Robert Sheehan

Early life

Sheehan was born in Portlaoise, County Laois. He is the youngest of three children born to Maria and Joe Sheehan, who was a garda.

At school, he played the banjo, the bodhrán, and the spoons, having joked that he was like "Footloose with spoons"; he also participated in Fleadh Cheoil.

Sheehan attended St Paul's school in Portlaoise for primary school. He attended Ballyfin College for secondary school, which went on to become a famous hotel. Unsure of whether acting was a sustainable career choice, he studied film and television at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. He missed several months of the course to film Summer of the Flying Saucer, failed his first-year examinations, and decided not to attempt the repeats.

Career

Sheehan became interested in acting in primary school when he played Oliver in Oliver with a Twist. At the age of fourteen, he auditioned for Song for a Raggy Boy, and won the role, spending three months in Cork to film. He later joined the Laois Open Door theatre group, and played the crippled boy in a production of The Cripple of Inishmaan. At the age of 16, Sheehan appeared in the Australian television show Foreign Exchange. and portrayed Louis XIV of France in Young Blades. In 2008, he appeared in Rock Rivals and Bitter Sweet, a two-part television comedy-drama. During this time, he also appeared in films including Ghostwood.

After leaving the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Sheehan starred as one of the lead characters in Cherrybomb in 2009. In March 2009, he appeared in the role of BJ in the Channel 4 trilogy Red Riding.

From 2009 to 2010, he starred as Nathan Young, a young offender, in the first two series of the British TV series Misfits. Regarded as a "cult favourite", Sheehan connected "intensely" with the role, and remarked it was "challenging" to leave it behind. He was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award for the role in 2011 and 2013.

Sheehan was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award in the Rising Star category in 2010. The following year, he starred in the film Killing Bono, He played Simon Lewis in the 2013 film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and followed it with roles in Anita B., The Road Within, Moonwalkers, and The Messenger in 2014 and 2015. In late 2015, he played Richard III in Trevor Nunn's revival of The Wars of the Roses, an adaption of William Shakespeare's plays Richard III and the three part Henry VI. In a 2018 interview with Hot Press, Sheehan described the role as his recent favourite, citing the "magic" and "transcendent experience" of being on stage.

The Song of Sway Lake premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2017, and was released theatrically the following year. It was filmed prior to 2014, and reflecting on the role in 2019, Sheehan described himself as "immensely proud". During 2017, he also appeared in Geostorm and featured in the second season of Fortitude, for which he was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award. In 2018, he appeared in Genius: Picasso as Carlos Casagemas and in The Young Offenders Christmas special as a caricatured version of himself. He also appeared in several films; he starred alongside David Tennant in Bad Samaritan, appeared in the neo-noir film Mute, and starred in Mortal Engines in the leading role of Tom Natsworthy.

In 2019, he starred in the Netflix Original series The Umbrella Academy as Klaus Hargreeves.

On 15 October 2021, Sheehan published his debut novel, Disappearing Act: A Host of Other Characters in 16 Short Stories.

He was cast in August 2022 to be one of the main villains in the upcoming film Red Sonja. He will be playing Draygan.

In May 2024, Sheehan will play Withnail in the world premiere of Withnail and I by Bruce Robinson and directed by Sean Foley based on the 1987 film at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In July, he will appear in Reunion written and directed by Mark O’Rowe for the Galway International Arts Festival.

Personal life

Sheehan resides in West Cork. He has also lived in London and Los Angeles.

He has spoken openly about experimenting with his sexuality when younger, but identifies himself as heterosexual.

He was in a relationship with actress Sofia Boutella from March 2014 until October 2018.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and honours

In September 2013, Sheehan was honoured by University College Dublin's Literary and Historical Society. In October 2015, he received the Burke Medal for Contribution to Discourse Through The Arts from College Historical Society in Trinity College Dublin.

References

References

1. Hills, Megan C.. (3 August 2020). "Who is Robert Sheehan? Everything you need to know about the Umbrella Academy star".
2. "The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time – in order". The Irish Times.
3. Conner, Megan. (3 August 2013). "Robert Sheehan: 'I'm going to get in so much trouble'". guardian.com.
4. "Robert Sheehan Interview". leinsterexpress.ie.
5. "Robert Michael Sheehan biography".
6. Freyne, Patrick. (9 February 2013). "Robert Sheehan: Boy in the hoody". [[The Irish Times]].
7. (13 November 2016). "Join the Laois theatre group that helped hone the skills of Robert Sheehan".
8. (12 January 2019). "'A lot of interesting stuff has happened' – Robert Sheehan on why turning 30 has made him reflective and how he loves 'coming home'". [[Irish Independent]].
9. Brady, Tara. (13 March 2015). "Robert Sheehan: 'I was largely motivated by terror, the fear of getting it completely wrong'". [[The Irish Times]].
10. Conner, Megan. (3 August 2013). "Robert Sheehan: 'I'm going to get in so much trouble'". [[The Guardian]].
11. (10 April 2011). "Robert Sheehan not returning to 'Misfits'". Digital Spy.
12. Johnson, Neala. (28 October 2017). "Irish actor Robert Sheehan discovers his "daggy" self in Ben Elton's new film Three Summers". [[The Courier-Mail]].
13. (31 July 2020). "Robert Sheehan: 'Everything that's not the government line gets labelled a "conspiracy theory"'".
14. Barry, Aoife. (15 March 2005). "Robert Sheehan on Love/Hate: "It's tough to watch a show carry on without you"". Journal.ie.
15. "Winners of the 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards". [[Irish Film and Television Network]].
16. Drohan, Ciara. "Robert Sheehan Cast in BBC's 'Accused'". [[Irish Film and Television Network]].
17. Wilkinson, Amy. (29 April 2013). "'Mortal Instruments' Actor Robert Sheehan Makes Magic Out of the Mundane". MTV.
18. Brennan, Sinead. (18 January 2019). "Exclusive Robert Sheehan 'immensely proud' of The Song of Sway Lake". [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]].
19. Schager, Nick. (20 September 2018). "Film Review: 'The Song of Sway Lake'". [[Variety (magazine).
20. Brennan, Sinead. (7 November 2018). "Exclusive Robert Sheehan on films, fame and trusting his gut". [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]].
21. (23 April 2018). "A long way from Love/Hate! Robert Sheehan makes colourful arrival to Tribeca Film Festival". [[Irish Independent]].
22. Radish, Christina. (2 May 2018). "Robert Sheehan on Dean Devlin's 'Bad Samaritan' and Netflix's 'Umbrella Academy'". [[Collider (website).
23. O'Hanlon, Emer. (30 October 2021). "Disappearing Act: Robert Sheehan shocks and stuns in debut with a real sense of fun". Irish Independent.
24. Vlessing, Etan. (23 August 2022). "'Red Sonja': Matilda Lutz to Star in Millennium's Sword and Sorcery Feature".
25. Murphy, Lauren. (7 July 2024). "Robert Sheehan on moving to west Cork after finding Netflix fame".
26. Brennan, Sinead. (26 October 2018). "Robert Sheehan caught up with family filming Young Offenders". [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]].
27. O'Toole, Jason. (24 October 2018). "The Full Hot Press Interview with Robert Sheehan". [[Hot Press]].
28. Gallagher, Katie. (11 February 2019). "Love/Hate's Robert Sheehan opens up on future baby plans". Irish Mirror.
29. (5 February 2017). "Robert Sheehan on girlfriend Sofia Boutella: 'You're staring at five months apart, but it always works out'".
30. Milton, Stephen. (19 July 2015). "Robert Sheehan: It was difficult to watch Love/Hate carry on without me". [[Irish Independent]].
31. Myers, Kimber. (26 April 2018). "With echoes of Boyle, 'Jet Trash' is a stylish thriller in its own right". [[Los Angeles Times]].
32. Moon, Aileen. (7 October 2010). "Interview: Acting Up with Robert Sheehan". [[Irish Film and Television Network]].
33. Cavendish, Dominic. (20 December 2011). "Victoria Wood and Stephen Fry star in The Borrowers". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
34. Lazarus, Susanna. (12 October 2012). "Meet the cast of Me and Mrs Jones". [[Radio Times]].
35. [http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/lovehates-robert-sheehan-honoured-at-ucd-29606916.html Love/Hate's Robert Sheehan honoured at UCD]. Independent.ie (24 September 2013). Retrieved on 15 July 2014.
36. [http://www.universitytimes.ie/2015/10/a-buzz-in-the-gmb-chamber-for-the-hists-robert-sheehan-event/ Hist's Robert Sheehan Event] {{Webarchive. link. (10 March 2016 . UniversityTimes.ie (19 October 2015). Retrieved on 10 March 2016.)
37. [http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/winners-nominees-2011,1766,BA.html Television Awards Winners in 2011 – The BAFTA site] {{webarchive. link. (12 June 2011 . Bafta.org (22 May 2011). Retrieved on 23 January 2012.)
38. [http://ifta.ie/winners/iftawinners2011.html Winners of the 8th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards 2011. Irish Film & Television Awards] {{Webarchive. link. (21 November 2011 . Ifta.ie. Retrieved on 23 January 2012.)
39. (10 January 2012). "IFTA Nominees 2012 announced". [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]].
40. "IFTA Awards 2013". [[Irish Film and Television Awards]].
41. Clarke, Donald. (8 April 2017). "2017 Ifta Awards: 'A Date for Mad Mary' claims best picture". [[The Irish Times]].