Emmett J. Scanlan

Early life

Scanlan was born on January 31, 1979, in Dublin.

Career

He played the lovable rogue and bad boy Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks from 2011 to 2013, for which he was nominated and won many soap awards. He appeared alongside Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan in the BBC Two drama The Fall (2013–2014).

From 2013–2016, he starred alongside Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders, Series 5 and Series 6, and worked alongside Craig Fairbrass, James Cosmo, Bruce Payne, Olivia Grant and Tamer Hassan in Breakdown (2016),.

Scanlan has acted in BBC Three's In The Flesh series 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). In 2021, he starred as Inspector Kieran Shaw in ITV's The Tower.

In 2022, Scanlan appeared as Marcus MacLeod in the British remake of Call My Agent!: Ten Percent. He played a main role as Jimmy Kinsella in the RTÉ family gangster drama Kin.

In 2024, he starred alongside Michelle Keegan and Adeel Akhtar in the Netflix series Fool Me Once (2024), and worked alongside Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, Paddy Considine and Joanne Froggatt, playing a heavy for the Harrigan family in the British Gangster series MobLand (2025).

Personal life

Scanlan married girlfriend Claire Cooper on 31 December 2015 in New York City. In July 2020, she gave birth to a boy. In October 2020, Cooper disclosed that she had suffered a miscarriage of their baby the previous year. On 12 November 2022, Cooper gave birth to their daughter. Scanlan also has a daughter born in September 2002 from a previous relationship.

Scanlan is a vegan and supports PETA. He is a supporter of Manchester United.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

• (*) means there were two main rounds of nominations for that category. Shortlisted means he made it to the second and final round of voting.

References

References

1. (2012). "RTÉ Television – Hollywood Trials: Emmett Scanlan". Raidió Teilifís Éireann.
2. "Emmett J. Scanlan Credits".
3. entertainment. (2014-04-20). "We talk to Emmet J. Scanlan about Hollyoaks, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and The Fall".
4. (4 May 2021). "Emmett J. Scanlan, Tahirah Sharif and Jimmy Akingbola join the cast of ITV crime thriller, The Tower".
5. Gardner, Alison. (1 March 2016). "It's a dream come true!' Newlywed Hollyoaks ex Claire Cooper is In The Club!". [[What's on TV]].
6. Saunders, Emmeline. (19 July 2020). "Hollyoaks' Claire Cooper gives birth to her and Emmett Scanlan's first baby". [[Reach PLC]].
7. Cooper, Claire. (10 October 2020). "Claire Cooper on Instagram: "It's baby loss awareness week and although I wasn't quiet about our loss privately, I didn't share it with the public, mainly I didn't have..."".
8. (5 September 2021). "'We lost our baby and she almost lost her life' – Emmett J Scanlan on loss, family, and his role in RTÉ drama Kin".
9. (21 Jan 2019). "'I'm convinced that if we eat meat, we're ingesting bad karma' - Emmett J Scanlan fronts PETA's new pro-vegan campaign". independent.ie..
10. (14 September 2012). "Irish Film 'Charlie Casanova' Wins Three Top Awards at Melbourne Film Festival". iftn.ie.
11. (19 April 2012). "British Soap Awards 2012 – winners in full". Digital Spy.
12. (25 September 2012). "Ireland's Scanlan wins Best Soap Actor". RTÉ Ten.
13. (18 May 2013). "British Soap Awards 2013 – winners in full". Digital Spy.
14. (24 March 2013). "'Hollyoaks' leads 2013 All About Soap Award winners". Digital Spy.