Playing Nice, the gripping baby-swap drama, has been airing on ITV and ITVX, with Niamh Algar taking centre stage as Maddie. The actress, in her mid-30s and hailing from Mullingar, Ireland, is the youngest of five children.
She bagged the Best Actress in a Leading Role – TV Drama at the 2020 IFTA Film and Drama Awards for her performance in The Virtues. However, acting wasn’t always her first career choice.
Initially, she studied design at the Dublin Institute of Technology and later graduated from the Programme of Screen Acting at the Bow Street Academy in Dublin.
The star gained recognition through her roles in Raised by Wolves and the Channel 4 series Pure. Audiences may also remember her as Lucinda Edwards in the series Malpractice.
In the show, she starred alongside her real-life partner, Scottish actor Lorne MacFadyen, who portrayed Tom Edwards, reports Cornwall Live.
Niamh shared her experience of working with her partner in the medical drama on This Morning, describing him as an “incredible” talent.
She said: “We had always wanted to work together and this opportunity came upon us. His mum is an A&E nurse.
“We are both kids of mothers who were working within the health service, so we understood the strain that can take on a family, because you are giving so much of yourself all day, and then you go home – what else have you got left to give to your kids and partner?
“There was an incredible kind of understanding, so we wanted to approach with as much sensitivity and authenticity as possible.”
Lorne is famed for his performances as Phil Wilkinson in ‘Grantchester’ and his portrayal in the mini-series about legendary footballer Bobby Moore, ‘Tina and Bobby’.
The couple made their relationship public knowledge in 2021. Niamh is also particularly close with her entire family and relayed just how proud her mother felt following her involvement in ‘Malpractice’.
Reflecting on her mother’s reaction, she said: “My mum texted me after the first episode aired. She was like ‘I’m crying, I’m so unbelievably proud’. It was amazing to be given the opportunity to play a doctor.”
Niamh confessed that disassociating from her role in ‘Malpractice’ was challenging while sharing screen space with her real-life partner.
With a hint of humor, she added: “We started it out like, this is great, everything is going amazing. And then there were scenes where we were fighting and arguing with each other. And we would go home, and it would be hard to be like, OK, that was the characters..”