John Gaffney's life journey began in Hamilton, Scotland, where he was born, before relocating to the island of Jersey in 1983. It was on this island that he developed a passion for acting after being approached by a local theatre director to take on a stage role while singing in a night club. This early experience sparked a fire within him, but unfortunately, when he returned to Scotland in 1992, family commitments forced him to decline an offer to study at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, instead choosing to return to his trade as a plasterer.
Years went by, and Gaffney's love for acting never faded. In 2008, he made a comeback to the acting world with small roles in short films, including R.E.M, Hush (2010),and A Spanking in Paradise (2010). The following year, he landed his first major role as Dougie Fallon in the independently made television series The Crews (2011),starring alongside David Hayman and Stephen McCole. Gaffney's character, Fallon, was a high-level member of a drug-dealing gang in Glasgow who had risen through the ranks of the criminal underworld.
In 2012, Gaffney took on the role of Superintendent Charles Sloan in the feature Sci-Fi film Night Is Day: The Movie (2012),which premiered at the 2012 edition of the Glasgow Film Festival. The same year, he appeared in the short film The Priest with Two Guns (2013),starring as Liverpudlian gangster Butler, known as 'Butler the Bookie', who is owed money by the brother of Father O'Reilly, played by Duncan Airlie James.
Gaffney's impressive performance in The Priest with Two Guns caught the attention of director Andy S. McEwan, who approached him to play the role of Tam in the short comedy film Broken Record (2014). The film saw Gaffney star alongside Steven Patrick as a comedy duo playing a couple of house clearance workers in the 1990s who think they have stumbled upon hidden treasure in the form of old gramophone records. The film received critical acclaim, with many praising Gaffney's flawless comedic performance.
In 2014, Gaffney was recommended by Chris Quick to director Johnny Herbin for his short film Electric Faces (2015). Quick, a producer on the film, suggested Gaffney was an ideal candidate to play the part of Lucas after working with him on the set of Broken Record (2014). Herbin agreed with the decision, and Gaffney was cast as Lucas. The same year, he appeared in Where Do We Go from Here? (2015),the first feature film of Scottish director John McPhail, and later played the role of Coleman in Crime (2015) by Carter Ferguson.
Throughout his career, John Gaffney has demonstrated his versatility and talent as an actor, taking on a wide range of roles in various genres, from drama to comedy. His dedication to his craft is evident in every performance, and he continues to be a rising star in the Scottish film industry.
