| Richard Coyle | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 February 1972 [1] Sheffield, England[2] |
| Years active | 1998- present |
| Spouse | Georgia Mackenzie |
| Children | Daughter Purdy born 2008 |
Richard Coyle (born 27 February 1972)[1] is an English actor.
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Coyle was born in Sheffield,[2] England to Irish parents. He began his acting career after a stint working on a ferry entertaining passengers, where he was told by a theatre director that he had a talent and should pursue it further. He graduated in Politics from the University of York in 1994[3] and was then accepted into Bristol's prestigious Old Vic Theatre[2] school, graduating in 1998, the same year as his close friend Dean Lennox Kelly.
He began appearing in such television programmes as Lorna Doone, as John Ridd and Evelyn Waugh's wartime saga Sword of Honour, and in Mike Leigh's film Topsy-Turvy. He played Mr. Coxe in 1999's BBC version of Wives and Daughters. In 2000, Coyle's big break arrived in the form of the character Jeff Murdock in the comedy Coupling. In 2003 he chose not to return to Coupling for its fourth series, and refused requests to return for a "goodbye episode" [4]. In a 2005 interview[5], Coyle stated this was to avoid typecasting:
He also starred in the short-lived 2002-2003 BBC show Strange, and had roles in the films Human Traffic, Franklyn, and A Good Year. He appeared in the new special episode of Cracker: Nine Eleven in October 2006 (TV) and starred in The Whistleblowers on ITV 1. He also starred in the 2001 version of Othello as Michael Cassio.
In 2004, Coyle played the role of Alcock, body servant to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, in The Libertine alongside Johnny Depp. He appeared in Mike Newell's 2010 movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, playing Jake Gyllenhaal's older brother, the ambiguous Crown Prince Tus.
He was cast as the lead role, Moist von Lipwig, in the film Going Postal, based on the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett.[6] This was broadcast on television in May 2010.
Coyle will next be seen in a leading role in Renny Harlin's movie Georgia renamed 5 Days of War, about the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over the territory of South Ossetia. In September, Coyle can be seen as William Winthrop in Madonna's feature-directorial debut W.E. about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. He has recently completed filming Grabbers, the upcoming Irish monster movie and Outpost Black Sun, the sequel to the 2008 British horror film Outpost.
Richard Coyle is currently playing Frank, the leading role in the English language remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s 1996 cult classic Pusher which began filming in East London in May 2011. The film is directed by Luis Prieto.
He was cast as the lead in Peter Gill's 2002 stage premiere of The York Realist, and later in the Donmar Warehouse production of the play Proof, in London, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, and on the success of this he was cast in Patrick Marber's reworking of August Strindberg's play After Miss Julie with Kelly Reilly and Helen Baxendale. From September to November 2004, Coyle played the title role in Michael Grandage's production of Friedrich Schiller's Don Carlos which then transferred to the West End from January to April 2005. The cast also included Derek Jacobi, Peter Eyre and Una Stubbs. He was in Peter Gill's production of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger at the Theatre Royal, Bath from August to September 2006. In 2008 Richard starred in Harold Pinter's The Lover and The Collection at the Comedy Theatre in London, alongside Charlie Cox and Gina McKee.
In 2010 he played John in Mark Haddon's play Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse.
Coyle played "Keats" in the game Folklore and has also narrated the following audio books: At The Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft, Resistance by Owen Sheers, and the H.I.V.E. series of novels by Mark Walden.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Macbeth | Loon | TV movie |
| Hetty Wainthropp Investigates | Dr. Miles Miller | TV series (1 episode: "A Minor Operation") | |
| The Life and Crimes of William Palmer | John Parsons Cook | TV movie | |
| What Rats Won't Do | Journalist | ||
| 1999 | Greenstone | Sir Geoffrey Halford | TV series |
| Up Rising | Martin Marr | TV mini-series | |
| Human Traffic | Andy | Feature film | |
| Topsy-Turvy | Mr. Hammond | Feature film | |
| Wives and Daughters | Mr. Coxe | TV mini-series (2 episodes) | |
| 2000 | Hearts and Bones | Will Stenner | TV movie |
| Dalziel and Pascoe | Martin Hallingsworth | TV series (1 episode: "A Sweeter Lazarus") | |
| Lorna Doone | John Ridd | TV movie | |
| Coupling | Jeffrey "Jeff" Murdock | TV series (22 episodes: 2000-2002) | |
| 2001 | Sword of Honour | Trimmer McTavish | TV movie |
| Young Blades | Count Morlas | ||
| Happy Now | Joe Jones | ||
| Othello | Michael Cass | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Strange | John Strange | TV movie |
| 2003 | Blight | John Blight | Cornish language short |
| Friday Night In | Ben | short | |
| Strange | John Strange | TV series (6 episode) | |
| 2004 | Gunpowder, Treason & Plot | Catesby | TV movie |
| The Libertine | Alcock | Feature Film | |
| 2006 | Ultra | Cryptic Man | TV movie |
| The Best Man | Michael Sheldrake | TV movie | |
| Cracker | D.I. Walters | TV series | |
| A Good Year | Amis | Feature film | |
| 2007 | The History of Mr. Polly | Jim | TV movie |
| FolksSoul Ushinawareta Denshou | Keats (voice: English version) | video game | |
| The Whistleblowers | Ben Graham | TV series (6 episodes) | |
| 2008 | Franklyn | Dan | Feature film |
| The Pro | Tony Kirby | Short | |
| 2009 | Octavia | Gareth Llewellyn | TV movie |
| 2010 | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Tus | Feature Film |
| Terry Pratchett's Going Postal | Moist Von Lipwig | TV movie | |
| Fable III | Petitioner (voice) | Video game | |
| 2011 | 5 Days of War | Sebastian Ganz | Feature film |
| W.E | William | post-production | |
| 2012 | Grabbers | Garda Ciarán O'Shea | completed |
| 2011 | Outpost2 Black Sun | Wallace | post-production |
| Pusher | Frank | post-production |