John Connors

Actor, screenwriter, filmmaker and director.
John Francis Connors, born in London to an Irish Traveller family, moved to Ireland at 11 months old. He lost his father to suicide when he was just 8.
With a need to defend himself, he learnt to fight professionally, becoming a three-time Irish boxing champion and a four nations boxing gold medalist. Boxing gave him a confidence which founded his acting career.
At a time when John didn’t know which way to turn, his brother suggested he try acting.
After an uneasy start at an Abbey Theatre acting class, his passion and talent was immediately recognised. He landed a main role in iconic RTE series Love/Hate, which catapulted his success.
He’s been in many films including King of the Travellers(2012) along side actor Michael Collins(fellow traveller), and Cardboard Gangsters(2017), written by Connors, winning him the 2018 IFTA for best actor.
He’s made a number of documentaries, among them The Travellers(2016), a series which won the 2018 IFTA for best documentary. In which Connors called on the Irish government to formally recognise Travellers as a distinct Irish indigenous ethnic minority, which happened later that year.
In 2017 he was named one of the 50 people shaping Ireland by the Irish Independent, and one of the 20 twenty-somethings that could influence Ireland and the world by The Irish Times.
Recent documentary Endless Sunshine on a Cloudy Day, directed by Connors, won the audience award at the Dublin Film Festival 2020.
Connors is an undeniable asset to TV and film, while also speaking up about important issues and injustices of the less fortunate.
Sincere and honourably controversial, John is an important voice in Ireland today.