Brendan Gleeson

Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson. Gleeson has described himself as having been an avid reader as a child. He received his second-level education at St Joseph's CBS in Fairview, Dublin, where he was a member of the school drama group. He received his Bachelor of Arts at University College Dublin, majoring in English and Irish. He worked for several years as a secondary school teacher of Irish and English at the now defunct Catholic Belcamp College in north County Dublin, which closed in 2008. He was working simultaneously as an actor while teaching, doing semi-professional and professional productions in Dublin and surrounding areas. He left the teaching profession to commit full-time to acting in 1991. In a 2014 interview to promote Calvary, a film that deals with child abuse, Gleeson stated that on one occasion in primary school a Christian Brother had "dropped the hand" on him. During his twenties he played Gaelic football as a full-forward for St Finian's of Swords.

Career

As a member of the Dublin-based Passion Machine Theatre company, Gleeson appeared in several of the theatre company's early and highly successful plays such as Brownbread (1987), written by Roddy Doyle and directed by Paul Mercier, Wasters (1985) and Home (1988), written and directed by Paul Mercier. He has also written three plays for Passion Machine: The Birdtable (1987) and Breaking Up (1988), both of which he directed, and Babies and Bathwater (1994) in which he acted. Among his other Dublin theatre work are Patrick Süskind's one-man play The Double Bass and John B. Keane's The Year of the Hiker.

Gleeson started his film career at the age of 34. He first came to prominence in Ireland for his role as Michael Collins in The Treaty, a television film broadcast on RTÉ One, and for which he won a Jacob's Award in 1992. He has acted in such films as Braveheart, I Went Down, Michael Collins, Gangs of New York, Cold Mountain, 28 Days Later, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, Lake Placid, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Mission: Impossible 2, and The Village. He won critical acclaim for his performance as Irish gangster Martin Cahill in John Boorman's 1998 film The General.

In 2003, Gleeson was the voice of Hugh the Miller in an episode of the Channel 4 animated series Wilde Stories. While Gleeson portrayed Irish statesman Michael Collins in The Treaty, he later portrayed Collins's close collaborator Liam Tobin in the film Michael Collins with Liam Neeson taking the role of Collins. Gleeson later went on to portray Winston Churchill in Into the Storm. Gleeson won an Emmy Award for his performance.

Gleeson played Barty Crouch Jr impersonating Hogwarts professor Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody in the fourth, and Alastor Moody himself in the fifth and seventh Harry Potter films. His son Domhnall played Bill Weasley in the seventh and eighth films.

Gleeson provided the voice of Abbot Cellach in The Secret of Kells, an animated film co-directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey of Cartoon Saloon which premiered in February 2009 at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. Gleeson starred in the short film Six Shooter in 2006, which won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. This film was written and directed by Martin McDonagh. In 2008, Gleeson starred in the comedy crime film In Bruges, also written and directed by McDonagh. The film, and Gleeson's performance, enjoyed huge critical acclaim, earning Gleeson several award nominations, including his first Golden Globe nomination. In the movie, Gleeson plays a mentor-like figure for Colin Farrell's hitman. In his review of In Bruges, Roger Ebert described the elder Gleeson as having a "noble shambles of a face and the heft of a boxer gone to seed."

In July 2012, he started filming The Grand Seduction, with Taylor Kitsch, a remake of Jean-François Pouliot's French-Canadian La Grande Séduction (2003) directed by Don McKellar; the film was released in 2013. In 2016, he appeared in the video game adaptation Assassin's Creed and Ben Affleck's crime drama Live by Night. In 2017 he finished Psychic, a short he directed and starred in. In 2022, he reunited with Martin McDonagh in the tragic comedy The Banshees of Inisherin starring opposite Colin Farrell. For his performance as Colm Doherty, he received numerous awards nominations, including for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Musical talent Gleeson is a fiddle and mandolin player, with an interest in Irish folklore. In the Coen brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), Gleeson sings "The Unfortunate Rake". He has also made a contribution in 2019 to the album by Irish folk group Dervish with a version of Rocky Road To Dublin.

Personal life Gleeson has been married to Mary Weldon since 1982. They have four sons, including Domhnall and Brían. He has one grandson and one granddaughter. Gleeson speaks fluent Irish and is an advocate of the promotion of the Irish language. Gleeson is a fan of English football club Aston Villa.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 1990 The Field Quarryman 1992 The Bargain Shop Jim Kennedy M.A.N.: Matrix Adjusted Normal Dr Abraham Short film Far and Away Social Club Policeman Conneely's Choice Josie Conneely Short film Into the West Inspector Bolger 1993 The Snapper Lester 1995 The Life of Reilly Patient Short film Braveheart Hamish Campbell 1996 Angela Mooney Dies Again Barney Mooney Michael Collins Liam Tobin Trojan Eddie Ginger 1997 Spaghetti Slow Frank Ferguson Turbulence Stubbs The Butcher Boy Father Bubbles A Further Gesture Richard I Went Down Bunny Kelly Before I Sleep John Harte Short film 1998 The General Martin Cahill The Tale of Sweety Barrett Sweet Barrett 1999 This Is My Father Garda Jim Lake Placid Sheriff Hank Keough My Life So Far Jim Menries 2000 Mission: Impossible 2 John C. McCloy Harrison's Flowers Marc Stevenson Saltwater Simple Simon Wild About Harry Harry McKee 2001 J.J. Biker Cáca Milis Pól Short film; Irish-language; English: Cake The Tailor of Panama Michelangelo "Mickie" Abraxas A.I. Artificial Intelligence Lord Johnson-Johnson 2002 28 Days Later Frank Gangs of New York Walter "Monk" McGinn Dark Blue Jack Van Meter 2003 Cold Mountain Stobrod Thewes 2004 In My Country De Jager Troy Menelaus The Village August Nicholson Six Shooter Donnelly Short film 2005 Kingdom of Heaven Raynald of Châtillon Breakfast on Pluto John Joe Kenny Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody 2006 Studs Walter Keegan The Tiger's Tail Liam O'Leary 2007 Black Irish Desmond Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody Beowulf Wiglaf Motion-capture 2008 In Bruges Ken 2009 The Secret of Kells Abbot Cellach Voice Perrier's Bounty Darren Perrier 2010 Green Zone Martin Brown Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody Noreen Con Keogh Short film 2011 The Guard Sergeant Gerry Boyle Albert Nobbs Dr. Holloran The Cup Dermot Weld 2012 Safe House David Barlow The Raven Captain Charles Hamilton The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! Pirate with Gout Voice The Company You Keep Henry Osborne 2013 The Smurfs 2 Victor Doyle The Grand Seduction Murray French 2014 Calvary Father James Lavelle Edge of Tomorrow General Brigham Song of the Sea Conor, Mac Lir Voices; English and Irish versions Stonehearst Asylum The Alienist 2015 Suffragette Arthur Steed In the Heart of the Sea Old Thomas Nickerson Pursuit Searbhán 2016 Alone in Berlin Otto Quangel Trespass Against Us Colby Atlantic Narrator Voice; Documentary Live by Night Thomas Coughlin Assassin's Creed Joseph Lynch 2017 Hampstead Donald Horner Paddington 2 Knuckles McGinty 2018 Captain Morten and the Spider Queen Father Voice Psychic Jeremiah Short film; also director The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Irishman (Clarence) Segment: "The Mortal Remains" 2019 Frankie Jimmy Ghost in the Graveyard Student / Extra 2021 Riverdance: The Animated Adventure The Huntsman Voice The Tragedy of Macbeth King Duncan 2022 The Banshees of Inisherin Colm Doherty 2023 A Greyhound of a Girl Paddy Voice 2024 Joker: Folie à Deux Jackie Sullivan 2025 H Is for Hawk Alisdair Macdonald

Television Year Title Role Notes 1989 Dear Sarah Brendan Dowd Television film 1990 Hard Shoulder Lorry Driver Glenroe Sam Treacy Soap series 1991 Saint Oscar Television film The Treaty Michael Collins In the Border Country Farmer 1993 Screenplay Thomas Macken Episode: "Love Lies Bleeding" 1994 The Lifeboat Leslie Parry 9 episodes 1995 Kidnapped Red Fox Television film 1998 Making the Cut Flanagan 2005 Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks Uncle Ferny Voice; Episodes: "Wish Upon A Story: Part 1 and 2" 2009 Into the Storm Winston Churchill HBO television film 2010 1916 Seachtar na Cásca Narrator Voice; Documentary series 2014 The Money James Castman Unaired pilot 2017–2019 Mr. Mercedes Bill Hodges Lead role; 30 episodes 2020 The Comey Rule Donald Trump 2 episodes 2021 Frank of Ireland Liam Episode: "Memento Mary" 2022 State of the Union Scott 10 episodes Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Brendan Gleeson/Willow" 2025 The Simpsons Joe Quimby Sr. (old) Voice; episode: "Sashes to Sashes" 2026 Spider-Noir Finbar "Finn" Byrne / Silvermane 8 episodes TBA The Good Daughter Rusty Upcoming series

Theatre

Theme park attractions +YearTitleRoleRef(s)2025Harry Potter and the Battle at the MinistryAlastor "Mad-Eye" Moody

Awards and nominations