Lorne MacFadyen and Niamh Algar (Image: GETTY)
Playing Nice, the gripping baby-swap drama, has been broadcast on ITV and ITVX, with Niamh Algar taking centre stage as Maddie. The actress, in her mid-30s, hails from Mullingar, Ireland, and is the youngest of five siblings.
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 chosen career path.
Initially, she studied design at the Dublin Institute of Technology, before graduating from the Programme of Screen Acting at the Bow Street Academy in Dublin.
The star then rose to fame in Raised by Wolves and the Channel 4 series Pure. Audiences may also recognise her as Lucinda Edwards from the series Malpractice.
In the show, she shared the screen with her real-life partner, Scottish actor Lorne MacFadyen, who portrayed Tom Edwards, reports .
Niamh Algar stars in Playing Nice (Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
Niamh spoke candidly about working alongside her partner in the medical drama, praising him as an “incredible” talent.
During an appearance on This Morning, 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.”
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Niamh Algar as Maddie in Playing Nice (Image: ITV)
Lorne is celebrated for his roles as Phil Wilkinson in Grantchester and his portrayal in the mini-series about football legend Bobby Moore, Tina and Bobby.
The couple made their romance public in 2021. Niamh is also incredibly close to her family and shared how her mother reacted with immense pride to her performance in Malpractice.
She recounted: “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 detaching herself from her intense role in Malpractice while working alongside her partner proved challenging.
She joked: “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…”
Playing Nice is available to watch on ITVX