Kevin McKidd

Kevin McKidd
McKidd at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1973-08-09) 9 August 1973 Elgin, Moray, Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1996–present
Spouse(s)	Jane Parker (m. 1999)
Children	2

Kevin McKidd (born 9 August 1973) is a Scottish television and film actor and director. Before playing the role of Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy, McKidd starred as Tommy in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996), Count Vronsky in the BBC miniseries Anna Karenina (2000), and Lucius Vorenus in the historical drama series Rome (2005–2007). He also provides the voice of John "Soap" MacTavish in the video games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Early life

McKidd was born on August 9, 1973 and brought up in Elgin, in the north-east of Scotland, the son of Kathleen, a secretary, and Neil McKidd, a plumber.^[1][2][3] At the age of 17, he worked at the Macallan distillery in Speyside then later went to work with a family of coppersmiths called the Lumsdens, and was an apprentice to famous Elgin coppersmith Alan Lumsden.^[4] He attended Seafield Primary School and Elgin Academy, and was a member of the local amateur dramatic group, Moray Youth Theatre. Planning to study engineering, he attended the University of Edinburgh, but dropped out and instead enrolled at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh to study drama. He also joined Edinburgh University's student theatre company, Bedlam Theatre where he performed as a member of the improvised comedy troupe The Improverts.

Career

After playing Tommy in Trainspotting, McKidd was cast as Father Deegan in the 1996 Christmas episode of Father Ted. Subsequent roles include Malky Johnson in Small Faces. In 2004, he played James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, in the BBC mini-series Gunpowder, Treason & Plot.

In 1999 he was part of an ensemble cast in Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy, depicting the development of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. The actors researched their historical characters and used this knowledge during extensive rehearsals to help develop dialog for scenes blocked out by Leigh. McKidd, like the rest of the cast, did his own singing in the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas portrayed in the film.

In 2001 he played Elliot in the British film Understanding Jane, directed by Caleb Lindsay. He appeared in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, and in the 2002 film adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby. In Neil Marshall's horror film, Dog Soldiers, he appeared as Pvt. Lawrence Cooper. In the 2005 BBC drama, The Virgin Queen, he played Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.

In 1998, McKidd was in the four part BBC2 series Looking After Jo Jo, playing the role of Basil. He was also one of the main stars of the joint HBO/BBC series Rome, where his portrayal of the soldier/politician Lucius Vorenus received critical acclaim.^[5]

Additional work includes his role in the Silence of the Lambs prequel Hannibal Rising (film) (2007). In late 2007, McKidd began his role as the lead character in the American Fantasy television series Journeyman on NBC.^[6] The show suffered from low ratings and only thirteen episodes were produced.

His role in Rome led to McKidd's casting in the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Owen Hunt. He made his directorial debut in the series' seventh season, directing the episode "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)". He won the award for "Best Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline" at the 14th Prism Awards for his work in "Grey's Anatomy".^{[citation needed]}

McKidd has done voice work and voiced the character of Jezz Torrent, flame haired lead singer of the fictional Scottish hard rock band Love Fist in the video games "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City". He is also credited with playing a voice-over for the character John "Soap" MacTavish in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.^{[citation needed]} McKidd was in talks in 2008 to portray Conner Macleod in a big screen remake of the 1986 fantasy movie Highlander though the role eventually went to Ryan Reynolds. In 2012, he voiced the characters of Lord MacGuffin and his son Young MacGuffin in the Disney/Pixar film Brave. Having grown up in Elgin, McKidd used a variation of the Doric accent for Young MacGuffin, and one of the running gags of his lines is that not even Lord MacGuffin is entirely sure what he is saying.

Speyside Sessions

McKidd instigated a Scottish folk music album that was recorded in 2011/12 at Hogmanay in his home town of Elgin. Many of the contributors to this 'collective' album are old school friends of McKidd's. The album was released on 15 June 2012 in aid of Save the Children.

Many of the tracks on the album are Scottish folk songs that were handed down through the generations including Now Westlin Winds, Both Sides the Tweed, Charlie is My Darlin', The Water is Wide, The Fairie Dance, Fareweel Tae Tarwathie, Iaun Ghlinn Cuach, Muckin' O' Geordie's Byre, The Lea Rig, Barnyard's O Delgaty, John Anderson, Raggle Taggle Gypsy, in addition to the more contemporary These are My Mountains, and the album's sole new original tune Diane of Pitgaveny.

Contributors to the album include Kevin McKidd, James D. Reid, Nick Lloyd Webber, Bryan Tolland, Paul Anderson, Shona Donaldson, Delane Morrison-Wallace, Morna Young, Carron Anderson, Ali Napier, Dan Conroy, Rose Oke Millett, Garry Morrison, Bob Sharp, Jen Lunan McKee, Carey Lunan, Gayle Anderson, Donald Lunan, Diane Lunan, Dave Martin, Colin Reid, Jason Sinclair, Lesley Skene, Lynsey Mason, Mick McGrory, Stuart McConachie, Iain Robertson, and Karin Gleason.

According to accounts from McKidd's tweeting, this seems to be one of his most personal projects to date.^[7]

Filmography

Television

Director

• Grey's Anatomy (2010) Seattle Grace: Message of Hope (Webisodes)^[8]

.... "No Comment" (October 14, 2010)
.... "Take One" (October 21, 2010)
.... "Award-Winning" (November 11, 2010)
.... "The Sizzle" (November 18, 2010)

• Grey's Anatomy (2011) .... "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)"
• Grey's Anatomy (2011) .... "Poker Face" ^[9]
• Grey's Anatomy (2012) .... "Let the Bad Times Roll"
• Grey's Anatomy (2012) .... "I Saw Her Standing There"
• Grey's Anatomy (2013) .... "Do You Believe in Magic"

Voice work

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) — Jezz Torrent
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) — Captain John "Soap" MacTavish
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) — Captain John "Soap" MacTavish

References

External links

• Kevin McKidd Online (OFFICIAL WEBSITE)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kevin McKidd.

• Kevin McKidd at the Internet Movie Database
• Speyside Sessions