Jonathan Rhys Meyers

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Jonathan Rhys Meyers 2013

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born July 27, 1977 in Dublin ; actually Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe ) is an Irish theater and film actor .

Life

childhood and education

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born in 1977 as Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe in Dublin, Ireland. Since he was born with a heart condition, he initially spent several months in the hospital. A year after he was born, his family moved to Cork in the south-west of the country. When Jonny , as he is called by his family and friends, was three years old, his father left the family. Rhys Meyers has two sisters and three younger brothers.

After a very turbulent childhood, he was expelled from school at the age of 16. He then spent a lot of time in pool halls, where he was discovered by a talent scout from Hubbard Casting . This was followed by an audition for John Robarts remake of The War of the Buttons ( War of the Buttons ); however, the main role of Fergus went to Gregg Fitzgerald. After Rhys Meyers gave up his dream of a fast acting career, he got the lead role for a commercial for soup maker Knorr . In 1994 he made his acting debut with a supporting role in Suri Krishnamma's tragic comedy A Man of No Importance . a. alongside such established British mimes as Albert Finney , Brenda Fricker and Michael Gambon .

The first leading roles

Rhys Meyer's first lead role followed in 1996 in Sue Clayton's drama In Search of Finbar . The recordings took place in the Swedish part of Lapland , where the snow melted during the shooting. The shooting therefore had to be postponed for half a year. While traveling back to his hometown of Cork, Rhys Meyers was given a supporting role in Neil Jordan's historical drama Michael Collins in Ireland . In the film he was seen alongside Liam Neeson , Julia Roberts and Ian Hart, among others. This was followed by Alberto Sciamma's horror film Killer Tongue , which was shot in Madrid. Rhys Meyer hated his role and played so badly that he was fired halfway through filming and was able to finish In Search of Finbar in Lapland . In the same year followed a supporting role in Nicolas Roeg's television film The Bible - Samson and Delila .

By Stephen Poliakoff's drama The Tribe u. a. with Joely Richardson and Jeremy Northam , Rhys Meyers flew to the US in 1997 to take part in the filming of The Maker in California . In the drama directed by Tim Hunter he was seen as the adopted child Josh, who is involved with his older brother in minor crimes that end in disaster. In preparation for the role, Rhys Meyers had to learn an American accent within ten days. The actor spent the next two years making films far away from his home country Ireland. a. the thriller B. Monkey , in which he played an emotionally unsteady young criminal at the side of Rupert Everett , in vain for his closest friends, and embodied the second male leading role in the drama The Governess , in which he was alongside Minnie Driver played the teenage son of a noble house, whose love for his sister's enigmatic tutor remains unrequited.

Breakthrough with Velvet Goldmine

Rhys Meyers ' breakthrough came in 1998 with Todd Haynes ' Velvet Goldmine . In the drama he impersonated the bisexual rock star Brian Slade, a character based on the singer David Bowie . For this he was nominated a year later at the London Critics Circle Film Awards as best British newcomer of the year.

After Velvet Goldmine , Rhys Meyers appeared alternately in film and television productions. His TV work included a. starred in Andy Wilson's 2000 mystery series Gormenghast about the rise and fall of a fictional kingdom as well as the part of George Amberson Minafer in Alfons Araus' television film The Magnificent Ambersons , which is based on the film of the same name The Splendor of the House of Amberson by Orson Welles from the Year 1942 based.

On the big screen, Rhys Meyers has starred in productions as diverse as Ang Lee's civil war drama Ride with the Devil (1999), the independent flick Prozac Nation (2001) starring Christina Ricci , the British immigrant and football comedy Kick it like Beckham seen alongside Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra and in Mira Nair's costume drama Vanity Fair .

Rise as Elvis Presley and Henry VIII.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers at a premiere for Mission: Impossible III (2006)

In 2003 he played a supporting role in the Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning television production The Lion in Winter , a remake of the royal drama of the same name from 1968. Here he acted as the young King Philip of France a . a. alongside Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close . In 2004, Oliver Stone's epic epic Alexander followed , in which he played the supporting role of Cassander . A year later he appeared as a young Elvis Presley in James Steven Sadwith's television miniseries Elvis . For his portrait of the rise of the musician, he was nominated for an Emmy for best actor in a miniseries in 2005 and was awarded the Golden Globe a year later.

2005 followed the portrayal of the internally torn, but ruthlessly murderous climber in Woody Allen's thriller Match Point at the side of Scarlett Johansson . In April 2007 he was admitted to a rehab clinic for alcohol addiction. After that, his acting career continued to improve. Although his skills were less challenged a year later in Mission: Impossible III alongside Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames , he received the Irish Film and Television Award in 2008 for his interpretation of the young King Henry VIII of England in the television series The Tudors as well as another Golden Globe nomination. In this role he appeared on Showtime from 2007 to 2010 .

After the end of the Tudors , he was increasingly seen in films such as From Paris with Love , Albert Nobbs and Chronicles of the Underworld - City of Bones . In July 2012, he was awarded the lead role of Dracula / Alexander Grayson in the NBC - TV series Dracula . This was broadcast on NBC and Sky Living from fall 2013.

Private life

The actor still lives in Cork, Ireland . He also owns apartments in Morocco and London . He also works as a musician and singer who prefers traditional Irish music. He interpreted some pieces of music himself in his hit film Velvet Goldmine and in the musical drama The Sound of the Heart . In 1996, Rhys Meyers appeared in the play Dark Blood . In addition to his film and theater work, he also works as a photo model for Hugo Boss. He was in a relationship with Reena Hammer until 2009. He has been with Mara Lane since 2014, they married in 2016. Their son was born in December of the same year.

Filmography

Discography

  • 1998: Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack ( Sebastian; The Ballad of Maxwell Demon; Baby's On Fire; Tumbling Down )
  • 2007: The Sound of the Heart (August Rush) Soundtrack ( Break; Moondance; This Time; Something Inside )

Awards

Emmy
  • 2005: Nominated for Best Actor in a Miniseries for Elvis
Golden Globe
  • 2006: Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for Elvis
  • 2008: Nominated for Best Actor in a Series - Drama for The Tudors - The King's Mistress
  • 2009: Nominated for Best Actor in a Series - Drama for The Tudors - The Queen and Her Executioner
Further

Cannes International Film Festival

Irish Film and Television Award

  • 2008: Best Actor - Television for The Tudors - The King's Mistress

London Critics Circle Film Awards

  • 1999: Nominated Best British Newcomer of the Year for Velvet Goldmine

Manchester Film Festival

  • 2018: Best Actor for Damascus Cover

Satellite Awards

  • 2005 : Best Actor in a Miniseries or a TV Movie for Elvis

Web links

Commons : Jonathan Rhys Meyers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the Notable Names Database (English)
  2. Rainer Idesheim: Dracula: NBC and Sky Living order vampire series with Jonathan Rhys Meyers . Serienjunkies.de . July 25, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  3. Jonathan Rhys Meyers: Finally the rumors have been confirmed . In: gala.de . December 14, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  4. Kendall Fisher, Holly Passalaqua: Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Fiancée Mara Lane Welcome a Baby Boy: Find Out His Unique Name . In: eonline.com . January 4, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.