Early life

Macfadyen was born in Glasgow, Scotland and lived a colourful childhood, being raised in such places as the Philippines, Africa, Singapore and France. His father was a doctor in the World Health Organization. Macfadyen attended the University of Edinburgh and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Career

1990s

Macfadyen's first role was Philip in the film made for television The Lost Language of Cranes. He portrayed a young man who must tell his parents that he is gay. Playing the role of his father was fellow Scottish actor Brian Cox. Macfadyen then acted in the television film 15: The Life and Death of Philip Knight (1993) and also on the television show Takin' Over the Asylum (1994) about a salesman who runs a radio station in a mental institution. That role led to his role as Robert the Bruce in Mel Gibson's film Braveheart (1995).

After Braveheart won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Macfadyen acted in the independent film Nevada (1997), before giving the most over-the-top performance of his career in the action/fantasy Warriors of Virtue (1997). He also co-starred alongside Don Cheadle and Ray Liotta when he played Peter Lawford in the HBO film The Rat Pack (1998).

Macfadyen played Orson Welles in Tim Robbins's third directorial film Cradle Will Rock (1999). Although the film received a nomination for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, it was a financial flop. Macfadyen next made the Shakespearan film Titus (1999), alongside Anthony Hopkins, where he played Lucius, eldest son of Titus Andronicus. Directed by Julie Taymor, the film was a critical triumph but with mediocre box office results.

2000s

After the noir film Second Skin (2000), Macfadyen acted in a number of poorly received films. One such film was the action film Styx (2001) which starred Peter Weller. A year later, he acted in the comedy film Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) alongside a number of famous names: Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Smith and Ashley Judd. That same year, Macfadyen took the role of Vice-Counsel Dupont in Equilibrium. The film, also starring Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs and Emily Watson, is set in the future, where a fascist regime forbids all emotions.

Macfadyen acted as Marcus Crassus in the TV version of Spartacus, the character of Bill in The Pleasure Drivers, and the lead in the dramatic film The Virgin of Juarez (2006). He then played the pirate Blackbeard in a television film of the same name.

His next big role was that of Jeff Denlon in Saw III. Jeff is a man obsessed with revenge, and he is led into a series of traps that test his ability to forgive. The film was a smash hit for its 10 million dollar budget, earning almost 200 million dollars worldwide. Macfadyen then co-starred in the box office bomb Redline (2007); the same year he appeared in Saw IV, which was also a box office success.

Macfadyen continued making films, starring as the outlaw Will Tunney in his western film Shadowheart (2009). He has appeared on television in the series Californication and Killer Wave. He has also acted in the mystery film San Saba and the thriller film Clean Break.

2010s

Macfadyen has appeared in two thrillers: Pound of Flesh (2010) alongside Malcolm McDowell which revolves around a corrupt college professor, and the crime thriller Shadows of the White Nights alongside Christian Slater. He starred as Lucas Blackstone in the Christian film Taken By Grace. Additionally, Macfadyen was part of the cast of the USA Network's television series Psych, the Cameron Crowe feature film, We Bought a Zoo starring Matt Damon, and the final season of Chuck as villain Nicholas Quinn.

Currently Macfadyen stars as Robert Rogers in AMC's historical drama series, Turn: Washington's Spies, Allan Pinkerton on the first-run syndicated show The Pinkertons. In late 2014 he began principal photography on "Macbeth," a feature-length film adaptation of the Shakespearean play in which he stars and directs.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1991	The Lost Language of Cranes	Philip Benjamin	TV film
	Soldier Soldier	Lt. Alex Pereira	Five episodes
1993	15: The Life and Death of Philip Knight	David McBride	TV film
1994	Two Golden Balls	Dexter	TV film
	Takin' Over the Asylum	Fergus	Four episodes
1995	Braveheart	Robert the Bruce	Also the film's narrator
	Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story	Richard Burton	TV film
1997	Nevada	West
	Warriors of Virtue	Komodo
	Snide and Prejudice	Michael Davidson/Adolf Hitler
	Still Breathing	Philip
1998	Joseph's Gift	Carl
	The Brylcreem Boys	Count Rudolph von Stegenbek
	The Rat Pack	Peter Lawford	TV film
	Lanai-Loa	Turner
1999	Facade	Frederic Colbert	a.k.a. Death Valley
	Titus	Lucius
	Cradle Will Rock	Orson Welles
2000	Jason and the Argonauts	Zeus	TV film
	Second Skin	Sam Kane
2001	A Woman's a Helluva Thing	Houston Blackett	TV film
	Styx	Mike
2002	On the Roof	Jack
	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Connor McGill
	Equilibrium	Dupont
2003	Miracles	Alva Keel	Thirteen episodes
2004	Spartacus	Marcus Crassus	TV film
	5ive Days to Midnight	Roy Bremmer	TV film
2005	Tilt	Roy "Mac" McEntyre	One episode
	Murder on the Yellow Brick Road	Michael Alberts
	Shooting Gallery	Tenderloin Tony	Direct-to-video
	Alias	Joseph Ehrmann	Three episodes
2006	The Virgin of Juarez	Patrick Nunzio	Voice
	Fatwa	Bobby
	Blackbeard	Blackbeard	TV film
	The Pleasure Drivers	Bill
	Scoundrels, Scallywags, and Scurvy Knaves		Direct-to-video
	Saw III	Jeff Denlon	Nominated- Scream Award for Scream King
	.45	Al
2007	The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud	Claude	TV film
	Killer Wave	John McAdams	TV mini-series
	Redline	Michael D'Orazio
	Saw IV	Jeff Denlon	Cameo
2008	Impulse	Jonathan Dennison/Simon Phillips	Direct-to-video
	Clean Break	Matt McKay
	San Saba	Bud
	Eleventh Hour	Jason Cooper	One episode
	Californication	Julian	Six episodes
	Saw V	Jeff Denlon	Cameo
2009	Shadowheart	Will Tunney	Direct-to-video
	Pound of Flesh	Patrick Kelly
	Saw VI	Jeff Denlon	Cameo
2010	Lie to Me	Jimmy Doyle	One episode
	Psych	Logan Paget	One episode
2011	Shadows of the White Nights / Assassins Run	Richard
	Criminal Minds	Sean McAllister	One episode
	We Bought a Zoo	Peter MacCready
2012	Chuck	Nicholas Quinn	Villain
2013	Copperhead	Jee Hagadorn
	Sugar	Uncle Gene
2014-present	Turn: Washington's Spies	Robert Rogers	Main cast
	The Pinkertons	Allan Pinkerton	Main cast
2015	Macbeth	Macbeth	Director, Starring Actor
2016	Timeless	Dr. Meier

[ Source: Wikipedia ]