Robert Sheehan
Sheehan at the 2017 New York Comic Con
Born (1988-01-07) 7 January 1988 (age 36)
Portlaoise, Laois, Ireland
Alma materGalway-Mayo Institute of Technology
OccupationActor
Years active2003–present

Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in Misfits, Darren Treacy in Love/Hate, and Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy, as well as film roles such as Tom Natsworthy in Mortal Engines and Simon Lewis in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

Sheehan has received multiple Irish Film and Television Award nominations and a British Academy Television Award nomination. In 2020, he was listed as number 41 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[1]

Early life

Sheehan was born in Portlaoise, County Laois. He is the youngest of three children born to Maria and Joe Sheehan, who was a garda.[2][3]

At school, he played the banjo, the bodhrán, and the spoons, having joked that he was like "Footloose with spoons";[4] he also participated in Fleadh Cheoil.[4]

Sheehan attended St Paul's school in Portlaoise. Unsure of whether acting was a sustainable career choice, he studied film and television at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. He missed several months of the course to film Summer of the Flying Saucer, and failed his first year examinations, and decided not to attempt the repeats.[5]

Career

Sheehan became interested in acting in primary school, when he played Oliver in Oliver with a Twist. At the age of fourteen, he auditioned for Song for a Raggy Boy, and won the role, spending three months in Cork to film. He later joined the Laois Open Door theatre group, and played the crippled boy in a production of The Cripple of Inishmaan.[6] At the age of 16, Sheehan appeared in the Australian television show Foreign Exchange.[7] He followed it with roles in The Clinic and The Tudors,[8] and portrayed Louis XIV of France in Young Blades. In 2008, he appeared in Rock Rivals and Bitter Sweet, a two-part television comedy drama. During this time, he also appeared in films including Ghostwood.

Sheehan at the BAFTA Television Awards in May 2012

After leaving the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Sheehan starred as one of the lead characters in the Cherrybomb in 2009.[9] In March 2009, he appeared in the role of BJ in the Channel 4 trilogy Red Riding.[10] Sheehan described the role as "weighty" and a "step up" from his previous work, and credits the show with changing his career.[9][11]

From 2009 to 2010, he starred as Nathan Young, a young offender, in the first two series of the British TV series Misfits.[12] In April 2011, it was announced that Sheehan would not be returning to the show for the third season.[12] Regarded as a "cult favourite",[7] Sheehan connected "intensely" with the role,[5] which he later described as "defining", and "a lovely, gorgeous memory for me,"[13] and remarked it was "challenging" to leave it behind.[9] In May 2011, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award in the "Male Supporting Actor" category for his role in Misfits. Beginning in 2010, he played Darren, a member of gangland Dublin in Love/Hate. He accepted the part because he wanted to work with Stuart Carolan and Dave Caffrey, and featured in three seasons.[11] After leaving the series, his character's ubiquitous blue hoodie was donated to the Dunamaise Theater in Portlaoise, and he remarked it was "tough to watch [the] show carry on without [me]".[14] He was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award for the role in 2011 and 2013.[5][15] In 2011, Sheehan played Kay in Season of the Witch alongside Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman.[16]

Sheehan was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award in the Rising Star category in 2010.[17] The following year, he starred in the film Killing Bono,[18] and in John Crowley's production of The Playboy of the Western World at the Old Vic Theatre.[10] Sheehan appeared in the second season of the BBC crime drama series Accused, which aired in 2012.[19] He played Simon Lewis in the 2013 film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,[20] and followed it with roles in Anita B., The Road Within, Moonwalkers, and The Messenger in 2014 and 2015.[5][9] In late 2015, he played Richard III in Trevor Nunn's revival of The Wars of the Roses, an adaption of William Shakespeare's plays Richard III and the three part Henry VI. In a 2018 interview with Hot Press, Sheehan described the role as his recent favourite, citing the "magic" and "transcendent experience" of being on stage.[10]

The Song of Sway Lake premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2017, and was released theatrically the following year. It was filmed prior to 2014, and reflecting on the role in 2019, Sheehan described himself as "immensely proud".[21][22] During 2017, he also appeared in Geostorm and featured in the second season of Fortitude, for which he was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award.[18] In 2018, he appeared in Genius: Picasso as Carlos Casagemas and in The Young Offenders Christmas special as a caricatured version of himself.[23][24] He also appeared in several films; he starred alongside David Tennant in Bad Samaritan, appeared in the neo-noir film Mute,[8][25] and starred in Mortal Engines in the leading role of Tom Natsworthy.[18]

In 2019, he starred in the Netflix Original series The Umbrella Academy as Klaus Hargreeves.[18]

On 15 October 2021, Sheehan published his debut novel, Disappearing Act: A Host of Other Characters in 16 Short Stories.[26]

He was cast in August 2022 to be one of the main villains in the 2024 film Red Sonja. He will be playing Draygan.[27]

Personal life

Sheehan resides in London.[23] He has also lived in Los Angeles.[10]

He has spoken openly about experimenting with his sexuality when younger, but identifies as heterosexual.[10]

He was in a relationship with actress Sofia Boutella from March 2014 until October 2018.[28][29][10]

Filmography

Film

Sheehan at the Minghella Film Festival, March 2011
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2003 An Cuainín Duncan's son Short film
Song for a Raggy Boy O'Reilly 58
A Dublin Story Clocker Short film
2006 Ghostwood Tim
2007 An Créatúr Conor Buckley Short film
2008 Summer of the Flying Saucer Danny
Lowland Fell Mark Short film
2009 Cherrybomb Luke
2011 A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures Ray Voice role [30]
Season of the Witch Kay [31]
Demons Never Die Archie Eden
Killing Bono Ivan McCormick
2013 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Simon Lewis
2014 Anita B. Eli
The Road Within Vincent Rhoads
2015 Moonwalkers Leon
The Messenger Jack
2016 Jet Trash Lee Also producer [32]
2017 Three Summers Roland [7]
Geostorm Duncan Taylor
The Song of Sway Lake Nikolai
2018 Mute Luba
Bad Samaritan Sean Falco
Mortal Engines Tom Natsworthy
2024 Red Sonja Draygan [27]

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2004 Foreign Exchange Cormac MacNamara Series regular
2005 Young Blades Louis XIV Series regular
2006 The Clinic Shane Hunter Episode: #4.03
Bel's Boys Max Episode: #2.10
2008 The Tudors Apprentice Episode: Everything Is Beautiful
Rock Rivals Addison Teller Series regular
Bitter Sweet Liam TV miniseries [30]
2009 Red Riding BJ TV miniseries
2009–2010 Misfits Nathan Young Series regular (Seasons 1–2; 13 episodes, 1 internet mini-episode)
2010 Coming Up Jason Episode #5.07: Dip
2010–2013 Love/Hate Darren Tracey Series regular (Season 1–3; 16 episodes)
2011 The Borrowers Spiller Television film [33]
2012 Accused Stephen Cartwright 2 episodes: Stephen's Story, Tina's Story
Me and Mrs Jones Billy Series regular [34]
2017 Fortitude Vladek Klimov Series regular (series 2)
2018 Genius: Picasso Carlos Casagemas 4 episodes
The Young Offenders Himself Episode: Christmas Special
2019–present The Umbrella Academy Klaus Hargreeves Main cast
2022 The Last Bus Dalton Monkhouse

Awards and honours

In September 2013, Sheehan was honoured by University College Dublin's Literary and Historical Society.[35] In October 2015, he received the Burke Medal for Contribution to Discourse Through The Arts from College Historical Society in Trinity College Dublin.[36]

Year Award Category Role Result Ref.
2010 IFTA Rising Star Nominated [17]
2011 BAFTA Supporting Actor Nathan Young – Misfits Nominated [37]
IFTA Actor in a Lead Role – Television Darren Treacy – Love/Hate Nominated [38]
2012 IFTA Actor in a Supporting Role – Television Nathan Young – Misfits Nominated [39]
2013 IFTA Actor in a Lead Role – Television Darren Treacy – Love/Hate Nominated [15]
2017 IFTA Actor in a Supporting Role – Drama Vladek Klimov – Fortitude Nominated [40]

References

  1. ^ Clarke, Donald; Brady, Tara. "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. ^ Conner, Megan (3 August 2013). "Robert Sheehan: 'I'm going to get in so much trouble'". guardian.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  3. ^ "Robert Sheehan Interview". leinsterexpress.ie. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Robert Michael Sheehan biography". Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d Freyne, Patrick (9 February 2013). "Robert Sheehan: Boy in the hoody". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Join the Laois theatre group that helped hone the skills of Robert Sheehan". leinsterexpress.ie. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Johnson, Neala (28 October 2017). "Irish actor Robert Sheehan discovers his "daggy" self in Ben Elton's new film Three Summers". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  8. ^ a b "'A lot of interesting stuff has happened' – Robert Sheehan on why turning 30 has made him reflective and how he loves 'coming home'". Irish Independent. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d Brady, Tara (13 March 2015). "Robert Sheehan: 'I was largely motivated by terror, the fear of getting it completely wrong'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e f O'Toole, Jason (24 October 2018). "The Full Hot Press Interview with Robert Sheehan". Hot Press. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b Conner, Megan (3 August 2013). "Robert Sheehan: 'I'm going to get in so much trouble'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Robert Sheehan not returning to 'Misfits'". Digital Spy. 10 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  13. ^ "Robert Sheehan: 'Everything that's not the government line gets labelled a "conspiracy theory"'". The Independent. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  14. ^ Barry, Aoife (15 March 2005). "Robert Sheehan on Love/Hate: "It's tough to watch a show carry on without you"". Journal.ie. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  15. ^ a b "IFTA Awards 2013". Irish Film and Television Awards. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  16. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (6 January 2011). "Deserters From the Crusades". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Winners of the 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards". IFTN. Irish Film and Television Network. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  18. ^ a b c d Brennan, Sinead (7 November 2018). "Exclusive Robert Sheehan on films, fame and trusting his gut". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  19. ^ Drohan, Ciara. "Robert Sheehan Cast in BBC's 'Accused'". IFTN. Irish Film and Television Network. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  20. ^ Wilkinson, Amy (29 April 2013). "'Mortal Instruments' Actor Robert Sheehan Makes Magic Out of the Mundane". MTV. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  21. ^ Brennan, Sinead (18 January 2019). "Exclusive Robert Sheehan 'immensely proud' of The Song of Sway Lake". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  22. ^ Schager, Nick (20 September 2018). "Film Review: 'The Song of Sway Lake'". Variety. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  23. ^ a b Brennan, Sinead (26 October 2018). "Robert Sheehan caught up with family filming Young Offenders". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  24. ^ "A long way from Love/Hate! Robert Sheehan makes colourful arrival to Tribeca Film Festival". Irish Independent. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  25. ^ Radish, Christina (2 May 2018). "Robert Sheehan on Dean Devlin's 'Bad Samaritan' and Netflix's 'Umbrella Academy'". Collider. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  26. ^ O'Hanlon, Emer (30 October 2021). "Disappearing Act: Robert Sheehan shocks and stuns in debut with a real sense of fun". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  27. ^ a b Vlessing, Etan (23 August 2022). "'Red Sonja': Matilda Lutz to Star in Millennium's Sword and Sorcery Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  28. ^ Gallagher, Katie (11 February 2019). "Love/Hate's Robert Sheehan opens up on future baby plans". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  29. ^ "Robert Sheehan on girlfriend Sofia Boutella: 'You're staring at five months apart, but it always works out'". Independent.ie. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  30. ^ a b Moon, Aileen (7 October 2010). "Interview: Acting Up with Robert Sheehan". Irish Film and Television Network. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  31. ^ Milton, Stephen (19 July 2015). "Robert Sheehan: It was difficult to watch Love/Hate carry on without me". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  32. ^ Myers, Kimber (26 April 2018). "With echoes of Boyle, 'Jet Trash' is a stylish thriller in its own right". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  33. ^ Cavendish, Dominic (20 December 2011). "Victoria Wood and Stephen Fry star in The Borrowers". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  34. ^ Lazarus, Susanna (12 October 2012). "Meet the cast of Me and Mrs Jones". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  35. ^ Love/Hate's Robert Sheehan honoured at UCD. Independent.ie (24 September 2013). Retrieved on 15 July 2014.
  36. ^ Hist's Robert Sheehan Event Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. UniversityTimes.ie (19 October 2015). Retrieved on 10 March 2016.
  37. ^ Television Awards Winners in 2011 – The BAFTA site Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Bafta.org (22 May 2011). Retrieved on 23 January 2012.
  38. ^ Winners of the 8th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards 2011 | Irish Film & Television Awards Archived 21 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Ifta.ie. Retrieved on 23 January 2012.
  39. ^ "IFTA Nominees 2012 announced". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  40. ^ Clarke, Donald (8 April 2017). "2017 Ifta Awards: 'A Date for Mad Mary' claims best picture". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2019.

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