Aidan Gillen
Encyclopedia
Aidan Gillen is an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 stage and screen actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and television presenter. He is known in Ireland for his role in Love/Hate
Love/Hate (TV series)
Love/Hate is an Irish TV drama series broadcast on RTÉ One, commissioned by Raidió Teilifís Éireann. The first episode aired on 3 October 2010. It stars Aidan Gillen , Robert Sheehan Ruth Negga , Ruth Bradley , Killian Scott and Chris Newman...

, in the UK for his role in Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk (UK TV series)
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies...

 and in the US for his role in HBO's television series The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...

 in which he plays Tommy Carcetti
Tommy Carcetti
Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...

 and for his role in Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...

 as Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish.

Early life

Gillen was born as Aidan Murphy in Drumcondra, Dublin
Drumcondra, Dublin
Drumcondra is a residential area and inner suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is administered by Dublin City Council.The River Tolka and the Royal Canal flow through the area.-History:...

, and educated at St. Vincent's C.B.S.
St. Vincent's C.B.S.
St Vincent's C.B.S secondary school, is a secondary school located in the district of Glasnevin, County Dublin, Ireland. The school contains roughly 300 students between the ages of 12 and 18. The school has around 30 teachers....

 (Glasnevin
Glasnevin
Glasnevin is a largely residential neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland.-Geography:A mainly residential neighbourhood, it is located on the Northside of the city of Dublin . It was originally established on the northern bank of the River Tolka...

). He has a sister, Fionnuala Murphy, who is an actress. He began his acting career as a teenager with Dublin Youth Theatre, at the age of 16 playing Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

 at the Project Arts Centre
Project Arts Centre
Project Arts Centre is a multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre located in Dublin's Temple Bar that showcases cutting-edge visual art and performance....

, before moving to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Career

He is known in the UK for his role as Stuart Alan Jones in the ground-breaking British television series, Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk (UK TV series)
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies...

, and its sequel, Queer as Folk 2, for which he was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 2000. American audiences know him for his role as Tommy Carcetti
Tommy Carcetti
Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...

 in HBO's television series The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...

.

Gillen was nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 for his highly acclaimed Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 role in Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...

's The Caretaker
The Caretaker
The Caretaker is a play by Harold Pinter. It was first published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960. The sixth play that Pinter wrote for stage or television production, it was his first significant commercial success...

 in 2003. He has also been nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for his portrayal of Teach in the Dublin Gate Theatre
Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...

's 2007 production of David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...

's American Buffalo
American Buffalo (play)
American Buffalo is a 1975 play by American playwright David Mamet which had its premiere in a showcase production at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. After two more showcase productions, it opened on Broadway on February 16, 1977...

'.

Gillen appeared alongside the professional wrestler John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....

 in the 2009 film 12 Rounds
12 Rounds (film)
12 Rounds is a 2009 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and produced by WWE Studios. The cast is led by professional wrestler John Cena, alongside Steve Harris, Gonzalo Menendez, Aidan Gillen, Brian J. White, Ashley Scott, and Taylor Cole...

. In July of that year, he appeared in a one-off BBC2 drama Freefall along with Dominic Cooper
Dominic Cooper
Dominic Edward Cooper is an English actor. He has worked in TV, film, theatre and radio, in productions including Mamma Mia!, The Duchess, The History Boys, and The Devil's Double.- Early life :...

 and Sarah Harding
Sarah Harding
Sarah Nicole Harding is an English singer-songwriter, actress and model best known for being a member of the pop group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...

.

In 2011, Gillen played the role of Petyr Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...

 and Barry Weiss in Blitz
Blitz (film)
Blitz is a 2011 crime film directed by Elliott Lester and starring Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen and David Morrissey. It is based on the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, which features his recurring characters Detective Sergeant Tom Brant and Chief Inspector James...

. He was also announced as the new host of Other Voices.

Personal life

In 2001, Gillen married his girlfriend Olivia O'Flanagan. The couple live in Ireland, with children Berry (born in 1997) and Joe (born in 2000). In 2009, when Gillen won an Irish Film and Television Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...

 award for his role in The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...

, he dedicated the award to Olivia and their two children.

Filmography

  • The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
    The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
    The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne is a 1987 drama film made by Handmade Films Ltd. and United British Artists starring Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by Richard Johnson and Peter Nelson with George Harrison and Denis O'Brien as executive producers...

     (1987, credited as Aidan Murphy) as Youth at Liquor Store
  • The Courier (1988) as Prostitute Boy
  • A Handful of Stars (1993, TV) as Tony
  • Safe (1993) as Gypo
  • Circle of Friends
    Circle of Friends (1995 film)
    Circle of Friends is a 1995 film directed by Irish filmmaker Pat O'Connor and based on the novel of the same name written by Maeve Binchy.-Plot:...

     (1995) as Aidan
  • Some Mother's Son
    Some Mother's Son
    Some Mother's Son is a 1996 film written and directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George, co-written by Jim Sheridan, and based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland...

     (1996) as Gerard Quigley
  • Gold in the Streets (1996) as Paddy
  • Mojo
    Mojo (play)
    Mojo is a 1995 play written by English playwright Jez Butterworth that premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London, directed by Ian Rickson....

     (1997) as Baby
  • Amazing Grace (1998) as Young Man
  • Buddy Boy
    Buddy Boy
    Buddy Boy is a 2000 psychological thriller film written and directed by Mark Hanlon. The film premiered to a standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 1999 in the Cinema del Presente section...

     (1999) as Francis
  • The Low Down (2000) as Frank (Best Newcomer, Edinburgh Film Festival)
  • Lorna Doone
    Lorna Doone (2001 film)
    Lorna Doone is a 2001 romance/drama television movie version of Richard Doddridge Blackmore's novel of the same name. The film won the Royal Television Society's Television Award for Best Visual Effects by Colin Gorry.- External links :*...

     (2000) as Carver Doone
  • The Second Death (2000) as Pool Player 1
  • My Kingdom
    My Kingdom (film)
    My Kingdom is a 2001 British crime film directed by Don Boyd and starring Richard Harris, Lynn Redgrave and Jimi Mistry.It premiered at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival but failed to make an impression The following year My Kingdom grossed $2,607 on its opening weekend in Los Angeles...

     (2001) as Puttnam
  • The Final Curtain
    The Final Curtain (2002 film)
    The Final Curtain is a British film from 2002 directed by Patrick Harkins and starring Peter O'Toole. It tells the story of J. J. Curtis, ageing gameshow host played by O'Toole, who hires novelist Jonathan Stitch to pen his biography, in the hope of sealing his immortality in the hearts and minds...

     (2002) as Dave Turner
  • Burning The Bed
    Burning the Bed
    Burning The Bed is a critically acclaimed and popular short film, made in 2003. It stars Gina McKee and Aidan Gillen. It was written by Patrick Chapman, who adapted it from his own short story, which appeared in The Irish Times in 2001...

     (2003) as Stephen
  • Shanghai Knights
    Shanghai Knights
    Shanghai Knights is a 2003 action-comedy film. It is the sequel to Shanghai Noon. It was directed by David Dobkin and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.-Plot:...

     (2003) as Lord Nelson Rathbone
  • Photo Finish (2003)
  • Guns, Money and Homecooking (2005) as Tony
  • Trouble with Sex
    Trouble With Sex
    Trouble with Sex is a 2005 Irish drama film set in Dublin and co-written and directed by Fintan Connolly. It stars Aidan Gillen and Renée Weldon, who won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Trouble With Sex. The film got poor reviews and was...

     (2005) as Conor
  • Blackout
    Blackout (2007 film)
    Blackout is a 2007 horror film, based on the novel Blackout by Italian novelist Gianluca Morozzi, directed by Rigoberto Castañeda, starring Amber Tamblyn, Aidan Gillen, Armie Hammer, and Katie Stuart...

     (2007) as Karl
  • 12 Rounds
    12 Rounds (film)
    12 Rounds is a 2009 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and produced by WWE Studios. The cast is led by professional wrestler John Cena, alongside Steve Harris, Gonzalo Menendez, Aidan Gillen, Brian J. White, Ashley Scott, and Taylor Cole...

     (2009) as Miles Jackson
  • Treacle Jr. (2010) as Aidan Murphy
  • Wake Wood
    Wake Wood
    Wake Wood is a 2011 horror film. A UK and Irish co-production by Hammer Films, Wake Wood is directed by Ireland's David Keating. It stars Timothy Spall, Eva Birthistle, Dan Gordon and Aidan Gillen.- Plot :...

     (2011) as Patrick
  • Blitz
    Blitz (film)
    Blitz is a 2011 crime film directed by Elliott Lester and starring Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen and David Morrissey. It is based on the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, which features his recurring characters Detective Sergeant Tom Brant and Chief Inspector James...

     (2011) as Barry Weiss

Television

Television includes:
  • Killing Time
  • An Ungentlemanly Act
    An Ungentlemanly Act
    An Ungentlemanly Act is a 1992 BBC television film about the first days of the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982.-Production:The film was written and directed by Stuart Urban, and commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the Falklands War...

  • Safe
    Safe
    A safe is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding...

  • The Wexford Trilogy: A Handful of Stars and Belfry
  • Queer As Folk (1999-2000) as Stuart Alan Jones (BAFTA Best Actor nomination)
  • Dice
    Dice (TV mini-series)
    Dice is a Canada/UK co-produced drama television mini-series. It was directed by Rachel Talalay and written by A. L. Kennedy and John Burnside, inspired by cult 70s novel The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.-Plot:...

     (2001) as Glenn Taylor
  • Walk Away and I Stumble (2005, TV) as Paul
  • Five Little Pigs
    Five Little Pigs
    Five Little Pigs is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in May 1942 under the title of Murder in Retrospect and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1943 although some sources state that publication occurred in November 1942...

     as Amyas Crale
  • Law & Order: Trial By Jury
    Law & Order: Trial by Jury
    Law & Order: Trial by Jury is an American television drama about criminal trials set in New York City. It was the third spin-off from the long-running Law & Order. The show's almost exclusive focus was on the criminal trial of the accused, showing both the prosecution's and defense's preparation...

     as James Colby
  • The Wire
    The WIRE
    the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...

     (2004–2008, TV series) as Tommy Carcetti
    Tommy Carcetti
    Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...

  • Freefall (2009) as Gus
  • Identity
    Identity (TV series)
    Identity is a British police procedural drama television series starring Aidan Gillen and Keeley Hawes, airing in the UK during July–August 2010. Concerning identity theft, the series was created and written by Ed Whitmore, a writer most noted for his work on the BBC's Waking The Dead and the...

     (2010) as John Bloom
  • Love/Hate
    Love/Hate (TV series)
    Love/Hate is an Irish TV drama series broadcast on RTÉ One, commissioned by Raidió Teilifís Éireann. The first episode aired on 3 October 2010. It stars Aidan Gillen , Robert Sheehan Ruth Negga , Ruth Bradley , Killian Scott and Chris Newman...

     (2010) as John Boy
  • Thorne: Sleepyhead
    Thorne (TV series)
    Thorne is a television drama series which debuted on Sky1 in the UK on October 10, 2010. It stars David Morrissey who plays the title role of Detective Inspector Tom Thorne created by crime writer Mark Billingham. The supporting cast includes Aidan Gillen, Eddie Marsan and Natascha McElhone...

     as Phil Hendricks (Sky 1, October 2010)
  • Game of Thrones
    Game of Thrones (TV series)
    Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...

     (2011) as Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
  • Other Voives (2011-present) - Host

Theatre

  • Juno and the Paycock
    Juno and the Paycock
    Juno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...

    , Soldier (National Theatre
    Royal National Theatre
    The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

    , Lyttelton 1989)
  • The Long Way Round, Albin (National Theatre: Cottesloe 1989)
  • The Water Engine
    The Water Engine
    The Water Engine is a play by David Mamet that highlights the sometimes violent suppression of a disruptive alternative energy technology. The storyline setting of 1934 likely coincides with the real-life experiences of Texans Henry "Dad" and Charles H. Garrett who, in 1935, received a U.S. Patent...

    , Bernie (Hampstead Theatre
    Hampstead Theatre
    Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...

     1989)
  • The Wexford Trilogy: Tony in A Handful of Stars and Dominic in Belfry (Bush Theatre
    Bush Theatre
    The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...

     1992)
  • Marvin's Room
    Marvin's Room (play)
    Marvin's Room is a play by written by Scott McPherson that premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on 15 November 1991, and later adapted for a film of the same title in 1996 ....

    , Hank (Hampstead Theatre and Comedy Theatre 1993)
  • The Playboy of the Western World
    The Playboy of the Western World
    The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on January 26, 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s...

    , Christopher Mahon (Almeida Theatre
    Almeida Theatre
    The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...

     1994)
  • Mojo, Skinny (Royal Court Theatre
    Royal Court Theatre
    The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...

     1995)
  • The Tempest
    The Tempest
    The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...

    , Ariel (Almeida Theatre 2000)
  • Platonov
    Platonov
    Platonov may refer to:*Platonov , a play by Anton Chekhov*Andrei Platonov , pen name of Andrei Platonovich Klimentov, a Russian writer of the Soviet period*Dzmitry Platonaw , Belarusian footballer...

    , Platonov (Almeida Theatre 2001)
  • The Caretaker
    The Caretaker
    The Caretaker is a play by Harold Pinter. It was first published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960. The sixth play that Pinter wrote for stage or television production, it was his first significant commercial success...

    , Mick (Roundabout Theatre, New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     2003)
  • Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
    Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
    Someone Who'll Watch over Me is a play written by Irish dramatist Frank McGuinness. The play focuses on the trials and tribulations of an Irishman, an Englishman and an American who are kidnapped and held hostage by unseen Arabs in Lebanon. As the three men strive for survival they also strive to...

    , Edward (New Ambassadors Theatre
    New Ambassadors Theatre
    The Ambassadors Theatre , is a West End theatre located in West Street, near Cambridge Circus on the Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster...

     2005)
  • American Buffalo
    American Buffalo (play)
    American Buffalo is a 1975 play by American playwright David Mamet which had its premiere in a showcase production at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. After two more showcase productions, it opened on Broadway on February 16, 1977...

    , Teach (Gate Theatre
    Gate Theatre
    The Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...

    , Dublin 2007)
  • Glengarry Glen Ross
    Glengarry Glen Ross
    Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1984 play written by David Mamet. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts—from lies and flattery to bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary—to sell...

    , Richard Roma (Apollo Theatre
    Apollo Theatre
    The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...

     2007)

External links

  • http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/story/0,,2182469,00.html#TheWireHBO Guardian profile
  • http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/interviews/view/item72237/ Society of London Theatre: The Big Interview, 10 October 2007
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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