Early life

Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Brought up as a Catholic in North Belfast, he was one of five children and the only son of his doctor father and schoolteacher mother, Moya. His mother was also an amateur actress. He was an Irish dancer in his youth and was educated at Holy Family Primary School and St. Malachy's College. After leaving St. Malachy's, he enrolled as a law student at Queen's University, Belfast (QUB), but was soon persuaded to pursue acting and abandoned his studies at Queen's to enroll at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Career

Hinds began his professional acting career at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in a 1976 production of Cinderella. He remained a frequent performer at the Citizens' Theatre during the late 1970s and through the mid-1980s. During this same period, Hinds also performed on stage in Ireland with the Abbey Theatre, the Field Day Theatre Company, the Druid Theatre, the Lyric Players' Theatre and at the Project Arts Centre. In 1987, he was cast by Peter Brook in The Mahabharata, a six-hour theatre piece that toured the world, and he also featured in its 1989 film version. Hinds almost missed the casting call in Paris due to difficulties renewing his Irish passport. In the early 1990s, he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He appeared in the title role of the RSC's 1993 production of Richard III, directed by Sam Mendes; Mendes turned to Hinds as a last minute replacement for an injured Simon Russell Beale. Hinds gained his most popular recognition as a stage actor for his performance as Larry in the London and Broadway productions of Patrick Marber's Tony Award-nominated play Closer. In 1999, Hinds was awarded both the Theatre World Award for Best Debut in New York and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Special Achievement (Best Ensemble Cast Performance) for his work in Closer. He was on stage in 2001 in The Yalta Game by Brian Friel at Dublin's Gate Theatre. He appeared on Broadway in The Seafarer by Conor McPherson, which ran at the Booth Theatre from December 2007 through March 2008. In February 2009 Hinds took the leading role of General Sergei Kotov in Burnt by the Sun by Peter Flannery at London's National Theatre. Hinds returned to the stage later in 2009 with a role in Conor McPherson's play The Birds, which opened at Dublin's Gate Theatre in September 2009.

Hinds made his feature film debut in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981). He played Captain Frederick Wentworth in Jane Austen's Persuasion (1995), Jonathan Reiss in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003), John Traynor in Veronica Guerin (2003), and Firmin in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004). Hinds also played Carl, a cover-up professional assisting a group of assassins, in Steven Spielberg's political thriller, Munich (2005). In 2006, he appeared in Michael Mann's film adaptation of the 80's television show, Miami Vice, and as Herod the Great in The Nativity Story. In the 2006 film Amazing Grace, Hinds portrayed Sir Banastre Tarleton, one of the chief opponents of abolition of the slave trade in Parliament. He starred in Margot at the Wedding, alongside Nicole Kidman, Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh, in a drama-comedy about family secrets and relationships. He also appeared in There Will Be Blood (2007), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

On television, Hinds portrayed Gaius Julius Caesar in the first season of BBC/HBO's series, Rome (2006). He has also been featured in a number of made-for-television films, including the role of Michael Henchard in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (2004), for which he received the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series. Additional television performances include Edward Parker-Jones in the crime drama series Prime Suspect 3 (1993), Abel Mason in Dame Catherine Cookson's The Man Who Cried (1993), Jim Browner in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episode The Cardboard Box (1994), Fyodor Glazunov in the science fiction miniseries Cold Lazarus (1996), Edward Rochester in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1997), the Knight Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1997) and a portrayal of the French existentialist Albert Camus in Broken Morning (2003).

Hinds was featured in two notable television docudramas: Granada Television's 1990 docudrama Who Bombed Birmingham? in which Hinds portrayed Richard McIlkenny, a Belfastman falsely imprisoned for an IRA bombing; and HBO's 1993 docudrama Hostages, where he portrayed Irish writer and former hostage Brian Keenan. Hinds starred opposite Kelly Reilly in Above Suspicion, a TV adaptation of Lynda La Plante's detective story, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in January 2009; he came back again as DCI Langton for Lynda La Plante's sequels The Red Dahlia in 2010, Deadly Intent in 2011 and Silent Scream in 2012. Hinds has performed in audiobook and radio productions as well. He performed as Valmont in the BBC Radio production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Hinds also narrated the Penguin Audiobook Ivanhoe. He also performed in Antony and Cleopatra and The Winter's Tale as part of The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare, an audio production of Shakespeare's plays which won the 2004 Audie Award for Best Audio Drama. He read the short story "A Painful Case" for the Caedmon audio version of James Joyce's Dubliners.

Hinds played the role of Albus Dumbledore's brother Aberforth (replacing Jim McManus, who played the role in a cameo in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, the final film in the Harry Potter series. Also in 2011, he appeared as David Peretz in the 1997 sections of The Debt alongside Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson. Hinds played Roy Bland in the 2011 adaptation of the John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

In September 2011, Hinds returned to the Abbey Theatre Dublin, to star as Captain Jack Boyle in an acclaimed revival of Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, alongside Sinéad Cusack as Juno. The production transferred to the National Theatre of Great Britain in November 2011 for a three-month run. He played "Joe" in the film The Shore (2011), written and directed by Terry George. The Shore won the Best Short Film, Live Action category at the 84th Annual Academy Awards (The Oscars) in 2012.

In 2013 he was cast as the wildling leader Mance Rayder in Season 3 of the HBO television show Game of Thrones. He reprised this role in Season 4, and reprised it once more in Season 5. On Broadway at The Richard Rodgers Theater in New York, he was Big Daddy to Scarlett Johansson in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opened 17 January 2013, previews from 18 December 2012.

In the summer of 2013, he performed at the Donmar Warehouse in London in the premiere production of The Night Alive, a play by Conor McPherson, which transferred in November 2013, with Hinds in the lead role, to the Atlantic Theater Company in New York.

In 2015 he was in the Shakespearean play Hamlet alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. He played Hamlet's uncle, King Claudius. The play was held at the London Barbican.

In 2016 he appeared as Deputy Governor Danforth in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible alongside Saoirse Ronan and Ben Whishaw.

Personal life

Hinds lives in Paris with Hélène Patarot. They met in 1987 while in the cast of Peter Brook's production of The Mahabharata and have a daughter, Aoife, born in 1991.

Hinds is a friend of Liam Neeson and served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Neeson's wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in upstate New York in 2009.

Other

Hinds is a Patron of the charity YouthAction Northern Ireland. YouthAction's Rainbow Factory School of Performing Arts is a youth arts project with a range of workshops and classes.

Filmography

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Excalibur	King Lot	Credited as Ciaran Hinds
1989	Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, TheThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover	Cory
1991	December Bride	Frank Echlin
1993	The Man Who Cried	Abel Mason
1995	Persuasion	Captain Frederick Wentworth
1995	Circle of Friends	Professor Flynn
1996	Mary Reilly	Sir Danvers Carew	Credited as Ciaran Hinds
1996	Some Mother's Son	Danny Boyle
1997	Life of Stuff, TheThe Life of Stuff	David Arbogast
1997	Jane Eyre	Edward Fairfax Rochester
1997	Oscar and Lucinda	Rev. Dennis Hasset	Credited as Ciaran Hinds
1998	Titanic Town	Aidan McPhelimy
1999	Lost Son, TheThe Lost Son	Carlos
1999	The Lost Lover	Adam
2000	Jason and the Argonauts	King Aeson
2000	Weight of Water, TheThe Weight of Water	Louis Wagner
2002	Sum of All Fears, TheThe Sum of All Fears	President Alexander Nemerov
2002	Road to Perdition	Finn McGovern
2003	Veronica Guerin	John Traynor
2003	Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life	Jonathan Reiss
2003	Calendar Girls	Rod
2003	Statement, TheThe Statement	Pochon
2004	Mickybo & Me	Jonjo's Da
2004	Phantom of the Opera, TheThe Phantom of the Opera	Richard Firmin
2005	Munich	Carl
2006	Miami Vice	FBI Agent John Fujima
2006	Amazing Grace	Lord Tarleton
2006	Tiger's Tail, TheThe Tiger's Tail	Father Andy
2006	Nativity Story, TheThe Nativity Story	King Herod
2007	Hallam Foe	Julius Foe
2007	Margot at the Wedding	Dick Koosman
2007	There Will Be Blood	Fletcher
2008	In Bruges	The Priest	Uncredited
2008	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day	Joe Blomfield
2008	Stop-Loss	Roy King
2008	Cash	Barnes
2008	Tale of Despereaux, TheThe Tale of Despereaux	Botticelli	Voice role
2009	Race to Witch Mountain	Henry Burke
2009	Eclipse, TheThe Eclipse	Michael Farr	Best Actor Award 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
2009	Life During Wartime	Bill Maplewood
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2	Aberforth Dumbledore	replaced Jim McManus, who portrayed the role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2011	Debt, TheThe Debt	David Peretz
2011	Rite, TheThe Rite	Father Xavier
2011	Salvation Boulevard	Jim Hunt
2011	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Roy Bland
2011	Shore, TheThe Shore	Joe
2012	Woman in Black, TheThe Woman in Black	Sam Daily
2012	Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance	Roarke/Mephistopheles (a guise of The Devil)	Took over the role from Peter Fonda
2012	John Carter	Tardos Mors
2013	Closed Circuit	Devlin
2013	The Sea	Max Morden
2013	The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby	Spencer Ludlow
2013	Frozen	Troll King	Voice role
2013	McCanick	Quinn
2014	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	Waitler	Voice role
2015	Last Days in the Desert	Father
2015	Hitman: Agent 47	Dr. Litvenko
2015	The Driftless Area	Ned
2015	Bleed for This	Angelo Pazienza	Post-production
2016	Silence	Father Valignano	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Our Boys	Brother
1989	The Mahabharata	Ashwattaman
1990	Who Bombed Birmingham?	Richard McIlkenny
1990	The Play on One	Martin Pitt	Episode 16, Yellowbacks
1992	Perfect Scoundrels	Jack Vosper	Season 3, episode 6, The Good-Bye Look
1992	Between the Lines	Det. Insp. Micky Flynn	Season 1, episode 1, Private Enterprise
1993	Hostages	Brian Keenan
1993	The Man Who Cried	Abel Mason
1993	Prime Suspect 3	Edward Parker-Jones
1993	Soldier, Soldier	Clive Hickey	Season 3, episode 7, Trouble and Strife
1994	The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Jim Browner	Season 1, episode 6, The Cardboard Box
1994	A Dark-Adapted Eye	Paolo
1994	Seaforth	John Stacey	TV series
1995	Rules of Engagement	Cambell Ferguson
1995	The Affair	Edward Leyland
1995	Persuasion	Captain Frederick Wentworth
1996	Testament: The Bible in Animation	Lucifer / Satan	Episode: Creation and the Flood Voice only
1996	Tales From The Crypt	Jack Lynch	Season 7, episode 11, Confession
1996	Cold Lazarus	Fyodor
1997	Jane Eyre	Edward Rochester
1997	Ivanhoe	Brian de Bois-Guilbert
1998	Getting Hurt	Charlie Cross
2000	Jason and the Argonauts	King Aeson
2000	The Sleeper	Fergus Moon
2000	Thursday the 12th	Marius Bannister
2003	Broken Morning	Albert Camus
2004	The Mayor of Casterbridge	Michael Henchard	Credited as Ciaran Hinds
2005	Rome	Gaius Julius Caesar
2009	Above Suspicion	DCI James Langton
2010	Above Suspicion: The Red Dahlia	DCI James Langton
2011	Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent	DCS James Langton
2011	The Shore	Jim Mahon
2012	Above Suspicion: Silent Scream	DCS James Langton
2012	Political Animals	Bud Hammond
2013-2015	Game of Thrones	Mance Rayder	5 episodes
2016	Shetland	Michael Maguire	Series 3 (6 episodes)

Theatre

Glasgow Citizens Theatre Company

1976-77

• Sid Colin/David Wood Cinderella Giles Havergal Albert the Horse, Courtier
• William Wycherley The Country Wife Philip Prowse Mrs. Dainty Fidget
• Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest Giles Havergal Lane
• William Shakespeare Macbeth Giles Havergal Malcolm/Third murderer
• Robert David MacDonald Chinchilla Philip Prowse Tancredi
• Pierre de Beaumarchais Figaro Robert David MacDonald An policeman/a lawyer

1977-78

• Noël Coward Semi-Monde Philip Prowse Freddy Palmer
• Honoré de Balzac Vautrin Robert David MacDonald Joseph
• Joe Orton Loot Giles Havergal McLeavy
• Myles Rudge Mother Goose Giles Havergal Villager
• Robert David McDonald/James Hadley Chase No Orchids for Miss Blandish Robert David MacDonald Johnny Frisk
• John Ford/John Webster Painter's Palace of Pleasure Philip Prowse Giovanni

1978-79

• Bertold Brecht/Kurt Weill The Threepenny Opera Philip Prowse J. J. Peachum
• Anton Chekhov The Seagull Philip Prowse Dr Dorn
• Miles Rudge Dick Whittington Giles Havergal The Emperor of Morocco
• Carlo Goldoni Country Life Robert David MacDonald Guglielmo

1980-81

• Carlo Goldoni The Battlefield Robert David MacDonald Faustino
• Bertold Brecht The Caucasian Chalk Circle Giles Havergal Shauva, the policeman/Prince Georgi
• Robert David MacDonald Don Juan Philip Prowse Father Juan
• Shawn Lawton Desperado Corner Di Trevis Frank
• Vernon Sylvaine Madame Louise Giles Havergal Bishop of Porchester

1982-83

• Philip Massinger The Roman Actor Philip Prowse Paris
• Sean O'Casey Red Roses for Me Giles Havergal Brennan O' the Moor
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Torquato Tasso Robert David MacDonald Antonio Montecatino
• Bertold Brecht The Mother Giles Havergal Savely
• Carlo Goldoni The Impresario from Smyrna Robert David MacDonald Maccario
• William Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice Philip Prowse Antonio
• George Bernard Shaw Arms and the Man Giles Havergal Nicola, man-servant
• Noël Coward Sirocco Philip Prowse Tonio
• Robert David MacDonald Webster Philip Prowse Webster

1983 (autumn)

• Karl Kraus The Last Days of Mankind Robert David McDonald A Man of Government
• Hugo von Hofmannsthal Rosenkavalier Philip Prowse Valzacchi
• Sean O'Casey Juno and the Paycock Giles Havergal Captain Jack Boyle
• Thomas Southerne Oroonoko Philip Prowse Lieutenant Governor

1985

• Friedrich von Schiller Mary Stuart Philip Prowse Paulet
• Noël Coward Blithe Spirit Giles Havergal Charles Condomine
• Sean O'Casey The Plough and the Stars Giles Havergal Jack Clitheroe
• Joseph Kesselring Arsenic and Old Lace Giles Havergal "Uncle" Teddy
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Faust MacDonald Minister of State

1986

• Rolf Hochhuth The Representative Robert David MacDonald Pope Pius XII
• Alfred de Musset Hidden Fires Robert David MacDonald Clavaroche

1988

• Henrik Ibsen The Lady from the Sea Tom Cairns The Stranger
• William Shakespeare Richard III Jon Pope Richard III

Other theatre

Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts

1975

• Anton Chekhov The Seagull Peter Watson Konstantin (Kostya)
• Anonymous Arden of Faversham Geoff Bullen Black Will
• John Wilson Hamp Euan Smith Prosecutive Officer
• Caryl Churchill Objections to Sex and Violence Arrogant pseudo-intellectual

1976

• John Barton When Thou Art King unknown
• Tennessee Williams The Night of the Iguana Nonno

Lyric Theatre, Belfast

1977-78

• Peter Shaffer Equus

1978-79

• Brian Clark Whose Life is it Anyway? Tony Dinner Philip Hill (the solicitor)
• Mary O'Malley Once a Catholic Michael Poynor Derek (a Teddy Boy)

1983

• Jennifer Johnston Indian Summer Robert Cooper Cathal Dillon

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

1979-80

• Jim Sheridan The Ha'penny Place Peter Sheridan Hare Krishna/Yehudi
• Peter Sheridan The Liberty Suit Jim Sheridan

1981

• Martin Sherman Bent Michael Scott Greta/George
• Liam Lynch Krieg Patrick Mason Jet

1982

• Sam Shepard Curse of the Starving Class

Greenwich Theatre, London

1984

• John Webster The White Devil Philip Prowse Lodovico
• William Congreve Way of the World Giles Havergal Fainall
• Anton Chekhov The Seagull Philip Prowse Trigorin

1986

• Thomas Otway The Orphan Philip Prowse Castalio

Royal Shakespeare Company

1990-91

• Tirso de Molina/Nick Dear The Last Days of Don Juan Danny Boyle Don Pedro Tenorio
• Christopher Marlowe Edward II Gerard Murphy Roger Mortimer
• Richard Nelson Two Shakespearean Actors Roger Michell Dion Boucicault
• William Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida Sam Mendes Achilles

1993

• William Shakespeare Richard III Sam Mendes Richard III

Abbey/Peacock Theatres, Dublin

1979

• J. Graham Reid The Death of Humpty Dumpty Patrick Mason Doctor

1987

• Peter Sheridan Dialann Ocrais/Diary of a Hunger Strike Peter Sheridan O'Connor

1989

• William Butler Yeats Cuchulain Cycle James W. Flannery Cuchulain

2011

• Sean O'Casey Juno and the Paycock Howard Davis Captain Jack Boyle

Royal National Theatre, London

1993

• Sophie Treadwell Machinal Stephen Daldry The Young Man

1997

• Patrick Marber Closer (London production) Patrick Marber Larry

2009

• Peter Flannery Burnt by the Sun Howard Davies Serguei Petrovitch Kotov

2011

• Sean O'Casey Juno and the Paycock Howard Davis Captain Jack Boyle

Others

1981

• Anton Chekhov/Thomas Kilroy The Seagull Patrick Mason Konstantin Grand Opera House, Belfast

1982

• James Ellis/W.B. Yeats On Baile's Strand Christopher Fitz-Simon Cuchulain Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick
• Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot Ben Barnes Estragon Belltable Arts Centre
• Liz Lochhead Blood and Ice Kenny Ireland Byron/the Monster Traverse Theatre Company, Edinburgh

1984

• Tom Paulin The Riot Act (Antigone) Stephen Rea Chorus Leader Field Day Touring Company, Derry
• Derek Mahon High Time (School for Husbands) Wolk and Long High Tech Field Day Touring Company

1985

• John Ford Tis Pity She's a Whore Garry Hynes Giovanni Druid Theatre Company, Galway
• Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest Garry Hynes John Worthing Druid Theatre Company

1986

• Shane Connaughton I Do Like To Be Jeff Teare David The Irish Company
• Frank McGuinness Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme Michael Attenborough George Anderson Hampstead Theatre, London

1987

• Adapted by Jean-Claude Carrière Mahabharata Peter Brook Ashwattaman/Nakula World Tour

1992

• Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman Assassins Sam Mendes Samuel Byck Donmar Warehouse, London

1995

• Sam Sheppard Simpatico James MacDonald Vinnie Royal Court Theatre, London

1999

• Patrick Marber Closer (Broadway production) Patrick Marber Larry Music Box Theatre, New York

2001

• Chekhov/Brian Friel The Yalta Game Karel Reisz Gurov Gate Theatre, Dublin

2007

• Conor McPherson The Seafarer Conor McPherson Mr Lockhart Booth Theatre, New York

2009

• Conor McPherson The Birds Conor McPherson Nat Gate Theatre, Dublin

2015

• William Shakespeare Hamlet William Shakespeare Claudius Barbican Centre, London

2016

• Arthur Miller The Crucible Deputy Governor Danforth Walter Kerr Theatre, New York

[ Source: Wikipedia ]