# Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles in the films Michael Collins (1996), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Titus (1999), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Alexander (2004), Match Point (2005), Mission: Impossible III (2006) and his television roles as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis (2005), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, as King Henry VIII in the historical drama The Tudors (2007–10), which earned him two Golden Globe Award nominations, and in the NBC drama series Dracula (2013–14) as the title character. He also starred as Bishop Heahmund, a character inspired by the Catholic Saint of the same name, in the History Channel television series Vikings.
Meyers has continued to star in other films, such as Albert Nobbs in 2011. In 2013, Meyers appeared as the villain Valentine Morgenstern in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, based on Cassandra Clare's novel, City of Bones; he appeared in the 2015 film Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich; in 2017, he starred in The 12th Man; and in 2018 he won the Best Actor award at the Manchester Film Festival for his starring role in Damascus Cover. In 2020, he was listed as number 44 on The Irish Times’ list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Meyers has been the face of several Hugo Boss advertising campaigns. He has also been involved in several charitable causes, including the Hope Foundation and the children's charity Barretstown. Meyers is married to Mara Lane, and they have one son together.

## Early life

Meyers was born on 27 July 1977 in Dublin, Ireland, the first of four boys for Geraldine (née Myers; 1957–2007) and folk musician John O'Keeffe, and brought up in County Cork. His family is Catholic, and his three younger brothers are professional musicians. He attended North Monastery Christian Brothers School.
After being expelled from North Monastery for truancy, he spent much of his time working and socialising in pool halls. Casting agents looking for Irish boys to appear in War of the Buttons spotted him at a Cork pool hall, the Victoria Sporting Club, and invited him to audition. Although passed over for War of the Buttons, the casting agents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting.

## Career
### Early work (1994–2004)

O'Keeffe adopted the stage name Jonathan Rhys Meyers because he thought his real name was boring. His first acting role came in the film, A Man of No Importance (1994). In 1996, he appeared in Michael Collins, as the Anti-Treaty IRA sniper who kills the title character. He played a David Bowie-inspired glam rock star in Velvet Goldmine (1998). He appeared in B. Monkey (a British-American 1998 neo-noir crime film directed by Michael Radford) as Bruno, a small-time petty thief/criminal. In 1999, he appeared in Ride with the Devil as psychopathic Bushwhacker Pitt Mackeson, and in Titus as the sadistic Goth prince Chiron. He starred as Steerpike in the BBC's Gormenghast (2000); played a dedicated girls' football coach in Bend It Like Beckham (2002); played in Vanity Fair (2004) opposite Reese Witherspoon; and co-starred in 2004 in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander in which he played Cassander.

### Breakthrough with Match Point and The Tudors (2005–2017)

The following year Meyers starred in Woody Allen's drama Match Point (2005), for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival, and in the CBS 4-hour mini-series Elvis (2005) as Elvis Presley alongside Randy Quaid as Colonel Tom Parker, but did not sing for his role in the miniseries. The latter earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win. In 2006, he appeared in Mission: Impossible III.
He starred in the CBC/Showtime co-production The Tudors (2007) as Henry VIII. He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2007 for the role.
Subsequent projects include August Rush (2007). In 2008, he appeared in The Children of Huang Shi, and in 2010, Shelter and From Paris with Love.
In 2011, he starred as Solal in Belle du Seigneur, an English language film adaptation of Albert Cohen's novel Belle du Seigneur. The film was released in Russia on 29 November 2012 and in France on 19 June 2013 after premiering at the Champs Elysees Film Festival.
In 2013, Meyers was cast as Dracula in NBC's television series Dracula alongside Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jessica De Gouw. It was also announced in May 2013 that Meyers was to participate in the recording of his brothers' album entitled Blossom, which was released on 21 April 2014.
On 23 October 2014, he received The Irish Post Legend Award at the London Hilton on Park Lane in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Film & Television over the previous 20 years.
In 2017, He starred in the movie Black Butterfly and was nominated for Best supporting Actor at the Madrid International Festival. Meyers later reunited with Michael Hirst and starred as Bishop Heahmund in the television series Vikings.

### Independent films and varied roles (2018–present)

Meyers played the lead in the spy thriller Damascus Cover, based on the novel by Howard Kaplan. It premiered on 23 September 2017, at the Boston Film Festival and was released on July 20, 2018 by Vertical Entertainment. he won the best actor award at Boston and Manchester International Festival
Meyers portrays Patrick Pearse, a political activist and one of the leaders of the bloody 1916 Irish Easter Rising, in the centennial commemoration biopic film The Rising, written and produced by Kevin McCann.
In 2020, Meyers played in Edge of the World, a biographical picture of the British explorer Sir James Brooke, as well as the lead role in the movie American Nights, a neo-noir thriller co-starring Emile Hirsch, Paz Vega, and Jeremy Piven.
In 2021, he starred as Shiro in Yakuza Princess, a Brazilian action thriller film directed by Vicente Amorim based on the graphic novel Samurai Shiro by Danilo Beyruth. He also starred in the horror-thriller Hide and Seek.
In 2022, he starred in The Good Neighbour and Wifelike.
In 2023, he starred in the thriller "Disquiet" with Rachelle Goulding. Meyers also starred in the hijacking thriller film 97 Minutes, directed by Timo Vuorensola.

### Music

A self-taught singer and guitarist, Meyers has appeared in a number of musical roles. His first such role was as "Brian Slade" in Velvet Goldmine; two of the songs he sang ("Baby's on Fire" and "Tumbling Down") are on the film's soundtrack. He sang briefly in the television mini-series version of The Magnificent Ambersons, performed in studio scenes of the miniseries Elvis and played the flute in Gormenghast.
In the 2007 music drama August Rush, he performed on-screen as singer-songwriter Louis Connelly and is credited for four songs on the soundtrack – "Break", "Moondance", "Something Inside" and "This Time". Of the four, "This Time" and "Break" were considered in the Best Original Song category of the 80th Academy Awards. "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at number 84 in the Canadian Hot 100.

#### Upcoming projects

In 2022, it was revealed that he would be joining the cast of the thriller Altitude.

## Personal life
### Relationships and family

For a year in the late 1990s, Meyers dated his Velvet Goldmine co-star, Toni Collette.
From 2004 until 2012, he was in a relationship with Reena Hammer when she was 17 years old and he was 27. Reena is the daughter of makeup artist Ruby Hammer.
On 20 November 2007, his mother, Mary Geraldine O'Keeffe, died at Mercy University Hospital, Cork, aged 51, following a short, undisclosed illness.
On 30 June 2011 it was reported that he was taken to hospital by ambulance after a suspected suicide attempt. In 2016, a second attempt was suspected when paramedics, responding to an emergency call, found him slumped on the floor. Anonymous sources variously claimed and denied that Meyers intended to take his own life.
During 2016, he married Mara Lane. Their son was born in December 2016. In September 2017, Lane revealed that she had miscarried a second child.
In 2022 he listed his Nichols Canyon home in Los Angeles for sale. It was reported that the home had previously been listed for sale and was made available as a rental property until 2012 when it was listed for $1.6 million and again in 2018 it was offered for $1.795 million. The 2022 listing has the home for sale at $1.85 million.

### Issues with alcohol

In 2007, Meyers' representative confirmed that Meyers had entered an alcohol-treatment programme.
In November 2007, he was arrested at Dublin Airport for intoxication and disturbing the peace.
In 2009, he was detained in Paris by French police for allegedly assaulting an airport lounge employee while drunk.
In 2010, at John F. Kennedy International Airport, he verbally abused and used racist language against airline staff and officials, who had refused him access to the boarding area after he had become intoxicated in the first-class lounge. He was banned by United Airlines as a result.
His representative confirmed Meyers was receiving treatment again in 2010. In November 2011, he was ordered by a French court to pay restitution of €1,000 and was given a judgment of a suspended sentence for public intoxication 24 months earlier.
After his wife suffered a miscarriage in 2017, Meyers relapsed at Dublin Airport.
In 2018, he broke his sobriety on a flight, resulting in a dispute with his wife at Los Angeles International Airport. In an interview with Larry King later that year, Meyers addressed the incident, stating "... I shouldn't drink. It doesn't suit me and I had been sober for a long time." He insisted that he had learned his lesson and was sober again.
Meyers crashed his car in Malibu, California, in November 2020 and was subsequently charged with two drunk driving offences.

## Honours

On 5 October 2008, Meyers received an Honorary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin.
In 2014, he was honoured at The Irish Post Awards by the presentation of the Legend Award for his contributions to the film and entertainment industry.

## Charity work

In February 2008, Meyers was named the ambassador for the Hope Foundation, a charity formed in his native Cork to support the street children of Calcutta.
He is also an ambassador for the Irish children’s charity Barretstown which supports children affected by serious illness. In 2019, he and fellow actor Aidan Gillen helped launch Barretstown's new Press Play campaign which aimed to raise additional funds to serve more children and their families.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role(s) | Director(s) |
| 1994 | A Man of No Importance | First Young Man | Suri Krishnamma |
| 1996 | Michael Collins | Denis "Sonny" O'Neill (Collins' Assassin) | Neil Jordan |
| 1996 | Killer Tongue | Rudolph | Alberto Sciamma |
| 1996 | The Disappearance of Finbar | Finbar Flynn | Sue Clayton |
| 1997 | The Maker | Josh Minnell | Tim Hunter |
| 1997 | Telling Lies in America | Kevin Boyle | Guy Ferland |
| 1998 | Velvet Goldmine | Brian Slade | Todd Haynes |
| 1998 | The Governess | Henry Cavendish | Sandra Goldbacher |
| 1998 | The Tribe | Adam | Stephen Poliakoff |
| 1998 | B. Monkey | Bruno | Michael Radford |
| 1999 | The Loss of Sexual Innocence | Nic (aged 16) | Mike Figgis |
| 1999 | Ride with the Devil | Pitt Mackeson | Ang Lee |
| 1999 | Titus | Chiron | Julie Taymor |
| 2001 | Happy Now? | Mark Wraith | Philippa Cousins |
| 2001 | Prozac Nation | Noah | Erik Skjoldbjærg |
| 2001 | Tangled | Alan Hammond | Jay Lowi |
| 2002 | Bend It Like Beckham | Joe | Gurinder Chadha |
| 2003 | The Tesseract | Sean | Oxide Pang Chun |
| 2003 | I'll Sleep When I'm Dead | Davey Graham | Mike Hodges |
| 2003 | Octane | The Father | Marcus Adams |
| 2003 | The Emperor's Wife | Chamberlain | Julien Vrebos |
| 2004 | Vanity Fair | Capt. George Henry Osborne | Mira Nair |
| 2004 | Alexander | Cassander | Oliver Stone |
| 2005 | Match Point | Chris Wilton | Woody Allen |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | Declan Gormley | J. J. Abrams |
| 2007 | August Rush | Louis Connelly | Kirsten Sheridan |
| 2008 | The Children of Huang Shi | George Hogg | Roger Spottiswoode |
| 2008 | A Film with Me in It | Pierce 2 | Ian Fitzgibbon |
| 2010 | From Paris with Love | James Reese | Pierre Morel |
| 2010 | Shelter | Reverend Christian Moore/Adam Sabre/David Bernberg/Wesley Crite | Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein |
| 2011 | Albert Nobbs | Viscount Yarrell | Rodrigo García |
| 2012 | A Grand Affair | Solal | Glenio Bonder |
| 2013 | The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones | Valentine Morgenstern | Harald Zwart |
| 2013 | Another Me | John Moffatt | Isabel Coixet |
| 2013 | 6 Souls | David | Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein |
| 2015 | Stonewall | Trevor | Roland Emmerich |
| 2016 | London Town | Joe Strummer | Derrick Borte |
| 2017 | The Shadow Effect | Reese | Obin & Amariah Olsen |
| 2017 | Black Butterfly | Jack | Brian Goodman |
| 2017 | Holy Lands | David | Amanda Sthers |
| 2017 | Damascus Cover | Ari Ben-Sion/Hans Hoffmann | Daniel Zelik Berk |
| 2017 | The 12th Man | Sturmbannführer Kurt Stage | Harald Zwart |
| 2018 | The Aspern Papers | Morton Vint | Julien Landais |
| 2019 | Awake | John Doe/Michael Winslow | Aleksandr Chernyaev |
| 2021 | Edge of the World | James Brooke | Michael Haussman |
| 2021 | Yakuza Princess | Shiro | Vicente Amorim |
| 2021 | American Night | John Kaplan | Alessio Della Valle |
| 2021 | The Survivalist | Ben Grant | Jon Keeyes |
| 2021 | Hide and Seek | Noah Blackwell | Joel David Moore |
| 2022 | The Good Neighbour | Robert | Stephan Rick |
| 2022 | Wifelike | William Bradwell | James Bird |
| 2022 | Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders | Kyle | Sean McNamara |
| 2023 | Ambush | Miller | Mark Burman |
| 2023 | 97 Minutes | Alex | Timo Vuorensola |
| 2023 | Food Fight | Charlie | Rexal Ford |
| 2023 | Mercy | Sean Quinn | Tony Dean Smith |
| 2023 | Disquiet | Sam | Michael Winnick |
| 2024 | The Clean Up Crew | Alex | Jon Keeyes |
| 2024 | Operation Blood Hunt | Murphy | Louis Mandylor |
| TBA | The Rising: 1916 | Patrick Pearse | Kevin McCann |
| TBA | Run | Orson Reed | Steven C. Miller |
| TBA | Altitude | TBA | Mark Fienberg |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Samson and Delilah | Young Samson | Television film |
| 2000 | Gormenghast | Steerpike | Complete four-part BBC series (each episode one hour) |
| 2002 | The Magnificent Ambersons | George Amberson Minafer | Television film |
| 2003 | The Lion in Winter | King Philip II | Television film |
| 2005 | Elvis | Elvis Presley | Television film Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 2007–2010 | The Tudors | King Henry VIII | 38 episodes Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor on Television Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (2008–09) Nominated—Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (2009–11) Nominated—Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor on Television (2009–11) |
| 2013–2014 | Dracula | Dracula / Alexander Grayson | 10 episodes Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a New TV Series |
| 2016 | Roots | Tom Lea | 3 episodes |
| 2017–2019 | Vikings | Heahmund | 17 episodes |

### Discography

Musical contributions to films :
| Year | Soundtrack | Song |
| 1998 | Velvet Goldmine | Tumbling Down |
| 1998 | Velvet Goldmine | Baby's on Fire |
| 2007 | August Rush | Break |
| 2007 | August Rush | This Time |
| 2007 | August Rush | Something inside |
| 2007 | August Rush | Moondance |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1999 | London Critics Circle Film Awards | British Newcomer of the Year | Velvet Goldmine | Nominated |
| 2002 | Venice Film Festival | Canal Grande Award for the Best Young Promising Actor | The Magnificent Ambersons | Won |
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television | Elvis | Won |
| 2005 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Elvis | Nominated |
| 2005 | Cannes Film Festival | Outstanding Newcomer | Match Point | Won |
| 2006 | GQ UK | Men of the Year Awards / Lab Series Man of the Year | | Won |
| 2006 | Golden Globes Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television | Elvis | Won |
| 2008 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor – Drama Series | The Tudors | Won |
| 2008 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television | The Tudors | Won |
| 2008 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2009 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor – Drama Series | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2009 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2009 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2010 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2010 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor – Drama Series | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2011 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor – Drama Series | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2011 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2014 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Actor in a New TV Series | Dracula | Nominated |
| 2017 | Madrid International Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Black Butterfly | Nominated |
| 2017 | Boston Film Festival | Best Actor | Damascus Cover | Won |
| 2018 | Manchester Film Festival | Best Actor | Damascus Cover | Won |