Dominic West gives flawed men enough conviction to keep us listening when we ought to have had enough. We rate him most highly in The Wire, where that forcefulness has other people to contend with.
Fi1m perspective
Jimmy McNulty is a forceful guide through The Wire (2002), but he is not allowed to decide what matters in every scene. Dominic West makes him worth following without making the rest of the cast seem like an interruption. That is the performance we would start with: a flawed detective whose personality gives us a way into a programme that keeps asking us to consider other people. West is at his most useful when the writing gives someone else a reason to disagree.
David Simon's writing gives ambition and expedience consequences, and West belongs to an ensemble that makes those compromises hurt. Alongside Lance Reddick's Cedric Daniels and Sonja Sohn's Kima Greggs, his forcefulness has to coexist with other, understandable priorities. We were moved by the acting here because doing the job badly, or for the wrong reasons, never feels cost-free. The American accent is accomplished, but the more important achievement is keeping McNulty compelling without requiring us to endorse him.
The earlier Hollywood parts in 28 Days (2000) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003) were less comfortable fits. Conventional leading-man casting does not necessarily make the best use of someone so convincing as a difficult man. The breakthrough with The Wire was followed by a substantial run of television leads, including Fred West in Appropriate Adult (2011), Noah Solloway in The Affair (2014–2019) and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (2018).
His attention to accents and mannerisms helps when he plays real people. As Prince Charles in The Crown (2022–2023), though, his leading-man presence can make the portrayal feel too polished. We are more conscious of West than we would like to be.
West also directed one episode of The Wire in 2008, too little on which to base a separate view of him as a director. Our recommendation rests on the acting, and on the friction he supplies within that cast. Start with McNulty, but leave time for the people who have to work with him.
Biography
Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West is an English actor, director, producer and musician. He was born on 15 October 1969 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1995.
West is best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO series The Wire (2002–2008), in which he also directed the episode 'Took' (2008). His other television work includes Noah Solloway in The Affair (2014–2019), Charles, Prince of Wales in The Crown (2022–2023), and the title role in the BBC miniseries Les Misérables (2018). He received a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor for playing Fred West in Appropriate Adult (2011).
His film credits include Richard III (1995), Chicago (2002), 300 (2007), Johnny English Reborn (2011), John Carter (2012), Money Monster (2016) and Tomb Raider (2018).
