Brendan Gleeson recently reprised his role as Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. He first played the character in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Gleeson can now be seen in John Michael McDonagh’s comedic thriller The Guard, opposite Don Cheadle, and Simon Wincer’s horseracing drama The Cup. He co-stars in the forthcoming action-thriller Safe House, opposite Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.
Gleeson received Golden Globe, BAFTA Award and British Independent Film Award nominations for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s comedic thriller In Bruges. He also won an Emmy Award® and received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the 2009 HBO movie Into the Storm.
Gleeson made his feature film debut in Jim Sheridan’s The Field, followed by small roles in such films as Mike Newell’s Into the West and Ron Howard’s Far and Away. He first gained attention for his performance in Mel Gibson’s Best Picture winner Braveheart. Next, he appeared in Michael Collins and The Butcher Boy and starred in the independent film Angela Mooney, executive produced by John Boorman.
In 1998, Boorman directed Gleeson in the role of real-life Irish folk hero Martin Cahill in biopic The General. For his performance, Gleeson won several acting honors including the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. He has since collaborated with John Boorman on three more films: The Tailor of Panama, In My Country and The Tiger’s Tail.
Other film credits include John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II, Elie Chouraqui’s Harrison’s Flowers, Declan Lowney’s Wild About Harry, Steven Spielberg’s A.I., Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain, Wolfgang Peterson’s Troy, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Pluto, Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf, Paul Greengrass’ Green Zone and Ian Fitzgibbon’s Perrier’s Bounty.
Born in Ireland, Gleeson started out as a teacher but left the profession to pursue an acting career. He joined the Irish theater company Passion Machine and performed in productions of King of the Castle, The Plough and the Stars, Prayers of Sherkin, The Cherry Orchard, Juno and the Paycock and On Such as We.
This biography/filmography of Brendan Gleeson is courtesy of Relativity Media and The Raven
