Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor and model.
He is best known for his roles in the films Velvet Goldmine, Bend It Like Beckham, Woody Allen's 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]
In two of his films, Velvet Goldmine and August Rush, he also took over singing parts.
He has been the face of several advertising campaigns for Hugo Boss fragrances.[3]Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 References 6 External links
[edit] Early life
Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keefe in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Geraldine Meyers and musician John O'Keefe.[4][5] His stage name is derived from his mother's maiden name Meyers. He spent the first few months of his life in hospital. Born with a serious heart problem, Meyers was baptised shortly after his birth, as it was feared he would not survive long enough for a traditional baptism ceremony. He was raised Roman Catholic.[6] Born in Dublin, he moved to Cork at one year old and was raised there with his three younger brothers named Jamie, Alan and Paul, who are all professional musicians.[7][8] At age three, his parents separated. His mother raised Rhys Meyers and his brother Alan while his other two brothers went to live at their grandmother's house with their father. Rhys Meyers attended the famous North Monastery School. [edit] Career
Rhys Meyers was expelled from the North Monastery Secondary School at age 16 for truancy and spent much of his time hanging out in pool halls. Casting agents looking for Irish boys to appear in War of the Buttons spotted Rhys Meyers at a Cork pool hall, the Victoria Sporting Club, and invited him to audition. Although he was passed over for War of the Buttons, the casting agents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. His first film role came soon afterwards, 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.
Rhys 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 and Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret. Meyers did not sing for his role in the miniseries.[9] The latter earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win.[10] He has 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.[11]
His film roles range from a David Bowie-inspired glam rock star in Velvet Goldmine (1998) to a dedicated girls' football coach in Bend It Like Beckham (2002). He appeared in Vanity Fair (2004) opposite Reese Witherspoon. He co-starred opposite Colin Farrell in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander (2004). In 2005, Rhys Meyers starred in Woody Allen's film Match Point, for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, he appeared in Mission: Impossible III. Subsequent projects included August Rush (2007) and The Children of Huang Shi (2008), Shelter, co-starring Julianne Moore, and From Paris with Love (film) (2010), co-starring John Travolta.[12]
Rhys Meyers, a self-taught singer and guitarist, has appeared in a number of musical roles. His first such role was that of rock star 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, Rhys Meyers 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.[13] "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at #84 of the Canadian Hot 100.[14]
Rhys Meyers was chosen as the face for the Versace men's collection of Autumn/Winter 2006 and Spring 2007, and he has also been the face of the Hugo Boss men's fragrance range since 2005. Currently, Rhys Meyers is the face of Hugo Boss' newest fragrance, HUGO Element. He is signed to Independent Models in London.
In February 2008, he became a celebrity ambassador for The Hope Foundation. This Cork-based charity aims to provide shelter and supplies to Calcutta's impoverished street children. Rhys Meyers hopes that lending his name to the organisation will help raise awareness of the issue. As Ambassador he is expected to visit India and record a TV documentary for the charity.[15]
On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honourary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin, Ireland. [edit] Personal life
Rhys Meyers owns houses and apartments in Los Angeles, Dublin, London and Morocco, splitting his time between Los Angeles and London when not working. He also owns a horse named Belle and a Chihuahua named Boo Boo.
In May 2005, Rhys Meyers checked into rehab facility Promises in California seeking treatment for alcohol abuse. On 24 April 2007, the Associated Press reported that Rhys Meyers returned to treatment. The actor's representative Meredith O'Sullivan confirmed the news to People magazine citing his need to take a break from his busy schedule in order to maintain sobriety.[16][17] On 18 November 2007, Rhys Meyers was arrested in Dublin Airport and charged with being drunk and in breach of the peace. He was later released on bail to appear at the Dublin District Court on 5 December 2007.[18] He was in Dublin to promote his new movie August Rush on the Irish television programme Tubridy Tonight. The charges were later dropped.
On 27 February 2009, the actor checked into rehab a third time, seeking help for alcohol addiction. He checked out on 15 March 2009.[19]
On 20 June 2009, Rhys Meyers was arrested after allegedly attacking a number of staff at a bar in Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris and then threatening to kill them. He was bailed out to appear before magistrates on charges of "willful violence, outrage, hitting and threatening death", and was to appear before the Correctional Tribunal in Bobigny, in September 2009.[20]
In May 2010, it was reported that Rhys Meyers was banned for life from flying on United Airlines due to "belligerent" and "disruptive behaviour" stemming from reports that he "used the n-word" after "pounding drinks"[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] in the first class lounge and becoming increasingly drunk and disorderly," at John F. Kennedy International Airport.[31] [edit] Filmography Feature filmsYear Film Role Notes 1996 The Killer Tongue Rudolph 1996 The Disappearance of Finbar Finbar Flynn 1996 Michael Collins Collins' assassin 1996 Samson and Delilah Young Samson TNT TV movie 1997 The 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 The Tribe Adam 1999 The Loss of Sexual Innocence Nic 1999 Ride with the Devil Pitt Mackeson 1999 Titus Chiron 2001 Prozac Nation Noah 2001 Tangled Alan Hammond Straight to DVD 2001 Happy Now Mark Wraith 2002 Bend It Like Beckham Joe 2003 The Tesseract Sean Straight to DVD 2003 Octane The Father Straight to DVD 2003 I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Davey Graham 2003 The Emperor's Wife Chamberlain 2003 The Lion in Winter King Philip II Showtime TV movie 2004 Vanity Fair George Osborne 2004 Alexander Cassander 2005 Match Point Chris Wilton 2005 Elvis Elvis Presley Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film 2006 Mission: Impossible III Declan 2007 August Rush Louis Connelly 2008 The Children of Huang Shi George Hogg 2008 A Film with Me in It Pierce Cameo 2010 Shelter Adam 2010 From Paris with Love James Reese 2010 At Swim-Two-Birds In Pre-Production
TelevisionYear title Role Notes 2000 Gormenghast Steerpike BBC miniseries 2002 The Magnificent Ambersons George Amberson Minafer A&E miniseries 2007 The Tudors King Henry VIII 2007–2010 (38 episodes) Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television (2008) Nominated—Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role in Television (2009) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama (2008, 2009)
Other awards Nominated: London Film Critics Circle Awards, British Newcomer of the Year (1998), Velvet Goldmine, The Disappearance of Finbar, The Governess Won: Venice International Television Festival, Canal Grande Award for the Best Young Promising Actor (2002), The Magnificent Ambersons Won: Chopard Trophy, Outstanding Newcomer (2005), Match Point Won: GQ UK Men of the Year Awards, Lab Series Man of the Year (2006) Won: Monte Carlo Television Festival Golden Nymph Awards, Best Performance by an Actor — Drama (2008), The Tudors[32]
