| Jonathan Rhys Meyers |
Rhys Meyers at London premiere of
Mission: Impossible III, 25 April 2006 |
| Born |
Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe
27 July 1977 (1977-07-27) (age 32)
Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation |
Actor |
| Years active |
1994–present |
| Domestic partner(s) |
Reena Hammer
(2004–2008) |
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is a Golden Globe-winning Irish actor, singer and model, best known internationally for his role in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine. In the US, he is probably best known for his television roles as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis and as King Henry VIII in historical drama The Tudors.12
Early life
Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Geraldine Myers and musician John O'Keeffe.34 His stage name is derived from his mother's maiden name, Myers.
Rhys Meyers was born with a serious heart problem and was baptised shortly after his birth, as it was feared he would not survive long enough for a traditional baptism ceremony. He spent the first few months of his life in the hospital. Born in Dublin, he moved to Cork City at one year old and was raised there. He has three younger brothers named Jamie, Alan and Paul, who are all professional musicians.56
When Rhys Meyers was three years old, his parents separated. His mother raised Rhys and his brother Alan, while his other two brothers went to live at their grandmother's house with their father.
Career
Rhys Meyers was expelled from the North Monastery Secondary School at age 16 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 guerilla 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. The latter earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win.7 He is currently starring in the Showtime cable series The Tudors (2007) as the young Henry VIII. He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2007 for the role.8
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 (2010), co-starring John Travolta.9
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.10 "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at #84 of the Canadian Hot 100.11
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.12
On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honourary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin, Ireland.
Personal life
Rhys Meyers owns houses and apartments in Nichols Canyon, 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.1314 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 2007.15 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 his alcohol addiction. Rhys Meyers was believed to be in an English treatment facility this time. He checked out on 15 March 2009.16
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 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 2009.17
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Emmy Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTA)
- Won: Best Lead Actor - Television (2008), The Tudors
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: Satellite Awards, Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television (2005), Elvis (TV series)
- 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 Tudors18
References
- ^ Monroe, Justin. "Reign Man", Complex, October 2007. Accessed 10 April 2008.
- ^ Wolf, Matt. "Earning an 'A' for Androgyny on the Screen", New York Times, 13 September 1998. Accessed 10 April 2008.
- ^ Film Reference.com.
- ^ Meyers biography. Yahoo! movies.
- ^ "BBC - Jersey - Entertainment - the OKs", BBC.co.uk
- ^ "The OKs Official MySpace" Accessed 30 September 2008
- ^ a b "2006 Golden Globe Awards Nominations & Winners", HFPA.org, January 2006. Accessed 14 April 2008
- ^ a b "2008 Golden Globe Awards Nominations & Winners", HFPA.org, January 2008. Accessed 14 April 2008.
- ^ Tartaglione, Nancy "EuropaCorp begins shoot on From Paris With Love", Screen Daily, 23 September 2008. Accessed 24 September 2008.
- ^ "59 Songs Tune Up for 2007 Oscar", Oscars.org, 12 December 2007
- ^ "Jonathan Rhys Meyers - This Time", aCharts.us. Accessed 30 September 2008
- ^ "Rhys Meyers to help Calcutta children", RTÉ Entertainment, 18 February 2008. Accessed 6 October 2008
- ^ Jonathan Rhys Meyers checks into rehab. RTE.ie 24 April 2007.
- ^ McDonald, Ray (30 April 2007). "Actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Enters Rehab". VOA News (Voice of America). http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-04/2007-04-30-voa23.cfm. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
- ^ Actor Rhys Meyers arrested at Dublin airport RTÉ.ie/News 18 November 2007.
- ^ Best of the rest: Jonathan Rhys Meyers goes to rehab . . . again. NY Daily News. 28 February 2009.
- ^ "Jonathan Rhys Meyers arrested after 'attack at Paris airport'". The Telegraph. 2009-06-25. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/5635614/Jonathan-Rhys-Meyers-arrested-after-attack-at-Paris-airport.html. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ^ Whelan, Natalie. "Brits dominate Golden Nymph Awards", The Guardian, 13 June 2008. Accessed 13 June 2008.
External links
&videoType=YouTube&summary=Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Natalie Dormer promoting Showtimes "The Tudors" on The View. Original airdate: March , 08&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/vlRlQdkBY1E&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://1.gvt0.com/vi/vlRlQdkBY1E/default.jpg&celebrity=Jonathan Rhys Meyers)
![Clip Just love it, how he talks about his role "King Henry" Video](/viewVideo.html?title=The Tudors A Sit Down with Jonathan Rhys Meyers&videoType=YouTube&summary=Just love it, how he talks about his role "King Henry"&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/iviPCSn7v0U&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://1.gvt0.com/vi/iviPCSn7v0U/default.jpg&celebrity=Jonathan Rhys Meyers)
&videoType=YouTube&summary=jonathanrm.musique.com One of the 3 songs by Jonathan from August Rush soundtrack. Enjoy! Lyrics When the one thing youre looking for Is ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/LOO2N1mwD8o&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://2.gvt0.com/vi/LOO2N1mwD8o/default.jpg&celebrity=Jonathan Rhys Meyers)
