| Jonathan Rhys Meyers | |
|---|---|
Rhys Meyers at London premiere of Mission: Impossible III, 25 April 2006 |
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| Born | Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe 27 July 1977 Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Actor, model, vocalist |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor and model.
He is best known for his roles in the films Velvet Goldmine, Mission Impossible III, Bend It Like Beckham, Match Point and his television roles as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis, which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor, and as King Henry VIII in the historical drama The Tudors.[1][2] He has been the face of several advertising campaigns for Hugo Boss fragrances.[3]
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Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Mary Geraldine Meyers and musician John O'Keeffe.[4][5] His stage name is derived from his mother's maiden name, Meyers. He was raised Roman Catholic by his family.[6] Born in Drimnagh, he moved to Glanmire , Cork, at one year old and was raised there with his three younger brothers named Jamie, Alan and Paul, who are all professional musicians.[7] When he was three, his parents separated. His mother raised Rhys Meyers and his brother Alan while his other two brothers went to live at their grandmother's house with their father.[8] Rhys Meyers attended North Monastery School.[9]
Rhys Meyers was expelled from the North Monastery Secondary School at age 16 for truancy and spent much of his time hanging out in pool halls. Casting agents looking for Irish boys to appear in War of the Buttons spotted Rhys Meyers at a Cork pool hall, the Victoria Sporting Club, and invited him to audition.[10] Although he was passed over for War of the Buttons, the casting agents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. His first film role came soon afterward, in A Man of No Importance (1994). In 1996, he appeared in Michael Collins, as the title character's assassin. In 1999, he appeared in Ride with the Devil as psychopathic guerrilla fighter Pitt Mackeson.
Rhys Meyers has starred in television series including Gormenghast (2000) and in the CBS 4-hour mini-series Elvis (2005) as Elvis Presley alongside Randy Quaid as Colonel Tom Parker and Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret, but didn't sing for his role in the miniseries.[11] The latter earned him an Emmy[12] nomination and a Golden Globe win.[13] He has starred in the CBC/Showtime co-production The Tudors (2007) as Henry VIII. He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2007 for the role.[14]
His film roles range from a David Bowie-inspired glam rock star in Velvet Goldmine (1998) to a dedicated girls' football coach in Bend It Like Beckham (2002). He appeared in Vanity Fair (2004) opposite Reese Witherspoon. He co-starred opposite Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander (2004). In 2005, Rhys Meyers starred in Woody Allen's film Match Point, for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, he appeared in Mission: Impossible III. Subsequent projects included August Rush (2007) and The Children of Huang Shi (2008), Shelter, co-starring Julianne Moore, and From Paris with Love (2010), co-starring John Travolta.[15]
Rhys Meyers, a self-taught singer and guitarist, has appeared in a number of musical roles. His first such role was that of rock star Brian Slade in Velvet Goldmine; two of the songs he sang ("Baby's On Fire" and "Tumbling Down") are on the film's soundtrack. He sang briefly in the TV miniseries version of The Magnificent Ambersons, performed in studio scenes of the miniseries Elvis and played the flute in Gormenghast. In the 2007 music drama August Rush, Rhys Meyers performed on-screen as singer-songwriter Louis Connelly and is credited for four songs on the soundtrack – "Break", "Moondance", "Something Inside" and "This Time". Of the four, "This Time" and "Break" were considered in the Best Original Song category of the 80th Academy Awards.[16] "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at #84 of the Canadian Hot 100.[17]
Rhys Meyers was chosen as the face for the Versace men's collection of Autumn/Winter 2006 and Spring 2007, and he has also been the face of the Hugo Boss men's fragrance range since 2005. He is signed to Independent Models in London.
In February 2008, he became a celebrity ambassador for the Cork-based charitable organization The Hope Foundation.[18]
On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honourary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin, Ireland.
In May 2005, Rhys Meyers checked into a rehabilitation facility, Promises in California, seeking treatment for alcohol abuse. On 24 April 2007, the Associated Press reported that Rhys Meyers returned to treatment. The actor's representative Meredith O'Sullivan confirmed the news to People magazine citing his need to take a break from his busy schedule in order to maintain sobriety.[19][20]
On 27 February 2009, the actor checked into rehab a third time, seeking help for alcohol addiction; and checked out on 15 March 2009.[21]
In May 2010, it was reported that Rhys Meyers was banned for life from flying on United Airlines due to "belligerent" and "disruptive" behaviour in an incident involving alcohol[22][23] at John F. Kennedy airport.[24]
In November 2011, Meyers was ordered by a French court to pay a restitution of €1,000 and was given a judgement of a suspended sentence for public intoxication twenty-four months earlier.[25]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | A Man of No Importance | First Young Man | |
| 1996 | The Killer Tongue | Rudolph | |
| 1996 | The Disappearance of Finbar | Finbar Flynn | |
| 1996 | Michael Collins | Collins' assassin | |
| 1996 | Samson and Delilah | Young Samson | TNT TV movie |
| 1997 | The Maker | Josh Minnell | |
| 1997 | Telling Lies in America | Kevin Boyle | |
| 1998 | Velvet Goldmine | Brian Slade | Nominated—London Critics Circle Film Award for British Newcomer of the Year |
| 1998 | The Governess | Henry Cavendish | |
| 1998 | B. Monkey | Bruno | |
| 1998 | The Tribe | Adam | |
| 1999 | The Loss of Sexual Innocence | Nic | |
| 1999 | Ride with the Devil | Pitt Mackeson | |
| 1999 | Titus | Chiron | |
| 2001 | Prozac Nation | Noah | |
| 2001 | Tangled | Alan Hammond | Straight to DVD |
| 2001 | Happy Now | Mark Wraith | |
| 2002 | Bend It Like Beckham | Joe | |
| 2003 | The Tesseract | Sean | Straight to DVD |
| 2003 | Octane | The Father | Straight to DVD |
| 2003 | I'll Sleep When I'm Dead | Davey Graham | |
| 2003 | The Emperor's Wife | Chamberlain | |
| 2003 | The Lion in Winter | King Philip II | Showtime TV movie |
| 2004 | Vanity Fair | Captain George Osborne | |
| 2004 | Alexander | Cassander | |
| 2005 | Match Point | Chris Wilton | |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | Declan Gormley | |
| 2007 | August Rush | Louis Connelly | |
| 2008 | The Children of Huang Shi | George Hogg | |
| 2008 | A Film with Me in It | Pierce 2 | Cameo |
| 2010 | Shelter | Adam | |
| 2010 | From Paris with Love | James Reese | |
| 2011 | Albert Nobbs | Filming | |
| 2012 | Belle du Seigneur | Solal |
| Year | title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Gormenghast | Steerpike | BBC miniseries |
| 2002 | The Magnificent Ambersons | George Amberson Minafer | A&E miniseries |
| 2005 | Elvis | Elvis Presley | Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 2007-10 | The Tudors | King Henry VIII | 2007–2010 (38 episodes) Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television (2008) Nominated—Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television (2009) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama (2008, 2009) |
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