Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ciarán Hinds is the second eldest of five children and the only son of his physician father and amateur actress mother. Ciarán began his training in Irish dance with Patricia Mulholland while attending Holy Family Primary School, and performed in stage productions at St. Malachy's College, an all-boys' high school. He went to Queen's University Belfast to study law, but soon the acting bug bit and he left for London to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (graduated 1975/07/01).
Ciarán began his professional stage career in 1976 in the production of Cinderella at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, and performed in many more productions with the company for several years.
He added to his oeuvre of stage work in various theatres throughout Britain and Ireland, including the Field Day and Druid theatre companies. He was selected by Peter Brook to join the cast of The Mahabharata, a six-hour play that toured the world, and he also appeared in the 1989 film version before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1990. Among his many roles with the RSC was the lead in the 1993 production of Richard III, directed by Sam Mendes.
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From Belfast to Hollywood Ciarán has made a name for himself as a quality actor... |  |
He also appeared in many productions with the National Theatre in London, where he originated the role of Larry in Patrick Marber's hit play, Closer. Ciarán reprised this role when the play went to Broadway in 1998-1999.
In 1981, Ciarán made his film debut in Excalibur, which also starred Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, and fellow Irishmen Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne. Ciarán has gone on to many more film appearances, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover with his Excalibur co-star Helen Mirren; The Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman; Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman; and Steven Spielberg's Munich among many, many films.
In a recent spate of screen work, Ciarán has appeared with Nicole Kidman in Margot at the Wedding, with Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes in In Bruges, with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, with Ryan Philippe in Stop-Loss, and with Daniel Day-Lewis in the Oscar-winning There Will Be Blood.
Ciarán is well known for his portrayal of Julius Caesar in the recent HBO series Rome, but his television career started much earlier with his role as Ashwattaman in the television miniseries, The Mahabharata, in 1989. He has since starred in numerous television series such as Prime Suspect 3, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and Tales from the Crypt. Along with his feature film roles, Ciarán has played classic characters in made-for-TV films including Captain Wentworth in Jane Austen's Persuasion, Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, and Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
Ciarán has lent his mellifluous voice to several audiobook and radio productions. He narrated the audiobooks Ivanhoe and the Caedmon Short Story Collection including James Joyce's A Painful Case among other works. He played the roles of Leontes in A Winter's Taleand Antony in Antony and Cleopatra in the Arkangel Complete Shakespeare collection. Among his radio performances, he played Valmont in the BBC Radio production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses and narrated several productions including BBC Radio's Book at Bedtime reading of Damage and works from James Joyce's Dubliners.
More recently, Ciarán starred as Mr. Lockhart in The Seafarer (for which he earned critical acclaim) at the Booth Theatre on Broadway through March 2008. In France, Ca$h came to theatres in April 2008 while he was filming Race To Witch Mountain, a Disney "re-imagining" of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain. Summer 2008 saw Ciarán on another TV project where he was cast as DCI Langton in Lynda La Plante's adaption of her book Above Suspicion, which was aired in January 2009 on ITV1 and turned out to be a great succes.
He finished filming Conor McPherson's The Eclipse in Ireland at the end of September 2008, a movie that is due to have its premiere at the TRIBECA movie festival in April/May 2009. Up until mid December 2008 he was part of the cast of Todd Solondz' project Life During Wartime.
Soon afterwards we were looking forward to seeing him in a leading part in Peter Flannery's play Burnt By The Sun, which brought him back to the stage in London until the end of May 2009.
During the play's run he was also fiming The Debt (directed by John Madden) with Helen Mirren.
In 2009, there has been a handfull of projects where he appeared again in a leading role or as a minor character: on stage at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, Conor McPherson's The Birds (September-October 2009), for the big screen as Aberforth Dumbledore in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and for ITV, he took on DCI Langton's role again in a sequel based on Lynda La PLante's second novel in Anna Travis' series, The Red Dahlia.
Still in script status or to be confirmed for 2010, are parts in Midday Sun (a European Media project).
The filming of John Carter of Mars where he plays a Martian ruler will take him until mid 2010. May 2010 will see him in Detroit to star along with Pierce Brosnan in Salvation Boulevard directed by George Ratliff and it's likely that a third season of Lynda La Plante's Above Suspicion will keep him busy during the Summer.
Also on his plate this year is The Rite, adapted from Matt Baglio's book.
With his versatility as a gifted character actor plus the "tall, dark, and handsome" look of a remarkable leading man, Ciarán is a favourite not only of fans, but of directors and other actors who value his artistic talents and professionalism. He has won respect and recognition from critics and colleagues alike as shown by these numerous awards:
1999: Won the Theatre World Award for best debut in New York for his portrayal of Larry in Closer.
1999: Won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Special Achievement for best ensemble cast performance in Closer.
1999: Nominated for the Drama Desk Award nomination for outstanding featured actor in a play (also for Larry in Closer).
2003: Nominated for the Irish Film & Television Award for best supporting actor in film/TV for his role as John Traynor in Veronica Guerin.
2004: Won the Audie Award for best audio drama performance for his roles as Leontes and Antony in the fully dramatised recordings of William Shakespeare's plays included in The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare
2004: Won the Irish Film & Television Award (IFTA) for best actor in a dramatic series for his role as Michael Henchard in The Mayor of Casterbridge.
2007: Won the Irish Film & Television award for best actor in a lead role in television for his portrayal of Julius Caesar in Rome.
2007: Nominated for the Gotham Award for best ensemble cast for his role in Margot at the Wedding.
2009: Best Actor in a narrative feature film at the eighth Tribeca Film Festival.
2010: Nominated for the IFTA for best actor in a lead role for his part in The Eclipse.
2010: Won the Volta award in Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.
2010: Won the first "Belfast sink" award in Belfast Film Festival for his "Outstanding Contribution to Cinema & Television".
Himself: I go for stories with passion, things that involve minds and progress.
Himself: I don't see myself following in the footsteps of Liam, Pierce and Gabriel. I'm not driven by ambition to be a star. I'm just a spinner of other people's stories.
Belfast: I grew up in North Belfast in the 1950's and 60's, which I remember now as a time of innocence, invention and imagination. The Waterworks on the Cavehill Road provided us with a great arena to indulge many pastimes, whether it was sailing homemade model yachts on the reservoir, playing whatever sport we had in mind - ranging from international cricket to Gaelic football via wheelbarrow racing - or picking off imagined hordes of Red Indians or Japanese soldiers who were advancing over the brow of the Cavehill Mountain high above us. 
The Cavehill provided us with many bicycle paths and cowboy trails; most school holidays Mitch Campbell, Joe McAuley and myself could be found up there, either in the bluebell woods that my Grandfather Gibson first introduced me to, or even higher up on the rocky incline known as Napoleon's Nose - we favoured the left nostril, as I remember. The Cavehill Road turns into the Limestone Road where I attended Holy Family Primary School, and just behind it, in Newington Street, lived the woman who was to have a profound influence on my life, the remarkable Patricia Mulholland, who, from the 1940's to the 1980's, taught generation after generation the beauty of Irish dancing with patience, skill and supreme elegance.
Irish dance: My own professional life has been greatly influenced by the fourteen years I spent dancing with the company - the precision, the presentation, the absolute necessity of teamwork, the endless hours of practice . . . and so much FUN!
Cold Lazarus: I was apalling at science at school. The vernacular of cryogenics and biochemistry can be one hell of a mouthful but Potter knew what he was talking about. You just have to say the lines as he wrote them and hope that you're serving his ideas.
Rome: I would like to thank the director for having the nerve to cast me (February 9th, 2007).
There Will Be Blood: The nature of Fletcher is that he sees that there's practical work to be done and he does it, very quietly and modestly. (It sounds as if this ever modest actor was speaking of himself...)
His part as Lady MacBeth at the age of 12: My mum says I haven't done anything as good, so it's an on-going battle trying to hit that high again.(He really said it! - watch the clip)
Studying law at Queen University: My tutor suggested I quietly leave the law faculty - because snooker and poker wasn't much use to them.
Watching himself: It can be awfully nervewracking seeing yourself on screen. You have to put your ego aside.
His career:...But my dream is still to be offered these wonderful, little Irish films, in Donegal or Derry. It's good for my Irish soul.
Acting:...we all have to arrive, whatever happens, with the same intention, on the same evening, at the same time. There is no one way to do it - acting is a mystery.
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Webmaster Sylvie Griffon (Cestas, France) - Copyright © 2008 Ciarán Hinds ! All right reserved.