Meet Anthony Boyle, the big talent behind ‘House of Guinness’s gay beer king

The girls, gays, and theys have a new, mustachioed crush.

Is that an imperial pint in your pants, or are you just happy to see us?

Anthony Boyle, a 31-year-old actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland who plays the lead role of Arthur Guinness on House of Guinness, is the newest Netflix heartthrob and viral sensation among online gays. And he’s handsome, obviously! The mustache is doing its thing, too… Not to mention the impeccable costumes of the series, which are getting great reviews. And let’s keep it real: Boyle’s full frontal scenes, not wearing any clothes, are all the rage as well.

However, it should be noted that the actor is much more interesting than just this character and/or how good he looks.

Boyle is gaining a legion of fans because, as an actor on House of Guinness, he’s delivering an incredibly charismatic and lived-in performance of a character that could’ve easily been dreadful.

Arthur Guinness is, first and foremost, based on a real-life person who was an heir to the Irish brewing empire surrounding the Guinness family. The real person lived in the 19th century — which doesn’t give anyone a great sense of direction — and, by all accounts, could’ve easily slipped into Kendall Roy’s “I’m the eldest boy” territory.

Between all the chaos, and fighting, and power struggles, and secret love affairs, viewers still find themselves rooting for Arthur, which is a testament to Steven Knight’s great writing and directing of House of Guinness, as well as the nuanced characterization that Boyle brings to life.

Besides the pressures and challenges of embodying a real person who played a significant role in Ireland’s most famous and successful family of all time, House of Guinness leaned all the way into adding another layer to the character: In the Netflix series, Arthur is unequivocally and proudly gay!

As described on the actor’s cover story for GQ Hype in the U.K., “Boyle and Knight agreed that the on-screen Arthur wouldn’t be ashamed of his sexuality.” Not only would the show run with the rumors that Arthur Guinness was a gay man, but they would take it to the most self-empowering degree possible.

“We really wanted him to feel proud of himself, and that everyone else was wrong,” Boyle told GQ Hype. As such, fans get to see Arthur navigating the challenges of being a homosexual man in 1860s Ireland — even if he had wealth and status to help. Homosexuality in Ireland was only decriminalized in 1993.

Even though Boyle has never identified himself as any label within the LGBTQ+ acronym, he was born in 1994 in Northern Ireland — Boyle is just two years older than drag artist Blu Hydrangea (also from Northern Ireland), who revealed while competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 1 that same-sex marriage was still not legalized in Northern Ireland as of 2019.

In January 2020, very shortly after that surprising Drag Race revelation, Northern Ireland legalized same-sex marriage.

Boyle is also doing a fantastic job at managing his now-massive fandom — expertly walking the tightrope between who he is in real life while also having some fun with the character that he’s becoming most famous for. From the gay storylines of it all to the mustache discourse, it’s clear that Boyle is having a blast.

“I wouldn’t mind a traditional sort of ’tache, but it’s these wings,” Boyle humorously complained in the interview with GQ Hype. “It’s too much. But I’ll clip it and maybe it’ll look good at Christmas.”

Before becoming a global star on Netflix, Boyle was best known for his work in theater, which helped him land TV and film roles.

Notably, the actor originated the role of Scorpius Malfoy in the West End and Broadway productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Those opportunities led him to land roles in movies like 2019's Tolkien, 2023’s Tetris, and 2025’s Animal Within. On television, he was also cast on shows like Derry Girls, Masters of the Air, Manhunt, Say Nothing, and eventually House of Guinness.

Looking forward, Boyle is currently attached to a TV series titled The Altruists. He’s also been attached to an upcoming feature film titled I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.

For now, the Arthur Guinness hype is keeping him pretty busy, but fans are looking forward to seeing what’s next.