Robert Sheehan

Robert Sheehan
Sheehan at the San Diego Comic Con, July 2013.
Born	Robert Michael Sheehan (1988-01-07) 7 January 1988 Portlaoise, Ireland
Other names	Robbie
Alma mater	Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2003–present

Robert Michael Sheehan; (Irish: Roibeárd Mícheál Ó Siodhacháin; born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in Misfits and Darren in Love/Hate, as well as the 2009 film Cherrybomb alongside Rupert Grint. He also co-starred in the film Killing Bono as Ivan McCormick. In late 2011 he starred in John Crowley's production of J. M. Synge's comic play The Playboy of the Western World at the Old Vic Theatre in London.

Sheehan has three IFTA nominations and one BAFTA nomination. He also shared a BAFTA award with the cast of Misfits.

In 2013 he portrayed Simon Lewis in the film adaption of The Mortal Instruments book City of Bones.^[1]

Early life

Sheehan was born in County Laois, Ireland, the son of Maria and Joe Sheehan, who was a garda.^[2][3] He was born Robert Michael Sheehan, and added Adam as his confirmation name, becoming known as Robert Michael Adam Sheehan. He is the youngest of three children. He played the banjo, the bodhrán, and the spoons at school, having joked that he was like "Footloose with spoons",^[4] and participated in Fleadh Cheoil while at school.^[4] He first became interested in acting in primary school, in St. Paul's in Portlaoise, when he played Oliver in "Oliver with a Twist". Robert first considered acting when his mother took him to an audition for Song for a Raggy Boy when he was fourteen. He was chosen for the film, which was shot for three months in West Cork. He stated that he still keeps in touch with some of the boys from the film, and described filming as an adventure. When he was sixteen, he played the crippled boy in Cripple of Innishmaan with Open Door productions, and said afterwards that there is nothing like good theatre.

He studied for a year at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology at the age of 17, but left his course of Film and TV studies after a year as he failed and did not return for the repeats, deciding that life behind the camera was not for him. He has been quoted as saying, "I'm not sure if I want to be an actor. I want to go to college but not to study acting. But I'd like to do it to see where it takes me, so I'll keep at it. I never really made any plans of any sort. As long as I can keep getting a few jobs, I will be grateful. It is great fun and wonderfully rewarding for a young fella. I will continue as long as I keep getting work."^[5]

He has said that his parents were "wonderfully supportive", and that his mother was "virtually his manager" in the early days of career, as well as his "chauffeur", driving him to and from auditions and film sets.^[5]

Career

Since then he has appeared in a number of feature films including A Dublin Story, Ghostwood, An Créatúr, Summer of the Flying Saucer and Season of the Witch. On television, he appeared in 15 episodes of Foreign Exchange (Magma Film/9 Network Australia) as Cormac MacNamara and in all 13 episodes of Young Blades (Insight/PAX TV) as Louis XIV of France. More recently, Robert has appeared in The Clinic (Parallel Films/RTÉ), Bel's Boys (ITV) and in Season 2 of The Tudors (Showtime/BBC). In March and April 2008, he appeared in the leading role of Addison Teller in the short-lived series Rock Rivals produced by Shed Productions for ITV. In July 2008, he appeared in the role of Liam in Bitter Sweet, a two-part RTÉ comedy drama directed by Declan Eames.^[6]

Sheehan at the BAFTA Television Awards, London, May 2012

In March 2009, he appeared in the role of BJ in the dark Channel 4 trilogy, Red Riding. The TV adaptation of David Peace's cult noir novels was set in Yorkshire during the 1970s and 1980s; he appeared in all three episodes alongside Sean Bean, David Morrissey, Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake and Paddy Considine. He starred as one of the lead characters in the UK drama film Cherrybomb (released in 2009), set in Belfast along with Rupert Grint. The film depicts the events of a weekend during which two best friends, Malachy (Grint) and Luke (Sheehan) go to extreme and dangerous lengths in the battle for a girl's affections. From 2009 to 2010, he starred as a young offender named Nathan Young in the first two series of the E4 drama Misfits which follows the tales of five young adults on community service for petty crimes who find that they have superpowers after a powerful lightning storm strikes them.^[7]

In 2010, he was nominated for an IFTA award in the Rising Star category.^[8] He was chosen to redo the voice of Ray in A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures, originally voiced by Anthony Anderson. In October 2010, he was offered the part of Darren, a member of gangland Dublin in the four-part drama Love/Hate on RTÉ One (Irish national television). Sheehan received a call from his agent, Rose Parkinson, who told him he'd been offered the part in a TV drama directed by David Caffrey. The Portlaoise actor said he would do it, and didn't care what it was about, delighted to be involved in a drama which is directed by David Caffrey, someone he greatly admired. He stated he was "chuffed he had heard of [him] and had seen [him] in the Red Riding Trilogy." Sheehan is set for the lead role in the British-Italian natural thriller film Bleak Sea.^[9]

Sheehan played Kay in the 2011 US fantasy thriller, Season of the Witch.^[10] In April 2011 it was announced that Robert Sheehan would not be returning to Misfits for season three.^[7] In May 2011 he was nominated for a BAFTA in the "Male Supporting Actor" category for his role in Misfits as Nathan Young.

In June 2011 it was announced Sheehan was to star in John Crowley's production of J. M. Synge's comic The Playboy of the Western World. The performance ran from 17 September to 26 November 2011 at the Old Vic Theatre. It also starred Ruth Negga and Niamh Cusack. In October 2011, Sheehan starred in Arjun Rose's Demons Never Die. Sheehan appeared in the second season of the BBC crime drama series Accused.^[11]

In 2011, he was involved in a trailer for Bleak Sea, a film trailer made specifically for a trailer competition, which is not set to be expanded into a feature-length film. Robert is expected to star in the film, but his involvement is not confirmed. He is rumoured to star in upcoming feature In Between The Waves, alongside Tom Felton, and is set to appear in Wayfaring Strangers, alongside Cillian Murphy. He also has a part in Romeo and Brittney, written and directed by comedian David Baddiel. The film is a comical parody of Romeo and Juliet. Sheehan is set to play Romeo, alongside Karen Gillan, and the film was completed in summer 2012.^[12] He played Simon Lewis in the film City of Bones which was released on 21 August 2013.^[13]

In January 2013, he was the leading actor of the Duologue's videoclip of their single "Push it". In 2013 he was honoured by University College Dublin's Literary and Historical society.^[14]

In September/October 2015 he played Richard Duke of Gloucester/Richard III in Trevor Nunn's revival at the Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames, of The Wars of the Roses, John Barton's adaption of Shakespeare's three parts of Henry VI and Richard III.

In October 2015, he received the Burke Medal for Contribution to Discourse Through The Arts from Trinity College Dublin's College Historical Society.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Sheehan at the Minghella Film Festival, March 2011

Television

Awards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Sheehan.

• Robert Sheehan at the Internet Movie Database
• Curriculum
• Interview with Robert Sheehan on the Irish Film and Television Network, 7 October 2010