Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award and nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and was listed at number 17 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors in 2020. In 2009, The Guardian named him one of the best actors who never received an Academy Award nomination. Byrne's acting career began at the Focus Theatre in Dublin before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1974. His screen debut came in the Irish drama serial The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken. He went on to star in such films as Defence of the Realm (1986), Lionheart (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Little Women (1994), Dead Man (1995), The Usual Suspects (1995), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), Vanity Fair (2004), The 33 (2015), and Hereditary (2018). He co-wrote The Last of the High Kings (1996) and produced In the Name of the Father (1993).  For his Broadway work, Byrne has received two nominations for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his roles in the Eugene O'Neill plays A Moon for the Misbegotten (2000) and Long Day's Journey into Night (2016). For his television work, Byrne has received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Paul Weston in the HBO drama series In Treatment (2008–2010). He also received a Golden Globe Award. His other notable television roles include Vikings (2013), Maniac (2018), and War of the Worlds (2019–2022). Description above from the Wikipedia article Gabriel Byrne, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2025Ballerina — The Chancellor
• 2025Four Letters of Love — Muiris Gore
• 2023Dance First — Samuel Beckett
• 2022Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend — Enzo Ferrari
• 2022Murder at Yellowstone City — Sheriff Ambrose
• 2022The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse — The Horse (voice)
• 2021Death of a Ladies' Man — Samuel O'Shea
• 2020Lost Girls — Richard Dormer
• ZeroZeroZero — Edward Lynwood
• 2019Land Without God — Executive Producer
• War of the Worlds — Bill Ward
• 2018An L.A. Minute — Ted Gold
• 2018Atlantic Salmon: Lost at Sea — Narrator
• 2018Hereditary — Steve Graham, Executive Producer
• 2018In the Cloud — Doc Wolff
• 2018Lies We Tell — Donald
• Maniac — Porter Milgrim
• 2018My Astonishing Self: Gabriel Byrne on George Bernard Shaw — Narrator
• 2017Carrie Pilby — Mr. Pilby
• 2017Mad to Be Normal — Jim
• 2016No Pay, Nudity — Lester Rosenthal aka Lawrence Rose
• 2015Endless Night — Bram
• 2015Louder Than Bombs — Gene Reed
• 2015The 33 — Andre Sougarret
• Vikings: Athelstan's Journal — Earl Haraldson (archive footage)
• Quirke — Quirke
• 2014Vampire Academy — Victor Dashkov
• 2013All Things To All Men — Joseph Corso
• 2013Just a Sigh — Man
• Vikings — Earl Haraldson
• 2012Capital — Dittmar Rigule
• 2012I, Anna — D.C.I. Bernie Reid
• 2012John Ford: Dreaming the Quiet Man — Narrator
• Secret State — Tom Dawkins
• 2012Tent City, U.S.A — Executive Producer
• 2010Perrier's Bounty — Voice of the Grim Reaper (voice)
• 2010The Women of SNL — Priest (archive footage)
• 2009Leningrad — Philip Parker
• 20082:22 — Detective Swain (uncredited)
• 2008Camelot: Live from Lincoln Center — King Arthur
• 2008Emotional Arithmetic — Christopher Lewis
• 2008Gabriel Byrne: Stories from Home
• In Treatment — Dr. Paul Weston
• Attack on Leningrad — Phillip Parker
• Leningrad
• 2006Jindabyne — Stewart
• 2006Played — Eddie
• 2005Assault on Precinct 13 — Captain Marcus Duvall
• 2005Wah-Wah — Harry Compton
• 2004P.S. — Peter Harrington
• 2004Patrick — Patrick
• 2004The Bridge of San Luis Rey — Brother Juniper
• 2004Vanity Fair — The Marquess of Steyne
• 2003Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality — Narrator
• 2003Shade — Charlie Miller
• 2002Ghost Ship — Captain Sean Murphy
• 2002Horses: The Story of Equus — Narrator
• 2002Killing Emmett Young — Jack Marlow / Stephen Bracken
• 2002Spider — Bill Cleg
• 2002Virginia's Run — Ford Lofton
• 2000Mad About Mambo — Executive Producer
• Madigan Men — Benjamin Madigan, Producer
• 2000Making Love — Violinista / Jeno Varga Adulto
• 2000When Brendan Met Trudy — Special Appearance
• 1999End of Days — The Man
• 1999Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special — (archive footage)
• 1999Stigmata — Father Andrew Kiernan
• 1998Enemy of the State — 'Brill'
• 1998Pirates — Narrator (voice)
• 1998Polish Wedding — Bolek
• 1998Quest for Camelot — Lionel (voice)
• 1998The Man in the Iron Mask — D'Artagnan
• 1997Smilla's Sense of Snow — The Mechanic
• 1997The End of Violence — Ray
• 1997This Is the Sea — Rohan
• 1997Weapons of Mass Distraction — Lionel Powers
• 1996Draíocht — Father, Writer
• 1996Mad Dog Time — Ben London
• 1996Somebody Is Waiting — Roger Ellis, Co-Producer
• 1996The Brylcreem Boys — Commandant O'Brien, Producer
• 1996The Last of the High Kings — Jack Griffin, Co-Executive Producer, Screenplay
• 1995Buffalo Girls — Teddy Blue
• 1995Dead Man — Charlie Dickinson
• 1995Frankie Starlight — Jack Kelly
• 1995Irish Cinema: Ourselves Alone? — Narrator (voice)
• 1995Out of Ireland — Richard O'Gorman (voice)
• 1995The Usual Suspects — Keaton
• 1994A Simple Twist of Fate — John Newland
• 1994All Things Bright and Beautiful — The Good Thief
• 1994Little Women — Friedrich Bhaer
• 1994Prince of Jutland — Fenge
• 1994Trial by Jury — Daniel Graham
• 1993A Dangerous Woman — Mackey
• 1993In the Name of the Father — Executive Producer
• 1993Point of No Return — Bob
• 1992Cool World — Jack Deebs
• 1992Into the West — Papa Reilly, Associate Producer
• 1990Diamond Skulls — Hugo
• 1990Miller's Crossing — Tom Reagan
• 1990Shipwrecked — Lt. John Merrick
• 1988A Soldier's Tale — Saul
• 1988Julia and Julia — Paolo
• 1988The Courier — Val
• 1987Gothic — Lord Byron
• 1987Hello Again — Kevin Scanlon
• 1987Lionheart — Black Prince
• 1987Siesta — Augustine
• 1986Defence of the Realm — Nicholas 'Nick' Mullen
• Christopher Columbus — Christopher Columbus
• Mussolini: The Untold Story — Vittorio Mussolini
• 1984Reflections — William Masters
• 1984The Treatment — Father Michael
• 1983Hanna K. — Joshué Herzog
• 1983The Keep — Major Kaempffer
• 1982Joyce in June — Keogh / Blazes Boylan
• 1982The Rocking Horse Winner — Bassett
• 1981Excalibur — Uther
• The Search for Alexander the Great — Ptolemy
• Bracken — Pat Barry
• 1979The Outsider — Man in Street
• 1978On a Paving Stone Mounted
• Strangers — Johnny Maguire
• The Last of Summer — Bishop's secretary
• Live from Lincoln Center — King Arthur
• Sauver Mozart

Appearances as themselves (23)

• 2025A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep' — Self (archive footage)
• 2025Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story — Self
• 2025Richard Burton: Wild Genius — Self
• 2022Walking with Ghosts — Himself
• 2020Michael Des Barres: Who Do You Want Me To Be? — Self
• 2018Cursed: The True Nature of Hereditary — Self - Steve
• 2017Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death — Self
• 2016Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach — Self - Actor
• 2013Excalibur: Behind the Movie — Self
• 2011A Man's Story — Self
• The Meaning of Life — Self
• 2007Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• 2002Keyser Soze, Lie or Legend - Featurette — Self
• 2002Pursuing the Suspects — Himself
• 2002Round Up: Deposing 'The Usual Suspects' — Self
• 1998Nothing Is What It Seems: The Making Of 'The Usual Suspects' — Self
• The View — Self
• Inside the Actors Studio — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host
• Film '72 — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Presenter