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Michael McElhatton

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For the Irish footballer, see Michael McElhatton (footballer).

Michael McElhatton
McElhatton in 2018
Born (1963-09-12) 12 September 1963 (age 61)
Dublin, Ireland[1]
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Actor, writer
Years active1987–present

Michael McElhatton (born 12 September 1963) is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for playing the role of Roose Bolton in the HBO series Game of Thrones from the second to the sixth season (2012–2016). Other credits include I Went Down (1997), Paths to Freedom (2000), Saltwater (2000), Blow Dry (2001), The Actors (2003), Spin the Bottle (2003), Perrier's Bounty (2009), Albert Nobbs (2011), Death of a Superhero (2011), Pentecost (2012), The Fall (2013), The Hallow (2015), The Zookeeper's Wife (2017), Chernobyl (2019), Das Boot (2020), The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020), The Wheel of Time (2021), Jack Ryan (2022) and The Long Shadow (2023).

Early life

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McElhatton was born on 12 September 1963 in Terenure,[2] a suburb in the south of Dublin.[1] He began studying acting at Terenure College, a school known for its drama tradition, and afterward spent eight years in London where he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1987.[3] McElhatton returned to Ireland in the early nineties, where he began his acting career mainly in theatre and television.[1]

Career

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He appeared in a short film titled The Loser in 1990. In 1996, he was directed by John Carney in the film November Afternoon,[2] in which he plays the main character. In the late nineties and early 2000s, McElhatton appeared in I Went Down (1997),[2] Saltwater (2000),[2] Blow Dry (2001),[2] and The Actors (2003).[2] Between 2000 and 2002, McElhatton gained fame from appearing in the situation comedies Paths to Freedom and Fergus's Wedding.[1] In addition to acting, he also took on the role of screenwriter, writing the screenplay for all of the episodes.[1] The character of Rats in Paths to Freedom (2000), which he wrote and starred in, became popular with the public and allowed it to be adapted into an entire feature film Spin the Bottle (2003). As his career went on, McElhatton continued playing minor characters in films by directors such as Lenny Abrahamson, John Boorman, and Kari Skogland. McElhatton also appeared in Perrier's Bounty (2009),[2] and Death of a Superhero (2011).[2]

He returned to his role as writer in 2010, writing six episodes of the sitcom Your Bad Self. Over the next decade, McElhatton began appearing in much larger roles. In 2011, he had a role in the film Albert Nobbs ,[2] directed by Rodrigo García, and Death of a Superhero (2011).[2] The following year the short Pentecost,[2] which received a nomination for Best Short Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. That same year he took part in the James Marsh directed film Shadow Dancer.[2]

In 2012, McElhatton joined the cast of the HBO television series Game of Thrones,[4] beginning in the second season, playing the character of warlord Roose Bolton. From the fifth season on he was promoted to series regular.[5]

In 2013, he appeared in The Fall, alongside Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan.[2] In 2015, he played one of the protagonists in the horror film The Hallow,[2] which was presented at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. He appeared in the screen adaptation of the true story of World War II drama The Zookeeper's Wife in 2017.[2]

In 2019, he starred as Andrei Stepashin in Chernobyl (2019).[2] In 2020, he was Deputy Inspector Thomas O'Leary in Das Boot (2020),[2] and starred in the series The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020).[2]

In 2021, McElhatton appeared as Tam al'Thor in the adaptation of The Wheel of Time (2021) on Amazon Prime Video.[6] His casting was announced on 06 November 2019 through Twitter.[7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Director Notes Ref(s)
1990 The Loser Eddie Keith Boak Short film
1996 November Afternoon John John Carney, Tom Hall
1997 I Went Down Johnner Doyle Paddy Breathnach
All Souls' Day Alan Gilsenan
1998 To the Mountain Jean Pasley Short film
Crush Proof Detective Sergeant Hogan Paul Tickell
1999 Between Dreams Mr. Fitzsimons Ian Fitzgibbon Short filmT
Underworld Jimmy Ronan Gallagher Short film
2000 Saltwater John Traynor Conor McPherson
2001 Blow Dry Robert Paddy Breathnach
Zulu 9 Garda Dispatcher Alan Gilsenan Short film
2002 Ape Dandy Dance Rory Bresnihan Short film, voice only
2003 The Actors Jock Conor McPherson
Intermission Sam John Crowley
Spin the Bottle Rats Ian Fitzgibbon [1]
2004 Waterloo Dentures Captain Rachael Moriarty, Peter Murphy Short film
Mickybo and Me Mechanic Terry Loane
Adam & Paul Martin Lenny Abrahamson Voice only
God's Early Work God Rory Bresnihan Short film, voice only
2005 George Rory Bresnihan, John Butler Short film
English Rory Bresnihan Short film
2006 The Tiger's Tail Dr. Alex Loden John Boorman
2007 The Martyr's Crown Officer Rory Bresnihan Short film
2008 Spacemen Three Dr. Yuri Semyonov Hugh O'Conor Short film
Fifty Dead Men Walking Robbie Kari Skogland
The Man Inside Locksmith Rory Bresnihan Short film
2009 Perrier's Bounty Ivan Ian Fitzgibbon
Happy Ever Afters Detective Norman Ginty Stephen Burke
2010 Parked Frank Darragh Byrne
2011 Pentecost Pat Lynch Peter McDonald Short film
Albert Nobbs Mr. Moore Rodrigo García
Death of a Superhero James Clarke Ian Fitzgibbon
2012 Shadow Dancer Liam Hughes James Marsh
2013 The Food Guide to Love Famine narrator Dominic Harari, Teresa Pelegri Voice only
2014 The Legend of Longwood The Black Knight Lisa Mulcahy Voice only
2015 The Hallow Colm Donnelly Corin Hardy
2016 Norm of the North Laurence Trevor Wall Voice only
Mammal Matt Rebecca Daly
The Autopsy of Jane Doe Sheriff Sheldon André Øvredal
Handsome Devil Walter Curly John Butler
The Siege of Jadotville McEntee Richie Smyth
2017 The Zookeeper's Wife Jerzyk Niki Caro
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Jack's Eye Guy Ritchie
The Foreigner Jim Kavanagh Martin Campbell
Justice League Terrorist Leader Zack Snyder
2019 The Last Right Frank Delaney Aoife Crehan
Arracht Lieutenant Tomás Ó Súilleabháin Irish language
Togo Jafet Lindeberg Ericson Core
2021 The Last Duel Bernard Latour Ridley Scott

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1997 Ballyseedy Comdt. Ed. Breslin Television film
1999 Vicious Circle Garrett Television film
The Ambassador Commander 2 Episode: "Vacant Possession"
Vicious Circle Garrett Television film
2000 Paths to Freedom Raymond 'Rats' Doyle 6 episodes
2001 Rebel Heart Cathal Brugha Mini-series
3 episodes
2002 Fergus's Wedding Fergus Walsh 4 episodes
2006 Hide & Seek Paul Holden 4 episodes
2007 My Boy Jack Leo Amery MP Television film
2010 Your Bad Self 6 episodes
The Santa Incident Ross Television film
2011 Zen Ernesto Heuber Mini-series
Episode: "Ratking"
2012–2016 Game of Thrones Roose Bolton 19 episodes [8]
2013 The Fall Rob Breedlove 4 episodes
Ripper Street Commissioner James Monro 2 episodes
The Ice Cream Girls Brian Mini-series
3 episodes
2014 New Worlds John Hawkins 3 episodes
2015 Strike Back: Legacy Oppenheimer 2 episodes
2016 Mammon Melanie Holly, CIA Agent 2 episodes
2017–2018 Genius Dr. Philipp Lenard / Jonas Salk 4 episodes
2018 Agatha and the Truth of Murder Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Television film
2019 The Rook Lorik 4 episodes
Chernobyl Andrei Stepashin Episode: "Vichnaya Pamyat"
Ant & Dec's DNA Journey Voiceover Television documentary
2020 Das Boot Deputy Inspector Thomas O'Leary 4 episodes
The Alienist: Angel of Darkness Dr. Markoe 6 episodes
2021 The Wheel of Time Tam al'Thor [9]
2023 Jack Ryan Bill Tuttle 6 episodes [10]
The Long Shadow Chief Constable Ronald Gregory

Video games

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Year Title Voice role Ref.
2013 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Vance Travers
2019 Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Gaius Baelsar
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

Writing credits

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Selected stage career

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Awards and nominations

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Dwyer, Ciara (30 November 2003). "Rat's tale is a glass act, low on spin and high on bottle". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Michael McElhatton Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  3. ^ "RADA Student & graduate profiles - Michael McElhatton". rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  4. ^ Selcke, Dan (2020). "Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) joins The Wheel of Time show". WinterIsComing.net. FanSided. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  5. ^ Watchers On The Wall [@WatchersOTWall] (19 August 2014). "Carice van Houten heads back to Westeros, and new photos from Lokrum and Moneyglass" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 October 2014 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ The Wheel of Time [@TheWheelOfTime] (6 November 2019). "The choice isn't always about what you do, son, but why you do it." Please welcome Michael McElhatton (Tam Al'Thor) to the #WOTonPrime family" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 November 2019 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Amazon Prime Video [@TheWheelOfTime] (6 November 2019). "Please welcome Michael McElhatton (Tam Al'Thor) to the #WOTonPrime family" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Game of Thrones: Cast". HBO. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  9. ^ Smith, Andrew (6 November 2019). "Game of Thrones Actor Joins Wheel of Time as Rand's Father Tam". IGN. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Michael McElhatton (IMDB)". IMDB. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Winners 2003 - Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy.
  12. ^ "Winners 2007 - Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy.
  13. ^ "Winners 2013 - Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Academy.
  14. ^ "SAG Awards Nominations: '12 Years A Slave' And 'Breaking Bad' Lead Way". Deadline Hollywood. 11 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
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