Ciarán Hinds Biography

Ciarán Hinds is the veteran Irish actor who received his first Academy Award nomination at age 68, for his supporting role in the 2021 nostalgic drama Belfast.

Ciarán Hinds was born in Belfast and went to St. Malachy’s College there, later studying law at Queen’s University Belfast. But he was drawn to acting and landed a spot at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), graduating in 1975.

The epitome of the working global actor, Ciarán Hinds has made a career in both live theater and onscreen. On stage he has appeared with the Abbey Theater, the Glasgow Citizen’s Theater, and the Royal Shakespearean Company, among many others; his title turn in Richard III at the RSC was a career highlight. His first film role was in the 1981 King Arthur tale Excalibur, and over the next four decades he had (mostly supporting) roles in nearly 70 films. His tough and soulful face, with its dark eyes, high cheekbones, and long chin, has been seen in everything from high-profile dramas like The Sum of All Fears (2002) and Phantom of the Opera (2004) and There Will Be Blood (2007) to cult faves like In Bruges (2008) and Silence (2016).

On television, he played Rochester in Jane Eyre and Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe in the same year (1997). He played Julius Caesar in Rome (2005-07) and had the minor role of “King-beyond-the-Wall” Mance Rayder in Game of Thrones (2013-15).

Though nominated for many acting honors in theater and by the Irish Film & Television Awards, he didn’t receive an Oscar nomination until 2022 for Belfast, Kenneth Branagh‘s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story. Hinds played Pop, the grandfather of the film’s young protagonist, Buddy.