| Jonathan Rhys Meyers | |
| Portrays Valentine Morgenstern | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Biographical Information | |
| Real name: | Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe |
| Born: | 27 July 1977 (age 36) |
| Birthplace: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Series Information | |
| Character portrayed: | Valentine Morgenstern |
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is an Irish actor and model. He plays Valentine Morgenstern in the film adaptation The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
History
He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Mary Geraldine "Geri" Meyers and musician John O'Keeffe. He was raised Roman Catholic by his family. Born in Drimnagh (Dublin), he moved to Cork, at one year old and was raised there with his three younger brothers, Jamie, Alan, and Paul, who are all professional musicians. When he was 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 North Monastery School.
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 afterward, 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, but didn't sing for his role in the miniseries. The latter earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win.[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.
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 and Angelina Jolie 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 (2010), co-starring John Travolta.
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. "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at #84 of the Canadian Hot 100.
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.He is signed to Independent Models in London. In February 2008, he became a celebrity ambassador for the Cork-based charitable organization The Hope Foundation.
On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honorary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin, Ireland.
Movies
- Panda Eyes - 2013
- Belle du Seigneur - 2012
- Albert Nobbs - 2011
- From Paris with Love - 2010
- Shelter - 2010
- A Film with Me in It - 2008
- The Children of Huang Shi - 2008
- August Rush - 2007
- Mission Impossible III - 2006
- Match Point - 2005
- Alexander - 2004
- Vanity Fair - 2004
- The Emperor's Wife - 2003
- I'll Sleep when I'm Dead - 2003
- Octane - 2003
- The Tesseract - 2003
- Bend it like Beckham - 2002
- Tangled - 2001
- Happy Now - 2001
- Prozac Nation - 2001
- Titus - 1999
- Ride with the Devil - 1999
- The Loss of Sexual Innocence - 1999
- B. Monkey - 1998
- The Tribe - 1998
- Velvet Goldmine - 1998
- The Governess - 1998
- Telling Lies in America - 1997
- The Maker - 1997
- The Disappearance of Finbar - 1996
- Michael Collins - 1996
- Killer Tongue - 1996
- A Man of No Importance - 1994
TV
- Samson and Delilah
- Gormenghast
- The Magnificent Ambersons
- The Lion in Winter
- Elvis
- The Tudors
- Dracula
Awards
Nominations
- 2011 Monte Carlo Television Golden Nymph Awards: Best Performance By An Actor: The Tudors
- 2011 The Irish Film & Television Awards: Best Actor in a Television Series: The Tudors
- 2009 Monte Carlo Television Golden Nymph Awards: Best Performance By An Actor: The Tudors
- 2009 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Drama: The Tudors
- 2009 The Irish Film & Television Awards: Best Actor in a Television Series: The Tudors
- 2008 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series for The Tudors
- 2007 Movie Extra Filmink Award: Best Sort: Match Point
- 2005 Prime Time Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries for Elvis
- 1998 London Critics Circle Film Award for British Newcomer of the Year for Velvet Goldmine, The Governess, Disappearance of Finbar
Won
- 2008 The Irish Film & Television Awards: Best Actor in a Television Series: The Tudors
- 2008 Monte Carlo Television Golden Nymph Awards: Best Performance By An Actor: The Tudors
- 2008 Trinity College Philosophical Society: Honorary Patronage Award
- 2006 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television: Elvis
- 2006 GQ Men Of The Year Award
- 2005 Chopard Trophy: Outstanding Newcomer: Match Point
- 2005 Satellite Awards: Outstanding Actor In A Miniseries: Elvis
- 2002 Venice International Television Festival: Canal Grande Award For The Best Young Promising Actor:The Magnificent Ambersons
