Robert Carlyle | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1990-present |
| Spouse | Anastasia Shirley (1997-present) |
Robert Carlyle, OBE (born 14 April 1961), is an acclaimed BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning Scottish film actor.
Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, the son of Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator.[1][2] He was raised by his father after his mother left when he was four years old.[3][4] Carlyle enrolled in acting class at the Glasgow Arts Centre, at the age of 21.
Carlyle is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. In 1991, he and four friends founded an acting company and guest starred in The Bill. He first came to the attention of the public as murderer Albie Kinsella in an episode of Cracker opposite Robbie Coltrane (in which he killed the character, DCI David Bilborough, played by Christopher Eccleston). He soon landed the role of Highland policeman Hamish Macbeth in the eponymous BBC comedy-drama.
In 1996 and 1997, he appeared in what are arguably the two most high-profile roles of his career to date: that of the psychopathic Francis Begbie in Trainspotting and Gaz, the mild-mannered leader of a group of amateur male strippers, in The Full Monty. He also starred with Ray Winstone in Face, which was released finally in 2002 on DVD.
Other memorable roles include the senior Malachy McCourt (father of author Frank McCourt) in the 1999 film adaptation of McCourt's first memoir, Angela’s Ashes, the villainous Renard in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, a cannibalistic soldier in Ravenous, the gay lover of Father Greg in Priest and Adolf Hitler in Hitler: The Rise of Evil. Carlyle played the part of Don, one of the main characters in 28 Weeks Later. Most recently, he plays the lead role as a marine engineer, attempting to save London from total devastation in the disaster film Flood, released in 2007.
Carlyle also appeared in the Oasis promotional music video to 'Little By Little'.
Most recently, Carlyle has been cast as Dr. Nicholas Rush in the upcoming Stargate Universe.[5][6] His involvement has been described thus, "As [the team fights] to survive, Dr. Rush (Carlyle) works to unlock the mysteries of the ship and return the group home, but evidence of his ulterior motives soon arises." Carlyle is being touted by the studio as the "leading role" in Universe.[7] In December 2008, Carlyle appeared in 24: Redemption, a television movie of the popular series 24, starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland.
Known for his commitment to roles, Carlyle has often altered his lifestyle and physical appearance to better understand a character. Examples include:[8] Before playing a homeless character in Antonia Bird’s Safe, he went to live in the Waterloo area of London where the film was set; For his role as a bus driver in Ken Loach’s Carla’s Song, he passed the test for a PSV licence (a licence to drive a bus with passengers) in a Glasgow Leyland Atlantean bus; For the role of Hitler, he listened to all the works of Richard Wagner, Hitler's favorite composer. As a result, Carlyle is now a committed Wagner fan. For 28 Weeks Later in the rage virus consumption scene, Carlyle banged his head against a toughened glass window so hard and so often during shooting that he suffered splitting headaches for about three days. For his role in Plunkett and Macleane he reportedly studied some base form of alchemy since the character of Plunkett was, by trade, a chemist.
Carlyle is the Patron of School For Life Romania, Charity No.1062953.[9]
He is married to Anastasia Shirley. They met when she was working as a make-up artist on the TV series Cracker. On 28 December 1997 the actor planned a secret midnight wedding at Skibo Castle in Sutherland, but a journalist phoned the minister posing as a friend, "confirming details," and splashed Carlyle's romantic plans all over the front page. The couple have three children: Ava (born 2002), Harvey (born March 2004) and Pearce Joseph (born April 2006). He is a fan of Rangers F.C.