing Dominic at the festival this year, where he’ll also be reading with Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s from her dark new play, Wisconsin.

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Video:

Jimmy McNulty gets trashed