Peter Mullan

Early life and education

Peter Mullan was born in 1959 in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Patricia (a nurse) and Charles Mullan (a lab technician at Glasgow University). The seventh of eight children, Mullan was brought up in a working class Roman Catholic family. They later moved to Mosspark, a district in Glasgow. Mullan's father, an alcoholic, became increasingly tyrannical and abusive; he died from lung cancer when Mullan was 17.

For a brief period, Mullan was a member of a street gang while at secondary school, and worked as a bouncer in a number of south-side pubs. He was homeless for short periods at the ages of 15 and 18.

Mullan went on to the University of Glasgow to study economic history and drama, where he began acting on stage.

Career

Acting

Mullan continued stage acting after graduation. He had roles in films alongside actors such as Robert Carlyle in Riff-Raff (1991), with Mel Gibson in Braveheart (1995), and with Ewan McGregor in Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave (1994) and Trainspotting (1996).

Mullan's role as a recovering alcoholic in My Name Is Joe (1998) won him the Best Actor Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

As a director, his film, Orphans (1998), won awards at the Venice Film Festival 1998 and Festival du Film de Paris 1999.

He won the World Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances at 2011 Sundance Film Festival for his work on Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur (2011).

Mullan has appeared as supporting or guest actor in numerous cult movies, including Session 9 (2002), Young Adam (2003), Children of Men (2006), the final two Harry Potter films (2010–2011), and War Horse (2011).

In television, he played a lead role in the 2008 ITV series The Fixer. Mullan appeared in Gerard Lee's and Jane Campion's 2013 miniseries Top of the Lake as Matt Mitcham, head of the Mitcham family and father of Tui Mitcham, whose disappearance is the main topic of the series. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his work in the series. From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the BBC Two sitcom Mum, and from 2017 to 2018, Mullan appeared in the first two seasons of the Netflix series Ozark. In 2018 and 2020, he starred in the second and third season of HBO's Westworld, in a recurring and guest capacity respectively. Also in 2020, he starred in the first season of the Netflix series Cursed.

Mullan appeared in the 2021 miniseries The North Water and The Underground Railroad. He also starred as Dwarf king Durin III in the Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which premiered in 2022.

In 2023 he starred in the New Zealand drama series After the Party, and alongside Freya Allan in Baghead (2023).

Directing

Mullan is an arthouse movie director. In 2002, he returned to directing and screenwriting with the controversial film The Magdalene Sisters, based on life in an Irish Magdalene asylum. He won a Golden Lion at 59th Venice International Film Festival for the film, listed by many critics among the best films of 2003 and nominated for BAFTA Award for Best British Film, and European Film Award for best film.

He also won a Golden Shell at San Sebastián International Film Festival for Neds (2010).

He won top prizes both for acting (Cannes Best Actor award for My Name Is Joe) and for the best film (Golden Lion for The Magdalene Sisters) at major European film festivals.

Personal life

Mullan married Ann Swan, an actress and scriptwriter, in 1989; they divorced in 2006. He has four children – three with Swan, including one son with autism, and one with former girlfriend, activist Robina Qureshi. He is in a relationship with New Zealand actress Robyn Malcolm, whom he met while filming Top of the Lake in 2013.

A self-described Marxist, Mullan continues to support socialist causes and was a leading figure in the left-wing theatre movement that blossomed in Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher and John Major Conservative governments in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. These included stints with the 7:84 and Wildcat Theatre companies. An outspoken critic of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s New Labour governments, he told The Guardian "the TUC and the Labour Party sold us the [working class] out big style, unashamedly so". Ahead of the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Mullan pledged support for the new Scottish Socialist Party and their leader Tommy Sheridan. Mullan took part in a 2006 occupation of the Glasgow offices of the UK Immigration Service, protesting against the UKIS's "dawn raid" tactics when deporting failed asylum seekers.

In January 2009, Mullan joined other actors in protesting against the BBC's refusal to screen a Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza. They told BBC director general Mark Thompson: "Like millions of others, we are absolutely appalled at the decision to refuse to broadcast the appeal. We will never work for the BBC again unless this disgraceful decision is reversed. We will urge others from our profession and beyond to do likewise." Mullan has agreed to appear in an adaptation of Iain Banks's novel Stonemouth after the BBC aired a DEC appeal for Gaza in late 2014.

Mullan was a supporter of the Yes Scotland campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In 2015, he criticised the BBC for "horrendous bias" against the Yes campaign and told the Radio Times that "to see the BBC used as a political cudgel against a legitimate democratic movement ... really broke my heart."

In September 2025, Mullan was attacked in Glasgow while attempting to intervene in an assault; the assailant was subsequently jailed for 18 months.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. "Peter Mullan | Actor, Director, Writer".
2. [http://www.filmreference.com/film/1/Peter-Mullan.html "Biography: Peter Mullan"], ''FilmReference.com'' (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
3. Malcolm, Derek; [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/sep/16/artsfeatures.londonfilmfestival2002 "Sins of the sisters"], ''[[The Guardian. Guardian.co.uk]]'' 16 September 2002 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
4. Ramsey, Nancy. (27 July 2003). "An Abuse Scandal With Nuns As Villains". [[The New York Times]].
5. (7 January 2001). "Peter Mullan: Local hero".
6. Matheou, Demetrios; [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jan/07/features.magazine "Local Hero"] ''[[The Observer. Guardian.co.uk]]'', 7 January 2001 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
7. (18 January 2011). "On a razor's edge: Neds portrays 70s Glasgow in one light, but what was it really like?". The Scotsman.
8. [http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/filmmaking.asp?ID=33 "Peter Mullan & Anne-Marie Duff"] ''FutureMovies.co.uk'', 9 July 2003 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
9. Jones, Emma. (11 December 2015). "Peter Mullan brings homeless reality to big screen". BBC News.
10. "Interview: Peter Mullan, a hard act to follow".
11. "Peter Mullan Credits". tvguide.com.
12. "Festival de Cannes: My Name Is Joe". festival-cannes.com.
13. "Moving Image archive - Orphans 1998". movingimage.nls.uk.
14. "Peter Mullan Bio". tvguide.com.
15. Christie, Janet. (5 June 2015). "Interview: Peter Mullan, a hard act to follow". The Scotsman.
16. Williams, Zoe. (25 November 2024). "'Cosmetic surgery is screwing up the industry': Peter Mullan and Robyn Malcolm on their stunning midlife drama". The Guardian.
17. [https://www.theguardian.com/film/Player/Player_Page/0,4159,42318,00.html "The Players: Peter Mullan"] ''[[The Guardian. Guardian.co.uk]]'' (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
18. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4399130.stm "Protesters in 'asylum raid' demo"] ''[[BBC News Online. news.BBC.co.uk]]'', 2 November 2005 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
19. English, Paul; [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/01/27/peter-mullan-and-other-stars-to-boycott-bbc-over-gaza-charity-snub-86908-21074121/ "Peter Mullan and other stars to boycott BBC over Gaza charity snub"] ''[[Daily Record (Scotland). DailyRecord.co.uk]]'', 27 January 2009 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009).
20. (20 October 2014). "Peter Mullan among cast of BBC's adaptation of Iain Banks' Stonemouth - Inside Media Track".
21. [http://metro.co.uk/2012/07/26/peter-mullan-i-would-love-to-do-more-comedy-in-the-future-510678/ "Peter Mullan: I would love to do more comedy in the future"] ''[[Metro (British newspaper). Metro.co.uk]]'' (Retrieved: 14 September 2015).
22. [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/02/peter-mullan-bbc-referendum-harry-potter "Peter Mullan: BBC showed 'horrendous bias' in Scottish referendum coverage"] ''[[The Guardian. Guardian.co.uk]]'' (Retrieved: 14 September 2015).
23. (16 January 2026). "Actor Peter Mullan attacked after trying to stop assault".
24. (11 December 2015). "Peter Mullan Makes Christmas Odyssey In New Film ''Hector''". Londonist.
25. "Seeker Reaper - BBC ALBA".
26. Szalai, Georg. (5 March 2024). "'Suits' Star Patrick J. Adams, Connor Swindells, Merritt Wever Cast in Netflix, BBC Series 'Lockerbie'".
27. Niles, Robert. (2024-09-01). "Celebrate 'Back to Hogwarts' with new Harry Potter ride reveals".