Jonathan Harden (born 1979) is an Irish actor and director.

Early life

Harden was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in 1979, the son of an Irish father and American mother.

Career

Harden's most notable credits include the roles of Sean Rawlins in the crime drama series ''

Unforgotten ''Unforgotten'' is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cas ...

'', Gregory in the final season of the comedy series ''

Peep Show A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...

'', Walter Hill in the costume drama series '' Titanic: Blood and Steel'', Newman Noggs and the narrator in the BBC adaptation of ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

'', Brendan Murphy in Jimmy McGovern's 2021 prison drama ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', and an unnamed character in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi''. Harden's stage credits include

Henry Joy McCracken Henry Joy McCracken (31 August 1767 – 17 July 1798) was an Irish republican, a leading member of the Society of the United Irishmen and a commander of their forces in the field in the Rebellion of 1798. In pursuit of an independent and democrat ...

in Stewart Parker'
''Northern Star''
at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

and '' Children of the Sun'' at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

under the direction of the late Howard Davies. Of his performance in Northern Star, the Time Out review wrote, "Jonathan Harden reveals himself as an extraordinary talent whose performance leaves an afterglow like a good whiskey." Harden provided the narration for 2015 BAFTA-winning short film ''

Boogaloo and Graham ''Boogaloo and Graham'' is a 2014 British short drama film directed by Michael Lennox and starring Martin McCann, Charlene McKenna, and Jonathan Harden. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 87th Acade ...

''. He has also provided voices for several video games, most notably as

Xenophilius Lovegood The following are supporting characters in the ''Harry Potter'' series written by J. K. Rowling. For members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts staff, Ministry of Magic, or for Death Eaters, see the respective articles. ...

in '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I''. In 2014, he played Axl in the

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

-produced ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

'' film ''Halo: Nightfall''. In 2015, Harden launched ''In Anything at the Minute? The Honest Actors' Podcast'', a project centred on interviews with other jobbing actors and available on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. In 2017, he produced and directed his first film project, ''Guard'', a female-led boxing film set in

. It had its debut at the

Galway Film Fleadh The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Ireland ...

in July 2017, and soon after had its North American premiere at the

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...

. In 2018, it was followed by ''Troubles'', on the subject of male mental health, which again debuted at the Galway Film Fleadh. Following his venture into film directing, Harden made his London stage directing debut in 2020, with

Joe Crilly Joseph Crilly (1962–2017) was an Irish playwright. Hailing from Derrymacash in County Armagh, he lived for more than three decades in London, where he variously worked as an actor, journalist and social worker. He was arts editor of the ''Iris ...

's ''On McQuillan's Hill'' at the

. The production sold out and received critical acclaim, including five stars from the ''Morning Star'' and four stars from ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

''. Originally produced in 2000 at the

Lyric Theatre, Belfast The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the principal, full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The theatre's current Executive Producer is Jimmy Fay, previously the founder and Artistic Director of Bedrock Productions. His ...

, the Finborough production was an English premiere and marked the 20th anniversary of the play's Belfast debut. In 2021, Harden appeared in Jimmy McGovern's prison drama ''

'' as lifer, Brendan Murphy. The role earned him praise from many, with ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' calling this performance, "a highly-charged, emotive turn, and the '' Sunday Life'' noting it as "superb".

Personal life

Harden is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

and enjoys running. He is married to Northern Irish actress

Bronágh Taggart Bronágh Taggart is an Irish actress and writer, born in Belfast. She has appeared in BAFTA-winning '' Occupation'', '' Best: His Mother's Son'', and '' The Fall'' and has written for BBC Northern Ireland series ''6Degrees'' since it first a ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harden, Jonathan 1979 births Living people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Male actors from Belfast Male film actors from Northern Ireland Male television actors from Northern Ireland Male stage actors from Northern Ireland Male video game actors from Northern Ireland Male voice actors from Northern Ireland People from County Antrim Film directors from Northern Ireland Irish theatre directors British theatre directors Irish voice actors People educated at Rathmore Grammar School