Halo: Co Armagh actor living boyhood dreams in series inspired by hit Xbox game

Some 20 years later, Ryan, who has appeared in 6 Degrees, Derry Girls, Good Vibrations and the award-winning short Rough, is starring in a new Paramount Plus series based on the game, one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The nine-part Halo, which includes Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, was filmed in Budapest before, during and after the pandemic. It launched in the US earlier this year before landing in Europe last month.

Ryan is still tweaking that he’s part of “The Stuff of Dreams,” a multi-million dollar US production.

“Growing up, I watched big American productions starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. I was totally mesmerized by them,” he said.

“I remember thinking I’d like to be in something like that, so it’s so surreal and special to get a role in a big adaptation of a video game I used to play with school friends. I would have played a lot of video games as a kid, but Halo was on Xbox and I had a PlayStation, so I went to my buddy who had an Xbox and played it.

“Funnily enough, I recently reconnected with this old friend. I met him when I came home after filming. We talked about Halo while playing football, that was great too.”

Ryan auditioned for the role three years ago after joining London agency The Independent Talent Group.

He was “super nervous” about the audition but felt it had gone well and was delighted when he received a call a month later to say he’d landed the part.

The 30-year-old plays Adun, Dr. Catherine Halsey, played by Natasha McElhone. After seeing the actress, whose parents are from Donegal, in films such as Ronin and Solaris, Ryan was thrilled to work with her.