Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''

My Name Is Joe ''My Name Is Joe'' is a 1998 British romantic drama film directed by Ken Loach. The film stars Peter Mullan as Joe Kavanagh, an unemployed recovering alcoholic in Glasgow, Scotland who meets and falls in love with a health visitor, played b ...

'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all three series of the BBC comedy series '' Mum'', in which he starred as Michael. He is also winner of the World Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances at

2011 Sundance Film Festival The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah. The festival opened with five screenings, one from each c ...

for his work on

Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Brit ...

's ''

Tyrannosaur Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontin ...

'' (2011). Mullan has appeared as supporting or guest actor in numerous cult movies, including '' Riff-Raff'' (1991), ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American historical drama film directed and produced by, and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays Sir William Wallace, a late-13th century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence ...

'' (1995), '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''

Session 9 ''Session 9'' is a 2001 American psychological horror film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Anderson and Stephen Gevedon. The film stars David Caruso, Peter Mullan, Brendan Sexton III, Josh Lucas, and Gevedon as an asbestos abatement c ...

'' (2002), '' Young Adam'' (2003), ''

Children of Men ''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel ''The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredited ...

'' (2006), the final two ''Harry Potter'' films (2010–11), and '' War Horse'' (2011). Mullan is an art house movie director. He won a

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...

at 59th Venice International Film Festival for '' The Magdalene Sisters'' (2002), 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, and a

Golden Shell The Golden Shell ( es, Concha de Oro; eu, Urrezko Maskorra) is the highest prize given to a competing film at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It was introduced in 1957. In 1953 and 1954, the highest prize had been called the Gran Premio. In 19 ...

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

for ''

Neds Ned is a derogatory term applied in Scotland to hooligans, louts or petty criminals.ITV series '' The Fixer''. Mullan appeared in

Gerard Lee Gerard Lee is an Australian novelist, screenwriter, and director. Early life Gerard Lee was born in Melbourne and brought up in Brisbane in the 1960s in the inner southern suburb of Dutton Park. Lee began writing for ''The Telegraph'' newspap ...

's and

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...

'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 The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for his work in the series. From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

sitcom '' Mum'', and from 2017 to 2018, Mullan appeared in the first two seasons of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series '' Ozark''. In 2018 and 2020, he starred in the second and third season of HBO's ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'' in a recurring and guest capacity respectively. Also in 2020, he starred in the first season of the Netflix series '' Cursed''.

Early life

Mullan was born on 2 November 1959 in Peterhead,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the son of Patricia (a nurse) and Charles Mullan (a lab technician at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

). The seventh of eight children, Mullan was brought up in a working class Roman Catholic family.Malcolm, Derek
"Sins of the sisters"
''

Guardian.co.uk TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

'' 16 September 2002 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009). They later moved to

Mosspark Mosspark ( gd, Pàirc na Mòna) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde, in the southwest of the city. History Mosspark and the lands of East and Mid-Henderston were incorporated into Glasgow in 1 ...

, a district in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

. An alcoholic, Mullan's father became increasingly tyrannical and abusive; he died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

when Mullan was 17.Matheou, Demetrios
"Local Hero"
''

'', 7 January 2001 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009). 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."Peter Mullan & Anne-Marie Duff"
''FutureMovies.co.uk'', 9 July 2003 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009). He was homeless for short periods at the ages of 15 and 18.

Career

Mullan went on to the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

to study economic history and drama. There, he began acting and continued stage acting after graduation. He had roles in films such as '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'', ''

'' and '' Riff-Raff''. Mullan's role as a recovering alcoholic in ''

'' won him the Best Actor Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. His first full-length film, '' Orphans'', won an award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. In 2002, he returned to directing and screenwriting with the controversial film '' The Magdalene Sisters'', based on life in an Irish Magdalene asylum. Mullan won a

award at the Venice Film Festival. Mullan appeared in the 2021 miniseries '' The North Water'' and '' The Underground Railroad''. He also starred in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

series '' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'', which premiered in 2022.

Personal life

Mullan married Ann Swan, an actress and scriptwriter, in 1989; they divorced in 2006. He has four children – three with Swan and one with former girlfriend, activist Robina Qureshi. A self-described

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

, Mullan continues to support

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

causes and was a leading figure in the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

theatre movement that blossomed in

during the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Thatcher government. These included stints with the 7:84 and Wildcat Theatre companies. An outspoken critic of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

government, he told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' "the TUC and the Labour Party sold us he_working_class.html" ;"title="working_class.html" ;"title="he working class">he working class">working_class.html" ;"title="he working class">he working classout big style, unashamedly so"."The Players: Peter Mullan"
''

'' (Retrieved: 15 August 2009). Ahead of the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Mullan pledged support for the newly-formed 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."Protesters in 'asylum raid' demo"
'' BBC News Online, news.BBC.co.uk'', 2 November 2005 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009). 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."English, Paul
"Peter Mullan and other stars to boycott BBC over Gaza charity snub"
'' DailyRecord.co.uk'', 27 January 2009 (Retrieved: 15 August 2009). Mullan has agreed to appear in an adaptation of Iain Banks' 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 A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" ...

."Peter Mullan: I would love to do more comedy in the future"
'' Metro.co.uk'' (Retrieved: 14 September 2015). In 2015, he criticised the BBC for "horrendous bias" against the Yes campaign and told the

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

that "to see the BBC used as a political cudgel against a legitimate democratic movement ... really broke my heart.""Peter Mullan: BBC showed 'horrendous bias' in Scottish referendum coverage"
''

'' (Retrieved: 14 September 2015).

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullan, Peter 1959 births Living people 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors Alumni of the University of Glasgow British Marxists Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners Directors of Golden Lion winners Male actors from Glasgow People from Peterhead Scottish film directors Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors Scottish male voice actors Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish screenwriters