Early life

Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, the son of Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator. He was brought up by his father after his mother left when Carlyle was four years old. He left school at the age of 16 without any qualifications and worked for his father as a painter and decorator; however, he continued his education by attending night classes at Cardonald College in Glasgow.

Career

Carlyle became involved in drama at the Glasgow Arts Centre at the age of 21 (having been inspired by reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible), and subsequently graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. In 1991, he and four friends founded a theatre company, Raindog (which is now primarily involved in television and film work), and guest starred in The Bill. The same year he starred in his first movie, Riff-Raff, directed by Ken Loach.

In 1994, he played the gay lover of Father Greg in the film Priest. Carlyle's first high-profile role came as murderer Albert "Albie" Kinsella in an October 1994 episode of Cracker opposite Robbie Coltrane (in which Kinsella killed five people, including Christopher Eccleston's DCI David Bilborough). This highly acclaimed role showcased Carlyle's "pure intensity". Shortly after his appearance in Cracker, he landed the role of Highland policeman Hamish Macbeth in the BBC comedy-drama Hamish Macbeth. The series ran for three seasons from 1995 to 1997.

In 1996 and 1997, he appeared in the two highest-profile roles of his career to date: as the psychopathic Francis Begbie in Trainspotting and Gaz, the leader of a group of male amateur strippers, in The Full Monty. The latter earned Carlyle a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He also starred with Ray Winstone in the 1997 film Face. Carlyle played the senior Malachy McCourt (father of author Frank McCourt) in the 1999 film adaptation of McCourt's first memoir, Angela's Ashes; the arch villain Renard in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough; and a cannibalistic soldier in the 1999 Ravenous.

Carlyle appeared in the 2002 Oasis music video for "Little By Little". He played Adolf Hitler in the 2003 miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil. In 2006 he played the villain Durza in Eragon. In 2007 Carlyle played one of the main characters in the film 28 Weeks Later. He also played the lead role as a marine engineer attempting to save London from total devastation in the disaster film Flood. That year he also portrayed Father Joseph Macavoy in the film The Tournament.

In 2008 Carlyle narrated a BBC audiobook version of The Cutting Room. In 2008, he was cast as Dr. Nicholas Rush in the television series Stargate Universe. His role in the series has been described thus: "As to survive, Dr. Rush (Carlyle) works to unlock the mysteries of the ship and return the group home, but evidence of his ulterior motives soon arises." His was touted by the studio as the "leading role" in Universe.

In December 2008, Carlyle appeared in 24: Redemption, a television movie based on the popular TV series 24, starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland.

In 2009, Carlyle appeared in a long-form commercial for Johnnie Walker whisky, titled "The Man Who Walked Around The World." Carlyle was shown walking down a path and talking for six minutes in a single long take. The ad took two days to film. The director, Jamie Rafn, afterwards referred to Carlyle as an "utter genius". He voices the character of Gabriel Belmont, and his counterpart, Dracula in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, as well as its sequels Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2.

Beginning in October 2011 Carlyle has portrayed Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) in the fantasy-drama television series Once Upon A Time. The character is a wizard, deal-maker, and master manipulator.

Acting style

Known for his commitment to authenticity in roles, Carlyle has often altered his lifestyle and physical appearance to gain a better understanding of a character—much akin to method acting. Before playing a homeless character in Antonia Bird's Safe, for example, he went to live in the Waterloo area of London where the film was set. For his role as a bus driver in Ken Loach's Carla's Song, he passed the test for a PSV licence (a licence to drive a bus with passengers) in a Glasgow Leyland Atlantean bus. Writing of Carlyle's performance in The Full Monty, Andrew Johnston stated: "Carlyle was brilliant as the savage psycho Begbie in Trainspotting; here, he proves he can be almost as good when kept on a short leash. We don't know much about Gaz, but he's the most interesting character in the movie, largely because of Carlyle's down-to-earth warmth."

Personal life

Carlyle is married to make-up artist Anastasia Shirley, with whom he has three children: Ava (born 2002), Harvey (born 2004), and Pearce Joseph (born 2006). The family lives in Glasgow. Carlyle is a patron of School For Life in Romania.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Silent Scream	Big Woodsy
	Riff-Raff	Steve
1993
	Being Human	Prehistoric Shaman
1994	Priest	Graham
	Marooned	Peter
1995	Go Now	Nick Cameron	Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor
1996	Trainspotting	Francis "Franco" Begbie	Nominated - BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
	Carla's Song	George Lennox	Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actor of the Year
1997	The Full Monty	Gary "Gaz" Schofield	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actor of the Year Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
	Face	Ray	Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actor of the Year
1999	Plunkett & Macleane	Will Plunkett
	Ravenous	Col. Ives / F.W. Colqhoun
	The World Is Not Enough	Renard
	Angela's Ashes	Malachy McCourt	Nominated - Empire Award for Best British Actor Nominated - IFTA Award for Best Actor
2000	The Beach	Daffy
	There's Only One Jimmy Grimble	Eric Wirral
2001	To End All Wars	Major Ian Campbell
	The 51st State	Felix DeSouza
2002	Once Upon a Time in the Midlands	Jimmy
	Black and White	David O'Sullivan
2004	Dead Fish	Danny Devine
2005	The Mighty Celt	O
	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School	Frank Keane
	Human Trafficking	Sergei Karpovich
2006	Eragon	Durza
2007	28 Weeks Later	Don Harris
	Flood	Robert Morrison
2008	Stone of Destiny	John MacCormick
	Summer	Shaun	Nominated - BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor
	I Know You Know	Charlie
2009	The Tournament	Joseph Macavoy
	The Unloved	Father
2012	California Solo	Lachlan MacAldonich
2015	The Legend of Barney Thomson	Barney Thomson	Director Nominated-BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor Nominated-BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Director
2017	Trainspotting 2	Francis "Franco" Begbie	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Taggart	Gordon Inglis	1 episode
1991	The Bill	Tom Ward
1993	Screenplay (episode "Safe")	Nosty
1994	99-1	Detective Constable Trevor Prescott
	Cracker	Albie Kinsella	3 episodes BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor - TV
1995-1998	Hamish Macbeth	Hamish Macbeth	20 episodes RTS Television Award for Best Actor - Male Nominated - BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor - TV Nominated - BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor
1998	Looking After Jo Jo	John Joe "Jo Jo" McCann	Nominated - BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor
2003	Hitler: The Rise of Evil	Adolf Hitler	Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
2004	Gunpowder, Treason & Plot	King James I
2005	Human Trafficking	Sergei Karpovich	Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie
	Class of '76	DI Tom Monroe
2006	Born Equal	Robert
2008	The Last Enemy	David Russell	5 episodes
	24: Redemption	Carl Benton
2009	The Unloved	Father	Scottish BAFTA for Best TV Actor
	The Man Who Walked Around the World	Himself	Advert for Johnnie Walker
	Zig Zag Love	Jacko	TV Film
2009-2011	Stargate Universe	Dr. Nicholas Rush	40 episodes Gemini Award Winner for Continuing Leading Dramatic Role 2010
2011-present	Once Upon a Time	Rumplestiltskin/ Mr. Gold	111 episodes in five seasons

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Eragon	Shade Durza	Voice only
2010	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow	Gabriel Belmont	Voice only
2013	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate	Gabriel Belmont/Dracula	Voice only
2014	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2	Gabriel Belmont/Dracula/Inner Dracula	Voice only

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
2002	Oasis	"Little By Little"

Audio books

Year	Title	Role
2008	The Cutting Room	Narrator

[ Source: Wikipedia ]