James Nesbitt

James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is a Northern Irish actor. Born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Nesbitt grew up in the nearby village of Broughshane, before moving to Coleraine, County Londonderry. He wanted to become a teacher, like his father, so began a degree in French at the University of Ulster. He dropped out after a year when he decided to become an actor, and transferred to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. After graduating in 1987, he spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical Up on the Roof (1987, 1989) to the political drama Paddywack (1994). He made his feature film debut playing talent agent Fintan O'Donnell in Hear My Song (1991).

Nesbitt got his breakthrough television role playing Adam Williams in the romantic comedy-drama Cold Feet (1998–2003), which won him a British Comedy Award, a Television and Radio Industries Club Award, and a National Television Award. His first significant film role came when he appeared as pig farmer "Pig" Finn in Waking Ned (1998). With the rest of the starring cast, Nesbitt was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. In Lucky Break (2001), he made his debut as a film lead playing prisoner Jimmy Hands. The next year, he played Ivan Cooper in the television film Bloody Sunday, about the 1972 shootings in Derry. A departure from his previous "cheeky chappie" roles, the film was a turning point in his career. He won a British Independent Film Award and was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

Nesbitt has also starred in Murphy's Law (2001–2007) as undercover detective Tommy Murphy—a role that was created for him by writer Colin Bateman. The role twice gained Nesbitt Best Actor nominations at the Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTA). In 2007, he starred in the dual role of Tom Jackman and Mr Hyde in Steven Moffat's Jekyll, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination in 2008. Nesbitt has since appeared in several more dramatic roles; he starred alongside Liam Neeson in Five Minutes of Heaven (2009), and was one of three lead actors in the television miniseries Occupation (2009) and The Deep (2010). He also starred in the movies Outcast (2010) and Emilio Estevez's The Way (2011), and has been cast in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (2012/13).

Nesbitt is married to former actress Sonia Forbes-Adam, with whom he has two daughters. He is a patron of numerous charities and in 2010 accepted the ceremonial position of Chancellor of the University of Ulster.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

7.4

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

7.3

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

7.6

Match Point

7.4

Top Gear

7.5

The Way

7.1

Coriolanus

5.8

Millions

6.4

Bloody Sunday

7.3

Waking Ned

7.0

The Missing

7.1

The Graham Norton Show

7.2

Stay Close

7.0

Five Minutes of Heaven

6.1

Jude

6.3

Stan Lee's Lucky Man

6.9

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

6.5

Cherrybomb

5.6

Welcome to Sarajevo

6.4

Missing You

6.0

Jekyll

7.6

Bloodlands

6.8

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

7.0

Lovejoy

7.3

Outcast

5.3

Matching Jack

6.2

Lucky Break

6.2

Cold Feet

7.8

Babylon

6.6

The Secret

6.5

Gold

6.3

Hear My Song

5.9

The Deep

5.9

The One Show

4.6

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

5.8

Suspect

6.1

The Jonathan Ross Show

4.9

Women Talking Dirty

5.0

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Trenches of Hell

5.4

Go Now

6.6

Wild About Harry

6.1

Murphy's Law

7.7

Soldier Soldier

6.4

GMTV

5.6

Resurrection Man

6.1

The Passion

5.2

Monroe

7.0

Occupation

7.8

Between the Lines

5.6

Soccer AM

6.0

Ballykissangel

6.9

Michael McIntyre's Big Show

7.4

The Heist Before Christmas

5.0

The Most Fertile Man in Ireland

5.7

Canterbury Tales

6.9

This Is the Sea

5.7

Common As Muck

7.5

Wall of Silence

8.0

Chris Moyles' Quiz Night

5.3

Playing the Field

5.2

Blessed

5.8

Quite Ugly One Morning

5.0

Midnight Man

5.2

Alex Higgins: The People's Champion

7.7

Soccer Aid

5.2

The Late Late Show

5.0

The Coronation Concert

6.0

The Hollywood Greats

3.5

The John Bishop Show

3.5

Stan Lee's Lucky Man: The Bracelet Chronicles

9.0

Ireland's Rugby Number 10

10.0

The End of the World Man

3.0

Lost Lives

6.0

River Deep, Mountain High: James Nesbitt in New Zealand

5.0

The James Gang

5.0

James Nesbitt: Disasters That Changed Britain

8.0

Tractor Tom

10.0

DNA Journey

6.0

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

0.0

Big Dippers

0.0

Virtuoso

0.0

Love Lies Bleeding

0.0

James Nesbitt Presents Eat My Goal

0.0

Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story

0.0

James Ellis: An Actor's Life

0.0

James Nesbit: A Game of Two Halves

0.0

The Cry

0.0

The Terry and Gaby Show

5.0

Occupation

0.0

Fairy Tales

0.0

OFI Sunday

0.0

Passer By

0.0

Parkinson

0.0

Run Away

0.0