Born: October 31, 1946
Date of Birth: October 31, 1946
The fact that Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, made him the perfect choice to play the role of a tormented Irish Republican Army gunman in Neil Jordan's first movie, The Crying Game. That film was a huge hit and turned the Rea—an actor previously known mostly for his theater work—into a star. He received an Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA Award nominations for his part in the film, and won a National Society of Film Critics Best Actor Award. In 2002 he received a Daytime Emmy nomination as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special for Snow in August (2001) and was nominated in 2004 for an IFTA Award as Best Actor in The Halo Effect. He re-teamed with his The Crying Game director, Neil Jordan, for Breakfast on Pluto (2005).
One of a quartet of children born into a working-class Protestant family, Rae is divorced from former IRA member Dolours Price, with whom he has two sons and a daughter. He also has an interesting take on the American movie capital: "It's weird, Hollywood, isn't it?," he says. "All these people walking around in shorts with no brains."
In 2010, he won an Irish Film and Television Awards for his work in the television series Father & Son.
Rea lives in Dublin.
Filmography:
Ondine (2010)
Nothing Personal (2009)
The Devil's Mercy (2008)
Stuck (2008)
The Heavy (2007)
Kisses (2007)
Until Death (2007)
The Reaping (2007)
Sixty Six (2006)
V for Vendetta (2006)
Tara Road (2005)
River Queen (2005)
Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
Control (2004)
Proud (2004)
Fluent Dysphasia (2004)
The Good Shepherd (2004)
The Halo Effect (2004)
Romeo and Me (2004)
Bloom (2003)
The I Inside (2003)
Evelyn (2002)
Feardotcom (2002)
The Musketeer (2001)
On the Edge (2001)
In Dreams (1999)
The End of the Affair (1999)
Guinevere (1999)
The Life Before This (1999)
Still Crazy (1998)
The Big Twist (1998)
This Is My Father (1998)
Butcher Boy (1998)
Double Tap (1997)
Fever Pitch (1997)
Crime of the Century (1996)
Michael Collins (1996)
Angie (1994)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Princess Caraboo (1994)
Ready to Wear (1994)
Bad Behaviour (1992)
The Crying Game (1992)
Life is Sweet (1990)
Loose Connections (1987)
The Company of Wolves (1985)
The Doctor and the Devils (1985)
Four Days in July (1985)
Danny Boy (1984)