Early life

Sean was born in Bethnal Green, London, but grew up in Lowestoft, Suffolk. Sean attended Denes High School, now the Ormiston Denes Academy in Lowestoft, Suffolk. At 23, he moved to London to train at the Drama Centre London from 1989 to 1992.

Career

Stage

Harris was a member of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, where he performed in stage productions such as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet directed by Giles Havergal and as Carino in Don Juan directed by Robert David MacDonald. He also appeared as Lysander in a production of A Midsummer's Night Dream, directed by Matthew Lloyd at the Haymarket Theatre (Leicester) and as Johnny in a Nottingham Playhouse production of Angels Rave On, directed by Jonathan Church.

Television

Harris' television credits include serial killer Ian Brady, on ITV1's television mini-series, See No Evil: The Moors Murders (2006), the 2007 television film Wedding Belles, Channel 4's drama series Cape Wrath (Meadowlands in the United States) as Gordon Ormond and the BBC series Ashes to Ashes as Arthur Layton.

In 2009, he played corrupt Detective Inspector Bob Craven in Channel 4's critically acclaimed Red Riding trilogy and as photographer Anton Blair in Dean Cavanagh's comedy series, Svengali.

In the BBC TV drama Five Daughters (2010), Harris portrayed Brian Tobin, co-founder of the drug treatment facility, The Iceni Project, based in Suffolk. In preparing to play Tobin, Harris followed the real Brian Tobin around during pre-production.

From 2011-2013, Harris appeared as the assassin Micheletto in The Borgias, a series created by Neil Jordan. In 2013, he starred as Stephen Morton in the Channel 4 drama Southcliffe, for which Harris would win a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Actor in 2014. He also played Joss Merlyn in the poorly received BBC adaptation of Jamaica Inn, which became a subject of controversy and made national news over its mumbling cast and other sound problems.

Film

His notable roles include that of Joy Division's lead singer Ian Curtis in Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film, 24 Hour Party People and as Steven in the film short, True Love (Once Removed), directed by Kevin Thomas. The film won Best Short Film at both the Palm Springs and Houston Film Festivals, was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand, London Raindance and Los Angeles Short Film festivals and also qualified for an Oscar nomination in 2004.

Harris also played Nick Sidney in the 2005 mockumentary, Brothers of the Head, directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe. In 2007, he appeared in his first feature film lead role as Eddie in Saxon, directed by Greg Loftin. In 2009, he played Stretch in Harry Brown, directed by Daniel Barber.

In 2010, Harris appeared in yet another film short, Native Son, written and directed by Scottish director Scott Graham. It premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2012, he played Fifield in the Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

In 2014, Harris played Mick Santino in Deliver Us From Evil (2014), directed by Scott Derrickson and based upon the 2001 novel "Beware the Night" by Ralph Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool. He was cast by Derrickson for the film, without an interview, based upon the director having seen the actor's performance in Harry Brown. That same year, he appeared as Gene Womack in Guy Myhill's The Goob. Myhill previously directed Harris in two film shorts, Two Halftimes to Hell (1997) and The Fabulous Bilsons (2001). Harris finishes the year with his performances as Captain Sandy Browning in the critically acclaimed '71, directed by Yann Demange, for which he earned a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and as Campbell in Serena (2014), directed by Susanne Bier.

In 2015, Harris appeared as Solomon Lane in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, directed by Christopher McQuarrie and as Macduff in Justin Kurzel's Macbeth. His next project, Trespass Against Us, is due for release in 2016.

Known as an intense actor of Stanislavski's system, Harris frequently remains unavailable for interviews while filming, preferring not to break with character. However, his "method" allows him to film with few takes.

Music Videos

Harris did a cameo appearance as a clown in a music video for the Norwich band the Black Sharks' debut album titled Lose Control, directed by Myhill (evidently filmed at the same time as The Fabulous Bilsons).

In 2007, he appeared in a video for Mark Ronson's "Stop Me".

In 2012, Harris appeared in London-based music group Barbarossa's video short, Battles, directed by Montserrat Lombard. Harris and Lombard have been working on the screen play for a film short, White as well as a script for a feature-length film, Imager. He will play the lead in the film short with Lombard directing once again.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Two Half-Times to Hell	Tom	Short film
1997	Wet Work	Sean	Short film
2001	The Discovery of Heaven	Bart Bork
2001	The Bilsons	Perry	Short film
2002	True Love (Once Removed)	Steven	Short film
2002	Tom & Thomas	Kevin
2002	24 Hour Party People	Ian Curtis
2002	Pay Day	Andy	Short film
2003	Nicotine Yellow	Diggie	Short film
2004	Trauma	Roland
2004	Creep	Craig, the "Creep"
2004	The Hare	Soldier	Short film
2005	Asylum	Nick
2005	Frozen	Hurricane Frank
2005	Brothers of the Head	Nick Sidney
2005	Isolation	Jamie
2007	Outlaw	Simon Hillier
2007	Saxon	Eddie
2009	Harry Brown	Stretch
2010	Native Son	John	Short film
2010	Brighton Rock	Hale
2011	A Lonely Place to Die	Mr Kidd
2012	Prometheus	Fifield
2014	Deliver Us from Evil	Santino
2014	'71	Captain Sandy Browning	Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
2014	Serena	Campbell
2015	The Goob	Gene Womack
2015	Paradise Lost?	Satan	Short film
2015	Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation	Solomon Lane
2015	Macbeth	Macduff	Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
2016	Trespass Against Us		Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Minder	Dean	TV series (1 episode: "Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley")
1994	The Bill	Matthew Grogan / Russell Hines / Stuart Kennedy	TV series (3 episodes)
1995	Signs and Wonders	Carl Maynard	TV film
1995	The Vet	Neil Fairbrother	TV series (1 episode: "Home Truths")
1996	A Mug's Game	Con	TV series
1998	Kavanagh QC	Mark Holmes	TV series (1 episode: "Care in the Community")
1999	Jesus	Thomas	TV film
1999	Hot House	Cheddar	TV film from a BBC series entitled "Acts of Passion"
2000	Casualty	Tim Vanner	TV series (1 episode: "Starting Over")
2001	The Hunt	Clem Mackie	TV film
2002	Judge John Deed	Gerry Hewitt	TV series (1 episode: "Political Expediency")
2003	The Vice	Miles Wilson	TV series (1 episode: "Control")
2003	Strange	Robin Thomas	TV series (1 episode: "Asmoth")
2006	See No Evil: The Moors Murders	Ian Brady	TV film
2007	Wedding Belles	Adrian Collins	TV film
2007	Ashes to Ashes	Arthur Layton	TV series (2 episodes)
2007	Meadowlands	Gordon Ormond	TV series (3 episodes)
2009	Red Riding Trilogy	Detective Superintendent Bob Craven	TV film
2009	Law & Order: UK	Roland Kirk	TV series (1 episode: "Community Service")
2009	Waking the Dead	Radovan Sredinic	TV series (2 episodes)
2010	Five Daughters	Brian Tobin	TV series (3 episodes)
2011-2013	The Borgias	Micheletto Corella	TV series
2013	Southcliffe	Stephen Morton	TV Miniseries (4 episodes) Winner - British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2014	Jamaica Inn	Joss Merlyn	TV Miniseries

Screen plays

Title	Notes
White	Short film co-written with Montserrat Lombard.
Imager	Feature co-written with Montserrat Lombard.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2014	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actor	Southcliffe	Won
2014	British Independent Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	'71	Nominated
2015	British Independent Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	Macbeth	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]