The youngest of six children in a Drumcondra family, Aidan Gillen was born in 1968 as Aidan Murphy. He began acting in his native Dublin.
 When he was 18, he got a bit part, credited as "youth at liquor store", in Jack Clayton's film of the Brian Moore novel "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne", which featured Maggie Smith. Another small film role followed in "The Courier" before Gillen got his breakthrough role in Robin Lefevre's production of "A Handful of Stars", one of the plays in Billy Roche's Wexford trilogy. Other early stage work included two Druid productions directed by Garry Hynes - the Irish tour of Lover's Meeting by Louis D'Alton and Lennox Robinson's Drama at Inish at the Abbey (but he has not been on an Irish stage since 1993, when he was in "Belfry", another play in Billy Roche's trilogy, at the Peacock).  A move to London translated into the actor's racking up significant theatrical credits, counting among them turns in: "The Playboy of the Western World" at the adventurous Almeida theatre in Islington; "The Water Engine" by David Mamet and "Marvin's Room" by Scott McPherson, both at the Hampstead Theatre (later transferred to the West End). Two years later, Aidan played the motormouth urchin Skinny, in Jez Butterworth's "Mojo," at the Royal Court.  Gillen's first major screen role came in Antonia Bird's gritty 1993 urban drama, "Safe", screened at film festivals worldwide, produced by and aired on the BBC ["Safe" won British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for 'Best Single Drama' and 'Best First Feature' at the Edinburgh International Film Festival]. He worked steadily through the 1990s, impressing as star of the fact-based "Some Mother's Son", playing a fictional member of the group of jailed Irish Republican Army members who go on a legendary and tragic hunger strike to demand political prisoner status. In 1997 he gave a strong performance in the feature "Mojo" as Baby, the obnoxious and unbalanced son of the central sleazy rock star manager in Butterworth's screen adaptation of the hit London stage production. Aidan's major breakthrough role was inarguably the sexually prolific Stuart Alan Jones in the 1999 British TV series "Queer As Folk". Bringing wry humor and ruthless charisma to a potentially over-the-top role, Gillen earned a reputation as one of Ireland and the U.K.'s most compulsively watchable new performers.  In 2000, Aidan reprised his role as Stuart in "Queer as Folk 2", a two-episode finale to the popular series and was nominated for the BAFTA Best Actor Award. Next were starring roles in the edgy independent pictures "Buddy Boy," and Jamie Thraves' acclaimed directorial debut, "The Low Down," for which he earned the Best Newcomer Award at the 2000 Edinburgh Film Festival. Aidan then returned to the London stage with a fearless portrayal of Ariel in the Almeida Theatre production of "The Tempest" and the title role in David Hare's adaptation of Chekov's "Platonov." In between these theatre productions, Aidan filmed the 6-part series "Dice" in Montreal, and shortly thereafter got to work with two of the great Irish actors - Peter O'Toole in "The Final Curtain," and Richard Harris in "My Kingdom". In 2003, he starred alongside actress Gina McKee in "Burning the Bed," Denis McArdle's short atmospheric drama about a couple separating. ["Burning the Bed" supported the film "Factotum" (based on the Bukowski novel and starring Matt Dillon) on some London screens]. Another theatre appearance followed with a role in "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me," at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London, just this past summer.  In the past two years, Gillen has been making his mark in the US. He was cast with Patrick Stewart and Kyle MacLachlan in the Broadway production of Pinter's "The Caretaker", which earned him a 2004 Tony Award Nomination. Stateside acclaim for his talent has also come for his latest role in the Peabody Award-winning HBO drama series THE WIRE. On the show, which focuses on crime and corruption in Baltimore, Gillen plays city council member, Tommy Carcetti. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly called the show "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV," and New York Newsday declared it "the greatest dramatic series ever produced for television." The show has been renewed for a 13-episode fourth season which will feature, among other things, Tommy's run for mayor.  |