Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Meyers in 2013
Born	Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe 27 July 1977 Dublin, Ireland
Residence	Los Angeles, California, U.S. London, England
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	1994–present

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Velvet Goldmine, Mission Impossible III, Bend It Like Beckham, Match Point and his television roles as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis, which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor, and as King Henry VIII in the historical drama The Tudors.^[1][2] He has been the face model for several Hugo Boss fragrances advertising campaigns.^[3]

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 also starred in the NBC drama series Dracula as the titular character. Meyers appeared in the 2015 film Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich.

Early life

He was born 27 July 1977 in Dublin, Ireland, to Geraldine (née Myers; 1957–2007) and folk musician John O'Keeffe.^[4][5] His family is Roman Catholic.^[6] His three brothers are all professional musicians.^[7]

When Meyers was three, his parents separated. His mother raised him and his brother Alan "Ali" in a council flat in Cork, while the other two boys, Jamie and Paul, went to live at their paternal grandmother's home with their father.^[8] He also has two half sisters. Meyer's mother drank heavily, and Meyers has spoken in interviews about how close he was to her and their living in poverty.^[9] He briefly attended North Monastery Christian Brothers School but was expelled at the age of 14.^[9][10]

Soon after, he left home and began working in a pool hall. There, he met a wealthy dairy farmer, Christopher Croft, who invited Meyers to live with him and his three children to work on the farm. Croft was his mentor and father figure, but in 2007, Croft was convicted of sexually abusing a homeless boy and sentenced to one year in prison.^[9]

Career

After being expelled from North Monastery at 14 for truancy, he spent much of his time working or hanging out 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.^[11] Although passed over for War of the Buttons, the casting agents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting.^[12] His first film role came in A Man of No Importance (1994). In 1996, he appeared in Michael Collins, as the title character's assassin. In 1999, he appeared in Ride with the Devil as psychopathic guerrilla fighter Pitt Mackeson.

Meyers has starred in television series including Gormenghast (2000) and in the CBS 4-hour mini-series Elvis (2005) as Elvis Presley alongside Randy Quaid as Colonel Tom Parker, but didn't sing for his role in the miniseries.^[13] The latter earned him an Emmy^[14] nomination and a Golden Globe win.^[15] 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.^[16]

Meyers in 2006

He played a David Bowie-inspired glam rock star in Velvet Goldmine (1998), a dedicated girls' football coach in Bend It Like Beckham (2002), in Vanity Fair (2004) opposite Reese Witherspoon. He co-starred in 2004 in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander. The following year he starred in Woody Allen's drama Match Point (2005), for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, he appeared in Mission: Impossible III. Subsequent projects include August Rush (2007) and The Children of Huang Shi (2008), Shelter and From Paris with Love (2010)^[17]

In 2011, he starred in Belle du Seigneur (an English-language film adaptation of Albert Cohen's novel) as Solal des Solal. The movie was released in Russia on 29 November 2012 and in France on 19 June 2013 after premiering at the Champs Elysees Film Festival. A self-taught singer and guitarist, he 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 TV miniseries 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.^[18] "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at number 84 in the Canadian Hot 100.^[19]

Besides acting, Jonathan has also modelled for several clothing companies. He modelled for Club Monaco in 2001 and was chosen as the face for the Versace men's collection of Autumn/Winter 2006 and Spring 2007,^[20] and he was the face of the Hugo Boss men's fragrance range from 2006^[21] until he was replaced with Jared Leto in 2011. He is signed to Independent Models in London.^[22] In February 2008, he became a celebrity ambassador for the Cork-based charitable organisation The Hope Foundation.^[23] On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honorary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin.^[24]

In 2013, Meyers was cast as Dracula, in NBC's television series Dracula alongside Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jessica De Gouw.^[25] It was also announced in May 2013 that Jonathan was to participate in the recording of his brothers' album entitled "Blossom" which was released on 21 April 2014.

On October 23, 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 twenty years.^[26]

In February 2015, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety confirmed that Meyers had begun filming the spy thriller, Damascus Cover,^[27] based on the novel by Howard Kaplan, in Morocco alongside John Hurt, Olivia Thirlby and Jurgen Prochnow, with Meyers in the lead role as Ari Ben Sion.

Meyers will portray 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.^[28] The film is set to be released on St Patrick's Day, 2016.^[29]

Personal life

From 2004 until 2012, Meyers was in a relationship with Reena Hammer, daughter of makeup artist Ruby Hammer.^[30][31]

Per unconfirmed media reports, Meyers checked into a rehabilitation facility seeking treatment for unspecified substance abuse in 2005.^[32] In 2007, Meyers' representative, Meredith O'Sullivan, confirmed that, "After a non-stop succession of filming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers has entered an alcohol-treatment programme."^[33][34]

On 20 November 2007, his mother, Mary Geraldine "Geri" O'Keeffe, died at Mercy University Hospital, Cork, aged 51, following a short, undisclosed illness.^[35] Her funeral was attended by "hundreds of mourners" including film director Neil Jordan and actors Cillian Murphy and Colin Farrell.

In February 2009, Meyers reportedly went into rehab again.^[36] His representative confirmed Meyers was again receiving treatment in 2010.^[37] In November 2011, Meyers was ordered by a French court to pay a restitution of €1,000 and was given a judgment of a suspended sentence for public intoxication 24 months earlier.^[38]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	A Man of No Importance	First Young Man
1996	The Killer Tongue	Rudolph
1996	Disappearance of Finbar, TheThe Disappearance of Finbar	Finbar Flynn
1996	Michael Collins	Collins's assassin
1996	Samson and Delilah	Young Samson	Television film
1997	Maker, TheThe Maker	Josh Minnell
1997	Telling Lies in America	Kevin Boyle
1998	Velvet Goldmine	Brian Slade	Nominated—London Critics Circle Film Award for British Newcomer of the Year
1998	The Governess	Henry Cavendish
1998	B. Monkey	Bruno
1998	Tribe, TheThe Tribe	Adam
1999	Loss of Sexual Innocence, TheThe Loss of Sexual Innocence	Young Nic
1999	Ride with the Devil	Pitt Mackeson
1999	Titus	Chiron
2001	Prozac Nation	Noah
2001	Tangled	Alan Hammond
2001	Happy Now	Mark Wraith
2002	Bend It Like Beckham	Joe
2002	The Magnificent Ambersons	George Amberson Minafer	Television film
2003	Tesseract, TheThe Tesseract	Sean
2003	Octane	The Father
2003	I'll Sleep When I'm Dead	Davey Graham
2003	The Emperor's Wife	Chamberlain
2003	The Lion in Winter	King Philip II	Television film
2004	Vanity Fair	Captain George Osborne
2004	Alexander	Cassander
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
2005	Match Point	Chris Wilton
2006	Mission: Impossible III	Declan Gormley
2007	August Rush	Louis Connelly
2008	Children of Huang Shi, TheThe Children of Huang Shi	George Hogg
2008	A Film with Me in It	Pierce 2	Cameo
2010	Shelter	Adam / David / Wesley / Charles / Christian	Re-released in 2013 under the title 6 Souls.
2010	From Paris with Love	James Reese
2011	Albert Nobbs	Viscount Yarrell
2012	Belle du Seigneur	Solal
2013	The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones	Valentine Morgenstern
2014	Another Me	John Moffatt
2015	Stonewall	Trevor
2015	Damascus Cover	Ari	Screened at 2015 Cannes Film Festival[39]
2016	The Rising	Padraig Pearse	Post-production
2016	London Town	Joe Strummer	Post-production
2016	Shadow	Reese	Post Production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Gormenghast	Steerpike	4 episodes
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	4 episodes (Filming)
2017	Vikings	TBA

Awards and nominations

Year	Group	Award	Result	Notes
1999	London Critics Circle Film Awards	British Newcomer of the Year	Nominated	Velvet Goldmine
2002	Venice Film Festival	Canal Grande Award for the Best Young Promising Actor	Won	The Magnificent Ambersons
2005	Satellite Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Won	Elvis
2005	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Nominated	Elvis
2005	Cannes Film Festival	Outstanding Newcomer	Won	Match Point
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	Won	Elvis
2008	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor – Drama Series	Won	The Tudors
2008	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television	Won	The Tudors
2008	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama	Nominated	The Tudors
2009	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor – Drama Series	Nominated	The Tudors
2009	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television	Nominated	The Tudors
2009	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama	Nominated	The Tudors
2010	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television	Nominated	The Tudors
2010	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor – Drama Series	Nominated	The Tudors
2011	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor – Drama Series	Nominated	The Tudors
2011	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television	Nominated	The Tudors
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Actor in a New TV Series	Nominated	Dracula
2014	The Irish Post Awards	Legend Award	Won

References

1. Monroe, Justin. "Reign Man", Complex, October 2007; Retrieved 10 April 2008.
2. Wolf, Matt. "Earning an 'A' for Androgyny on the Screen", New York Times, 13 September 1998; retrieved 10 April 2008.
3. "Hugo Fragrances – Eau de Parfum – Hugo by Hugo Boss". Hugo. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
4. "Jonathan Rhys-Meyers [sic] Biography (1977-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
5. "Meyers biography". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
6. Waxman, Sharon (6 November 2005). "At Home in Oliver's Macedonia and Woody's London". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
7. "Jersey – Entertainment – the OKs". BBC. 30 August 2005.
8. Moore, Victoria (24 November 2007). "The troubling truth about Jonathan Rhys Meyers". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
9. "The troubling truth about Jonathan Rhys Meyers". Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
10. Roche, Barry (7 April 2011). "Council celebrates 200th anniversary of North Monastery school's founding". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
11. "Comment:a chameleon from Cork who can pass for the King". The Sunday Times. 22 January 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
12. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers profile at Yahoo! Movies". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
13. "In Step With: Jonathan Rhys Meyers". Parade Magazine. 1 May 2005.
14. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers Emmy Award Nominee". Emmys.com. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
15. "2006 Golden Globe Awards Nominations & Winners", HFPA, January 2006; Retrieved 14 April 2008.
16. "2008 Golden Globe Awards Nominations & Winners", HFPA, January 2008; Retrieved 14 April 2008.
17. Tartaglione, Nancy "EuropaCorp begins shoot on From Paris With Love", Screen Daily, 23 September 2008; Retrieved 24 September 2008.
18. "59 Songs Tune Up for 2007 Oscar", Oscars.org, 12 December 2007
19. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers – This Time", aCharts.us. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
20. Dolly Jones (19 July 2006). "Versace's Irish tipple". Vogue. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
21. "Jonathan Rhys-Meyers endorses Hugo Boss". Starpulse.com. 25 August 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
22. Rhys Meyers profile at independent.codegent.org
23. "Rhys Meyers to help Calcutta children", RTÉ Entertainment, 18 February 2008; Retrieved 6 October 2008.
24. "Trinity College to honour Rhys Meyers". Irish Examiner. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
25. "'Dracula' NBC TV show official trailer released". Hypable. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
26. "‘Being Irish is special’ – Irish Post Legend Award winner Jonathan Rhys Meyers". Hypable. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
27. "Damascus Cover". (official site) Facebook. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
28. "Rhys Meyers cast in The Rising". Retrieved 4 September 2015.
29. "Irish America". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
30. Eden, Richard (21 November 2009). "Marriage to Jonathan Rhys Meyers 'would be lovely', says Reena Hammer". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
31. Tim Walker (18 January 2013). "Jonathan Rhys Meyer's former girlfriend finds a man she can bank on". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
32. Shira, Dahvi (30 June 2011). "Jonathan Rhys Meyers's Battle with Addiction". People. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
33. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers checks into rehab". RTÉ. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007.
34. Ray McDonald (30 April 2007). "Actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Enters Rehab". VOA News (Voice of America). Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
35. "Rhys Meyers's mother dies in hospital". Irish Examiner. 21 November 2007.
36. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers in rehab". Bang Showbiz via Boston.com. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
37. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers Returns to Rehab". People. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
38. "Jonathan Rhys Meyers fined for threatening To kill French policemen". MSN. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
39. Barraclough, Leo (26 May 2015). "Cannes: Simon West's 'Salty,' Jonathan Rhys Meyers' 'Damascus Cover' Attract Buyers". Variety. Retrieved 26 May 2015.

External links

• Jonathan Rhys Meyers at the Internet Movie Database