Burn Gorman

Burn Hugh Gorman (born 1 September 1974) is an American-born, English actor. He is known for his television roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series Torchwood (2006–2008), Karl Tanner in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2013–14), Major Edmund Hewlett in the AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017), 'The Marshal' in the Prime Video series The Man in the High Castle, and Adolphus Murtry in Prime Video series The Expanse (2019). His film roles include Phillip Stryver in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Hermann Gottlieb in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim (2013) and its sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), Commander Hoff in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Father Damien in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

Early life Burn Hugh Gorman was born on 1 September 1974 in Los Angeles, California, the son of English parents. His father was a professor of linguistics at UCLA. He has three older sisters. He has reportedly claimed to be the nephew of Bartley Gorman, considered "King of the Gypsies". At the age of 7, he moved with his family back to England, where they settled in London. He later trained at the Manchester School of Theatre at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Gorman is also an accomplished beatboxer. He participated in the 2003 International Human Beatbox Convention, where he won the title of Radio 1Xtra's Human Beatbox Champion.

Career One of Gorman's earliest television roles was in 1998 as Etheric Foundation cult leader Ben Andrews in Granada TV's Coronation Street. He played William Guppy in the 2005 BBC One adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House, before being cast as Owen Harper in the BBC science fiction series Torchwood. Gorman starred in the first two series of the show before his character was killed off in the series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds".

Other BBC television roles include Lark Rise to Candleford, Funland, and Bonekickers; he also appeared in Channel 4's political thriller Low Winter Sun.

Gorman played scriptwriter Ray Galton in the BBC Four television play The Curse of Steptoe. He has also appeared in television series such as Dalziel and Pascoe, Casualty, Merseybeat and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

Gorman played Jed on the soap opera EastEnders in March 2007. He starred as Hindley Earnshaw in the ITV adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. In 2011, he starred in Sky1's second Martina Cole adaptation, The Runaway and in 2014, portrayed Adam, the lead character's stalker and fellow immortal, in ABC's Forever. He played Karl Tanner in seasons 3 and 4 of HBO's Game of Thrones, Major Hewlett in the AMC miniseries Turn and Nicholas Farlow on the BBC miniseries Jamestown.

On film, Gorman has had roles in Layer Cake, The Best Man, Penelope, Fred Claus, Cemetery Junction, and The Dark Knight Rises. He also appeared as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb in the film Pacific Rim and its sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising.

On radio, Gorman played Elizabethan spy Robert Poley in Michael Butt's The Babington Plot (2008) and Unauthorized History: The Killing (2010) and Mike Walker's The Reckoning: The Death of Christopher Marlowe (2022).

Gorman's stage credits include Ladybird (Royal Court), Flush (Soho Theatre), and Gong Donkeys (Bush Theatre), prompting Michael Billington of The Guardian to write that "Gorman proves that he is one of the best young actors in Britain". He has performed in readings, workshops, and development initiatives with the National Theatre Studio, Young Vic, Royal Court, Oxford Stage Company, Paines Plough and Soho Theatre. Outside London, he has worked with Nottingham Playhouse, the Theatre Royal, Plymouth and the Royal Exchange and Contact Theatres, where he was nominated for a Manchester Evening News Best Newcomer Award.

From 2008 to 2009, Gorman played Bill Sikes in the West End revival of the musical Oliver! for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatre Awards.

Personal life Gorman was married to schoolteacher Sarah Beard from 2004 to 2017. They have three children.

Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year Title RoleNotes 2004 Layer Cake Gazza 2005 Colour Me Kubrick Willie The Best Man Bus Driver 2006 Penelope Larry 2007 Fred Claus Elf 2008 The Oxford Murders Yuri Podorov 2010 Cemetery Junction PC Renwick 2011 Up There Martin Johnny English Reborn Agent Slater 2012 Red Lights Benedict Cohen The Dark Knight Rises Phillip Stryver 2013 Jimi: All Is by My Side Michael Jeffery Pacific Rim Hermann Gottlieb 2014 Low Down Wiggenhern Walking with the Enemy Otto Skorzeny Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Mr. Brand 2015 Crimson Peak Mr Holly 2016 In a Valley of Violence Priest Imperium Morgan 2018 Pacific Rim Uprising Hermann Gottlieb 2020 Undergods Tim The Good Traitor Berle Enola Holmes Linthorn 2022 Watcher Daniel Weber Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio The Priest Voice role 2023 Ghosted Taxi driverRansomedRichard CarterSouth Korean film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Commander Hoff 2024 Lift Cormac Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Father Damien 2025 Frankenstein ExecutionerAll the Devils Are HereNumbers 2026 Post-production Post-production TBA Post-production Filming

Television

Year Title RoleNotes 1998 Coronation Street Ben Andrews Recurring role, 16 episodes 2000 Casualty Geoff Simpson 1 episode 2001 Merseybeat Sean Finnigan 1 episode 2002 DC Fairchild Television film 2005 Billy Verger Episode: "In Divine Proportion" 2005 Funland Tim Timothy 3 episodes 2005 Bleak House William Guppy Main role, 11 episodes 2006 Low Winter Sun Det. Con. Kenny Morton 2 episodes 2006 Dalziel and Pascoe Jerry Hart Episode: "A Death in the Family" 2006–2008 Torchwood Owen Harper Main role, 26 episodes 2007 Agatha Christie's Marple Jacko Argyle 'Ordeal by Innocence' 2007 EastEnders Jed 1 episode 2008 Bonekickers Banks 1 episode 2008 Ray Galton Television film 2009 Wuthering Heights Hindley Earnshaw Miniseries, 2 episodes 2011 Richard Gates Miniseries, 5 episodes 2011 Thomas Kish 4 episodes 2011 Lark Rise to Candleford Reverend Marley 1 episode 2013 Spies of Warsaw Jourdain Miniseries, 4 episodes 2013 Revenge Mr Trask 4 episodes 2013 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Scientist 1 episode 2013–2014 Game of Thrones Karl Tanner 4 episodes 2014–2015 Forever Adam / Lewis Farber Recurring role, 8 episodes 2014–2017 Turn: Washington's Spies Major Edmund Hewlett Main role, 28 episodes 2015 And Then There Were None Detective Sergeant William Blore Miniseries, 3 episodes 2015 The Marshal 2 episodes 2016 Stan Lee's Lucky Man Doug 3 episodes 2017–2019 Jamestown Nicholas Farlow Main role, 15 episodes 2019 Adolphus Murtry Recurring role, 10 episodes 2019 Cheat Ben Jarvis 4 episodes 2022 Halo Vinsher Grath Recurring role, 5 episodes 2022 Charles Bluhdorn Miniseries, 10 episodes

Video games Year Title RoleNotes 2009 Risen Fincher, Brent, Dwight, Flavio, Tucker Voice; English dub 2011 Star Wars: The Old Republic Darth Angral, Darth Tormen, Apprentice Ortosin Voice

Radio Year Title Role 1998 The Old Man and the Angel 1999 And Counting 1999 Glad To Be Back 1998 The Taming of the Shrew Grumio 2002 The Go Slow Club Bob 2002 Fat Campl Craig 2003 The Wire Otis 2004 Classic Serial: The Pickwick Papers Sam Weller 2007 King Trash Clint 2008 Classic Serial: The Mayor of Casterbridge Abel 2008 The Babington Plot Robert Poley 2008 New Metamorphoses Andre 2009 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Tin Man 2010 Unauthorized History: The Killing Robert Poley 2012 The Odd Job Clive 2012 The Spy Harvey Birch 2013 He Died With His Eyes Open The Detective 2022 The Reckoning: The Death of Christopher Marlowe Robert Poley