Brendan Gleeson

He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Harry Potter films, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy, Gangs of New York, 28 Days Later, Braveheart, and The General.

His most recent role is as Ken in the movie In Bruges, starring alongside Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes.

Gleeson started acting at the age of 34. He first came to prominence in Ireland for his role as Michael Collins in The Treaty a television film broadcast on RTة One, and for which he won a Jacob's Award in 1992.

Gleeson has subsequently acted in more than 30 films including Braveheart, I Went Down, Michael Collins, Gangs of New York, Cold Mountain, 28 Days Later, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, Artificial Intelligence: AI and The Village.

He won critical acclaim for his performance as Irish gangster Martin Cahill in John Boorman's 1998 film The General.

Gleeson frequently appears in the role of mentor or authority figure; he played Hogwarts professor Mad-Eye Moody in the fourth and fifth Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Roger Ebert described him as having a "noble shambles of a face and the heft of a boxer gone to seed" in praising his performance in In Bruges.

He starred in the short film Six-Shooter in 2006, which won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.