Brendan Gleeson
Acting • Born 1955-03-29
Biography
Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two BIFA's, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award, five times for a Golden Globe Award and once for an Academy Award. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson. He is best known for his performance as Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter films (2005–2010). He is also known for his supporting roles in films such as Braveheart (1995), Michael Collins (1996), 28 Days Later (2002), Gangs of New York (2002), Cold Mountain (2003), Troy (2004), Suffragette (2015), Paddington 2 (2017), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). He is also known for his leading roles in films such as The General (1998), In Bruges (2008), The Guard (2011), Calvary (2014), Frankie (2019), and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the lattermost film. He won an Primetime Emmy Award in 2009 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the television film Into the Storm. He also received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance as Donald Trump in the Showtime series The Comey Rule (2020). From 2017 to 2019 he starred in the crime series Mr. Mercedes. He received an Emmy Award nomination for Stephen Frears' Sundance TV series State of the Union (2022).
Filmography
116 credits
28 Days Later
Movie • 2002
Frank
Braveheart
Movie • 1995
Hamish Campbell
Mission: Impossible II
Movie • 2000
McCloy
Breakfast on Pluto
Movie • 2005
John Joe Kenny
Kingdom of Heaven
Movie • 2005
Reynald de Chatillon
Troy
Movie • 2004
Menelaos
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Movie • 2005
Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Movie • 2007
Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
Michael Collins
Movie • 1996
Liam Tobin
Cold Mountain
Movie • 2003
Stobrod Thewes
Beowulf
Movie • 2007
Wiglaf
Gangs of New York
Movie • 2002
Walter 'Monk' McGinn
The Tiger's Tail
Movie • 2006
Liam O'Leary
The Tailor of Panama
Movie • 2001
Mickie Abraxas
Dark Blue
Movie • 2002
Jack van Meter
On the Red Carpet Presents: The Banshees of Inisherin
Movie • 2023
Self
Green Zone
Movie • 2010
Martin Brown
The Village
Movie • 2004
August Nicholson
The Field
Movie • 1990
Quarryman
In Bruges
Movie • 2008
Ken
Harrison's Flowers
Movie • 2000
Marc Stevenson
Six Shooter
Movie • 2004
Donnelly
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Movie • 2010
Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody
The Secret of Kells
Movie • 2009
Abbot Cellach (voice)
I Went Down
Movie • 1997
Bunny Kelly
The Snapper
Movie • 1993
Lester
Lake Placid
Movie • 1999
Sheriff Hank Keough
Black Irish
Movie • 2007
Desmond McKay
Turbulence
Movie • 1997
Stubbs
Perrier's Bounty
Movie • 2009
Darren Perrier
Into the Storm
Movie • 2009
Winston Churchill
In My Country
Movie • 2004
De Jagar
The General
Movie • 1998
Martin Cahill
The Guard
Movie • 2011
Sergeant Gerry Boyle
The Raven
Movie • 2012
Colonel Hamilton
Angela Mooney Dies Again
Movie • 1997
Barney Mooney
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Movie • 2012
The Pirate with Gout (voice)
Albert Nobbs
Movie • 2011
Dr. Holloran
Safe House
Movie • 2012
David Barlow
The Cup
Movie • 2011
Dermot Weld
The Smurfs 2
Movie • 2013
Victor Doyle
The Company You Keep
Movie • 2012
Henry Osborne
Trojan Eddie
Movie • 1996
Ginger
Calvary
Movie • 2014
Father James Lavelle
In the Heart of the Sea
Movie • 2015
Old Thomas Nickerson
The Grand Seduction
Movie • 2014
Murray French
Noreen
Movie • 2010
Con Keogh
Lost Lives
Movie • 2019
Suffragette
Movie • 2015
Arthur Steed
Spaghetti Slow
Movie • 1996
Frank Ferguson
Trespass Against Us
Movie • 2016
Colby Culter
Song of the Sea
Movie • 2014
Conor / Mac Lir (voice)
Edge of Tomorrow
Movie • 2014
General Brigham
Stonehearst Asylum
Movie • 2014
The Alienist
Wild About Harry
Movie • 2000
Harry McKee
Joker: Folie à Deux
Movie • 2024
Jackie Sullivan
This Is My Father
Movie • 1999
Garda Jim
H Is for Hawk
Movie • 2025
Alisdair Macdonald
Alone in Berlin
Movie • 2016
Otto Quangel
Brendan Gleeson's Farewell to Hughes's
Movie • 2024
Self
Pursuit
Movie • 2015
Searbhán
Sexual Healing
Movie
Freddy Cousaert
A Further Gesture
Movie • 1997
Richard
Live by Night
Movie • 2016
Thomas Coughlin
Assassin's Creed
Movie • 2016
Joseph Lynch
Saltwater
Movie • 2000
Simple Simon
Sweety Barrett
Movie • 1999
Sweety Barrett
The Treaty
Movie • 1991
Michael Collins
Atlantic
Movie • 2016
Narrator
Paddington 2
Movie • 2017
Knuckles McGinty
Cáca Milis
Movie • 2001
Paul
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Movie • 2001
Lord Johnson-Johnson
Hampstead
Movie • 2017
Donald Horner
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
Movie • 2012
The Pirate With Gout
Love Lies Bleeding
Movie • 1993
Thomas Macken
Psychic
Movie • 2018
Jeremiah
Studs
Movie • 2006
Walter Keegan
My Life So Far
Movie • 1999
Jim Menzies
Captain Morten and the Spider Queen
Movie • 2018
Captain Vicks (voice)
Into the West
Movie • 1992
Inspector Bolger
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Movie • 2018
Irishman (segment "The Mortal Remains")
Frankie
Movie • 2019
Jimmy
Far and Away
Movie • 1992
Social Club Policeman
The Butcher Boy
Movie • 1998
Father Bubbles
Dear Sarah
Movie • 1990
Brendan Dowd
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Movie • 2021
Duncan
The Banshees of Inisherin
Movie • 2022
Colm Doherty
Deconstructing 'The Village'
Movie • 2005
Self
Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
Movie • 2021
Huntsman (voice)
The Path to Redemption
Movie • 2006
Self
The Dead Zoo
Movie • 2022
Narrator
The Honey Wars
Movie
(voice)
A Hero's Journey: The Making of Beowulf
Movie
Wiglaf
Before I Sleep
Movie • 1997
John Harte
Tales from the Poorhouse
Movie
Blood Runs Coal
Movie
Joseph Yablonski
The Burren: Heart of Stone
TV • 2021
Narrator
Frank of Ireland
TV • 2021
Liam
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self
The Late Late Show with James Corden
TV • 2015
Self - Guest
State of the Union
TV • 2019
Scott
Mr. Mercedes
TV • 2017
Detective Bill Hodges
Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks
TV • 2003
Ferny Toro (voice)
1916 Seachtar Dearmadta
TV • 2013
Glór
1916 Seachtar na Cásca
TV • 2010
Self - Narrator (voice)
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
The Irish Civil War
TV • 2022
Narrator
The Comey Rule
TV • 2020
Donald Trump
Spider-Noir
TV • 2026
Silvermane
The Good Daughter
TV
Rusty
Kerry: Tides of Time
TV • 2025
Narrator
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Joe Quimby Sr. (voice)
The Lifeboat
TV • 1994
Leslie Parry