Gabriel Byrne

May 12, 1950

Dublin, Ireland

He did the poker-faced, life-is-short routine so superbly in Miller’s Crossing (90, Joel and Ethan Coen) that he might as well laugh sometimes. That’s not just his best film, it’s one of the best performances in American film—the whole melancholy routine. And too much sadness will weaken you. There was the legend that his sour, stoic gaze set firm after The Usual Suspects, in which he had been led to believe that his character was Keyser Soze. There are reference books that say, before acting, he taught Spanish to girls—so don’t tell me he doesn’t see a joke. He played at the Abbey Theatre, and is constitutionally Irish still, no matter that he seems to reside in Southern California. He was in The Outsider (79, Tony Luraschi); Excalibur (81, fohn Boorman); The Keep (83, Michael Mann); Wagner (83, Tony Palmer); Hanna K. (83, Costa-Gavras); Defence of the Realm (85, David Drury); as Byron in Gothic (86, Ken Russell); Lionheart (87, Franklin J. Schaffner); with Ellen Barkin in Siesta (87, Maw Lambert); the husband in Julia and Julia (87, Peter Del Monte); Hello Again (87, Frank Perry); A Soldier’s Tale (88, Larry Parr); Diamond Skulls (89, Nicholas Broomfield); Shipwrecked (90, Nils Caup), made in Norway; Cool World (92, Ralph Bakshi); Point of No Return (93, John Badham); associate producer on Into the West (93, Mike Newell); Little Women (94. Gillian Armstrong); A Simple Twist of Fate (94, Gillies MacKinnon); Trial by Jury (94, Heywood Gould); Frankie Starlight (95, Michael Lindsay-Hogg); as Dean Keaton in The Usual Suspects (95, Bryan Singer)—his first hit; Dead Man (96, Jim Jarmusch); Mad Dog Time (96, Larry Bishop); The Last of the High Kings (96, David Keating), which he also cowrote; The Brylcream Boys (96. Terence Ryan); The End of Violence (97 Wim Wenders); Smilla’s Sense of Snow (97, Bille August); as Lionel Powers, tycoon plus, in Weapons of Mass Destruction (97, Steve Surjik); Polish Wedding (98, Theresa Connellv); Enemy of the State (98, Tony Scott); as d'Artagnan in The Man in the Iron Mask (98, Randall Wallace); Stigmata (99, Rupert Wainwright); as Satan himself, dry and amusing, in the woefully disappointing End of Days (99, Peter Hyams); When Brendan Met Trudy (00, Kieron J. Walsh). As well as being very hard-working, he has clear ambitions as writer, producer, and director. He was executive producer on In the Name of the Father (93, Jim Sheridan), and there is a film mentioned in references sources—The Lark in the Clear Air (96)—which he wrote, produced, and directed.

Gabriel Byrne Edit Profile

Background

Gabriel Byrne was born on 12 May 1950 in Dublin, Ireland.

Education

University College Dublin.

Career

He did the poker-faced, life-is-short routine so superbly in Miller’s Crossing (90, Joel and Ethan Coen) that he might as well laugh sometimes. That’s not just his best film, it’s one of the best performances in American film—the whole melancholy routine. And too much sadness will weaken you. There was the legend that his sour, stoic gaze set firm after The Usual Suspects, in which he had been led to believe that his character was Keyser Soze.

There are reference books that say, before acting, he taught Spanish to girls—so don’t tell me he doesn’t see a joke. He played at the Abbey Theatre, and is constitutionally Irish still, no matter that he seems to reside in Southern California.

He was in The Outsider (79, Tony Luraschi); Excalibur (81, fohn Boorman); The Keep (83, Michael Mann); Wagner (83, Tony Palmer); Hanna K. (83, Costa-Gavras); Defence of the Realm (85, David Drury); as Byron in Gothic (86, Ken Russell); Lionheart (87, Franklin J. Schaffner); with Ellen Barkin in Siesta (87, Maw Lambert); the husband in Julia and Julia (87, Peter Del Monte); Hello Again (87, Frank Perry); A Soldier’s Tale (88, Larry Parr); Diamond Skulls (89, Nicholas Broomfield); Shipwrecked (90, Nils Caup), made in Norway; Cool World (92, Ralph Bakshi); Point of No Return (93, John Badham); associate producer on Into the West (93, Mike Newell); Little Women (94. Gillian Armstrong); A Simple Twist of Fate (94, Gillies MacKinnon); Trial by Jury (94, Heywood Gould); Frankie Starlight (95, Michael Lindsay-Hogg); as Dean Keaton in The Usual Suspects (95, Bryan Singer)—his first hit; Dead Man (96, Jim Jarmusch); Mad Dog Time (96, Larry Bishop); The Last of the High Kings (96, David Keating), which he also cowrote; The Brylcream Boys (96. Terence Ryan); The End of Violence (97 Wim Wenders); Smilla’s Sense of Snow (97, Bille August); as Lionel Powers, tycoon plus, in Weapons of Mass Destruction (97, Steve Surjik); Polish Wedding (98, Theresa Connellv); Enemy of the State (98, Tony Scott); as d'Artagnan in The Man in the Iron Mask (98, Randall Wallace); Stigmata (99, Rupert Wainwright); as Satan himself, dry and amusing, in the woefully disappointing End of Days (99, Peter Hyams); When Brendan Met Trudy (00, Kieron J. Walsh).

As well as being very hard-working, he has clear ambitions as writer, producer, and director. He was executive producer on In the Name of the Father (93, Jim Sheridan), and there is a film mentioned in references sources—The Lark in the Clear Air (96)—which he wrote, produced, and directed.