Carlyle was born on 14 April 1961 in Maryhill, Glasgow, the son of Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator.[3][4] He was raised by his father after his mother left when he was four years old.[5][6]
Carlyle left North Kelvinside Secondary School at the age of 16 without any qualifications and worked for his father as a painter and decorator.[7] He later attended night classes at Cardonald College, in Glasgow.[8] He first became involved in drama at the Glasgow Arts Centre at the age of 21 (having been inspired by reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible) and, subsequently, graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD).
Career
In 1991, Carlyle and four friends founded a theatre company, Raindog (which was involved in television and film work).[9] The same year he guest starred in The Bill and also starred in his first film, Riff-Raff, directed by Ken Loach.
In 1994, he played the gay lover of Father Greg in the film Priest. Carlyle's first high-profile role came as serial killer Albie Kinsella in an October 1994 episode of Cracker opposite Robbie Coltrane and Christopher Eccleston (notoriously killing off Eccleston's character, DCI David Bilborough). Carlyle claimed that his main inspiration for the role was Robert De Niro's Academy Award-nominated performance as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. This highly acclaimed role showcased Carlyle's "pure intensity".[10] Shortly after his appearance in Cracker, he landed the role of Highland policeman Hamish Macbeth in the BBC comedy-drama Hamish Macbeth. The series ran for three seasons from 1995 to 1997.
Carlyle appeared in the 2002 Oasis music video for "Little By Little". He played Adolf Hitler in the 2003 miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil. In 2006 he played the villain Durza in Eragon. In 2007 Carlyle played one of the main characters in the film 28 Weeks Later. He also played the lead role as a marine engineer attempting to save London from total devastation in the disaster film Flood. That year he also portrayed Father Joseph Macavoy in the film The Tournament.
In 2009, Carlyle appeared in "The Man Who Walked Around The World," a long-form commercial for Johnnie Walker whisky. Carlyle was shown walking down a path and talking for six minutes in a single long take. The ad took two days to film. The director, Jamie Rafn, afterwards referred to Carlyle as an "utter genius".[14]
From 2011 to 2018, Carlyle portrayed Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold in the fantasy-drama television series Once Upon a Time. The character is a wizard, deal-maker, and master manipulator. In an interview, Carlyle explained that his son inspired him to create Rumplestiltskin's voice.[15]
In 2019, he portrayed Ogilvy in a three-part television adaptation of The War of the Worlds for the BBC,[16] and made an uncredited appearance as John Lennon in the film Yesterday.[17]
In 2020, he portrayed Robert Sutherland, the Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party in Cobra.
Acting style
Known for his commitment to authenticity in roles, Carlyle has often altered his lifestyle and physical appearance to gain a better understanding of a character; much akin to method acting. Before playing a homeless character in Antonia Bird's Safe, for example, he went to live in the Waterloo area of London where the film was set. For his role as a bus driver in Ken Loach's Carla's Song, he passed the test for a PSV licence (a licence to drive a bus with passengers) in a Glasgow Leyland Atlantean bus.[18] Carlyle also had dentistry as part of his preparations for reprising his role as Begbie in T2 Trainspotting, choosing to have a dental implant and an adjacent tooth that became damaged during the implant's removal, extracted.[19] Writing of Carlyle's performance in The Full Monty, Andrew Johnston stated: "Carlyle was brilliant as the savage psycho Begbie in Trainspotting; here, he proves he can be almost as good when kept on a short leash. We don't know much about Gaz, but he's the most interesting character in the movie, largely because of Carlyle's down-to-earth warmth."[20]
Personal life
Carlyle has been married to make-up artist Anastasia Shirley since 1997.[21] They have three children: a daughter born in 2002, and two sons born in 2004 and 2006.[22][23] Carlyle is a patron of 'School for Life' in Romania.[24] He was appointed an OBE in 1999.
^Peplow, Gemma (13 January 2020). "Robert Carlyle: 'Could I be prime minister? I can't think of anything worse'". Sky News. Retrieved 7 May 2020. Carlyle, who moved to Canada with his family about 10 years ago, says living there he has become more aware of the possibilities of natural disasters. "Because I live in Vancouver now, there's warnings of earthquakes and tsunamis and stuff like that."
Gemini 1986–2011, Canadian Screen Awards 2012–present. Separate awards were presented by gender prior to 2022; a single unified category for best performance regardless of gender has been presented since.
