McKay was born in Bury, Lancashire. He has a sister, Karen. His mother, Lynn, worked as a hairdresser, and his father, Stuart, was a railway worker.[3] He studied piano as a youth,[4] and performed the RachmaninoffPiano Concerto No. 3 at age 21.[3] McKay subsequently halted his concert career[5] and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to study acting.
Career
McKay's television appearances include portraying conductor Pierre Monteux in the BBC TV production Riot at the Rite (2005).[6] His first film appearance was in Abraham's Point (2008).
After seeing a performance of Rosebud at the 2007 "Brits Off Broadway" festival, Richard Linklater cast McKay as Welles in his film Me and Orson Welles, retaining McKay over the subsequent producer objections to his casting.[7] In this, his second film and first lead role, McKay received critical praise for his performance as Orson Welles.[8][9][10][11]
McKay has portrayed Orson Welles in the one-man play Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles at a number of venues, including the Edinburgh Festival[12] and King's Head (London).[13] He subsequently reprised the role in the US at the 2007 "Brits Off Broadway" festival.[14]
McKay was married to Emily Allen. They divorced in 2021.[4]
He has two children, Maximilian Sidney McKay, born 2011 and Aniela Rita Lynn McKay, born 2015.
↑Kenneth Archer and Millicent Hodson (February 2006). "Reading the Riot Act". ballet.co magazine. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
![](./File:Christian_McKay_as_Grant_Pierce_("Creditors").jpg)
