Michael McElhatton Biography

Michael McElhatton (born 12 September 1963) is an Irish actor and writer best known for playing the role of Roose Bolton in the HBO series Game of Thrones. He joined the series as a guest star in the second season, and continued to play this role until Season 6, promoted to a regular cast member.

Career

McElhatton was born in 1963 in Terenure, a suburb on the outskirts of Dublin, from a modest family. He began studying acting at Terenure College, a school known for its drama tradition, and afterward spent eight years in London where he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1987. McElhatton returned to Ireland in the early nineties, where he began his acting career mainly in theatre and television. He appeared in a short film titled The Loser in 1990. In 1996 he was directed by John Carney in the film November Afternoon, in which he plays the main character. In the late nineties and early 2000s, McElhatton appeared in numerous series and TV movies in Ireland, working with various film directors, including Paddy Breathnach and Conor McPherson for roles in I Went Down (1997), Saltwater (2000), Blow Dry (2001), and The Actors (2003). Between 2000 and 2002, McElhatton gained fame from appearing in the situation comedies Paths to Freedom and Fergus's Wedding. In addition to acting, he also took on the role of screenwriter, writing the screenplay for all of the episodes. The character of Rats in Paths to Freedom, which he wrote and starred in, became popular with the public and allowed it to be adapted into an entire feature film in 2003 (Spin the Bottle). As his career went on, McElhatton continued playing minor characters in films by directors such as Lenny Abrahamson, John Boorman and Kari Skogland. McElhatton also appeared in Perrier's Bounty (2009) and Death of a Superhero (2011).

He returned to his role as writer in 2010 writing six episodes of the sitcom Your Bad Self . Over the next decade McElhatton began appearing in much larger roles. In 2011 he had a role in the film Albert Nobbs directed by Rodrigo Garca, and the following year the short Pentecost , which received a nomination for Best Short Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. That same year he took part in the film Shadow Dancer directed by James Marsh, while also on television in the cast of the miniseries Titanic: Blood and Steel.

In 2012, McElhatton joined the cast of the popular television series HBO Game of Thrones, beginning in the second season, playing the character of Roose Bolton. From the fifth season on he was promoted to main cast member. In 2015 he played one of the protagonists in the horror film The Hallow, which was presented at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1990	The Loser	Eddie	Keith Boak	Short film
1996	November Afternoon	John	John Carney, Tom Hall
1997	I Went Down	Johnner Doyle	Paddy Breathnach
1997	Ballyseedy	Comdt. Ed. Breslin	Frank Hand	TV film
1997	All Souls' Day		Alan Gilsenan
1998	To the Mountain		Jean Pasley	Short film
1998	Crush Proof	Detective Sergeant Hogan	Paul Tickell
1999	Between Dreams	Mr. Fitzsimons	Ian Fitzgibbon	Short film
1999	Underworld	Jimmy	Ronan Gallagher	Short film
1999	Vicious Circle	Garrett	David Blair	TV film
2000	Saltwater	John Traynor	Conor McPherson
2001	Blow Dry	Robert	Paddy Breathnach
2001	Zulu 9	Garda Dispatcher	Alan Gilsenan	Short film
2002	Ape	Dandy Dance	Rory Bresnihan	Short film, voice only
2003	The Actors	Jock	Conor McPherson
2003	Intermission	Sam	John Crowley
2003	Spin the Bottle	Rats	Ian Fitzgibbon
2004	Waterloo Dentures	Captain	Rachael Moriarty, Peter Murphy	Short film
2004	Mickybo and Me	Mechanic	Terry Loane
2004	Adam & Paul	Martin	Lenny Abrahamson	Voice only
2004	God's Early Work	God	Rory Bresnihan	Short film, voice only
2005	George		Rory Bresnihan, John Butler	Short film
2005	English		Rory Bresnihan	Short film
2006	The Tiger's Tail	Dr. Alex Loden	John Boorman
2007	The Martyr's Crown	Officer	Rory Bresnihan	Short film
2007	My Boy Jack	Leo Amery MP	Brian Kirk	TV film
2008	Spacemen Three	Dr. Yuri Semyonov	Hugh O'Conor	Short film
2008	Fifty Dead Men Walking	Robbie	Kari Skogland
2008	The Man Inside	Locksmith	Rory Bresnihan	Short film
2009	Perrier's Bounty	Ivan	Ian Fitzgibbon
2009	Happy Ever Afters	Detective Norman Ginty	Stephen Burke
2010	Parked	Frank	Darragh Byrne
2010	The Santa Incident	Ross	Yelena Lanskaya	TV film
2011	Pentecost	Pat Lynch	Peter McDonald	Short film
2011	Albert Nobbs	Mr. Moore	Rodrigo Garca
2011	Death of a Superhero	James Clarke	Ian Fitzgibbon
2012	Shadow Dancer	Liam Hughes	James Marsh
2013	The Food Guide to Love	Famine narrator	Dominic Harari, Teresa Pelegri	Voice only
2014	The Legend of Longwood	The Black Knight	Lisa Mulcahy	Voice only
2015	The Hallow	Colm Donnelly	Corin Hardy
2016	Norm of the North	Laurence	Trevor Wall	Voice only
2016	Mammal	Matt	Rebecca Daly
2016	The Zookeeper's Wife	Jerzyk	Niki Caro	Post-production
2016	The Autopsy of Jane Doe	Sheriff Sheldon	Andr vredal	Post-production
2016	Handsome Devil	Walter Curly	John Butler	Post-production
2016	Jadotville	McEntee	Richie Smyth	Post-production
2017	King Arthur: Legend of the Sword	Jack's Eye	Guy Ritchie	Post-production ?|-

TV series

• Hide & Seek
• Vicious Circle
• Rebel Heart
• The Ambassador
• Helena
• Fergus's Wedding
• Paths to Freedom
• Your Bad Self
• Zen
• Game of Thrones (2012 - 2016)
• The Fall
• Ripper Street
• The Ice Cream Girls
• Strike Back: Legacy

Writing credits

• Paths to Freedom
• Fergus's Wedding
• Spin the Bottle
• Your Bad Self

Selected stage career

• The Seafarer, as Nicky Giblin National Theatre, London
• Shining City, Royal Court Theatre, London
• The Wexford Trilogy, Tricycle Theatre
• An Ideal Husband, Gate Theatre
• The White Devil, Project at The Mint
• Car Show, Corn Exchange
• Twenty Grand, Abbey Theatre
• Greatest Hits, Project Arts Centre
• The Way of the World, Project Arts Centre
• A Decision Pure and Simple, Riverside Studios
• An Enemy of the People, for Young Vic
• As You Like It, Rose Theatre
• Midnight Court, Project Theatre
• Wind in the Willows, Sheffield Crucible
• Little Malcom and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs, BAC
• Water Music, Cockpit Theatre

Awards and Nominations

• 2003 IFTA Award nomination, Best Actor-Film for "Spin the Bottle"
• 2003 IFTA Award nomination, Best Script for "Spin the Bottle" - Ian Fitzgibbon/Michael McElhatton/Grand Pictures
• 2007 IFTA Award nomination, Best Actor-Television for "Hide & Seek"
• 2013 IFTA Award nomination, Best Supporting Actor-Film for "Death of a Superhero"
• 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series