Robert Carlisle is a Scottish actor, producer and director. Most known to the general public for his roles in the films "On the Needle", "Male Striptease", "And the World Is Not Enough" and "Beach", also in the fantasy series "Once Upon a Time". Winner of the prestigious BAFTA Award. In addition to working in film and television, he is often engaged in voice acting for video games.
Childhood and youth
Robert Carlisle was born on April 14, 1961 in Glasgow, Scotland, in the Maryhill area. The actor’s mother left the family when Robert was only four years old, according to the actor, he never saw her again.
Carlisle left school at the age of sixteen and began working for his father, who was a professional painter and decorator. He was also a butcher for a while. In parallel with work, the young man attended courses at a local college.
Carier start
At the age of twenty-one, Robert Carlyle made his theater debut. He later entered the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and graduated from it. Together with several friends, he founded his own theater company.
In 1991, the actor got the main role in the tragicomedy about the life of the working class of the legendary British director Ken Loach "Riff-Ruff. In subsequent years, he appeared in the drama" Priest ", where he played the lover of the protagonist, a Catholic priest. And also in one of the series of the popular detective series "Detective Cracker", performing a serial killer.
In 1994, the actor got a major role in the series Hamish Macbeth, which was a mixture of comedy and detective. Carlisle played a clumsy policeman keeping order in a remote village. The show lasted for three seasons.
Big breakthrough
In 1997, two incredibly successful films with Robert Carlisle were released. He played the psychopath Begby in the film adaptation of Irwin Welch's novel On the Needle. Previously, he had already auditioned for the role in the previous film directed by Danny Boyle "Shallow Grave", but lost the fight to Christopher Eccleston. On the Needle has become an international phenomenon and is still considered one of the best British films in history.
The second picture that forever changed Robert's life was the tragicomedy "Male Striptease." The actor played Gaza - the leader of a group of unemployed men from a dying industrial city who decides to hold a strip show and make some money. The low-budget film unexpectedly became a box office hit, raising more than two hundred million dollars, and was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Film category. Robert won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for Gaza.
Career heyday
After the success of these two paintings, Carlisle received offers. In the following years, he appeared in the historical comedy "Plunkett and MacLane", which showed itself poorly at the box office, but subsequently gained cult status, played the main villain in the next series of the bond "And the whole world is not enough," again worked with Boyle, playing in the drama " Beach ", and played a major role in the comedy thriller" Formula 51 ".
Also, Robert Carlyle played one of the central roles in the mini-series "Live Commodity", which tells about human trafficking. For this work, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2006, the actor appeared in the blockbuster "Eragon", a year later he participated in the sequel to the film "28 days later" entitled "28 weeks later." At that time, rumors began circulating that the Scot would succeed David Tennant as Doctor Who, however, the role went to Matt Smith.
In the next few years, the actor became much less likely to act in films, appearing in only one film once a year or two. In 2011, he received one of the main roles in the fantasy series Once Upon a Time, which brought Carlisle a new wave of popularity, especially among young viewers who fell in love with the character and created his little cult on the Internet. Photos of Robert Carlisle can be seen in our article. The series was completed after the seventh season.
Recent projects
In 2015, the directorial debut of Robert Carlisle - the film "Ballad of Barney Thompson", which was held at the Russian box office under the name "Slaughter haircut", was released on the screens. Robert also played a major role in the project. For the production of the picture and work on the screen, he received a nomination in the Scottish version of the BAFTA Award.
In 2017, the premiere of the long-awaited sequel to the film "On the Needle". Robert Carlyle is back as Frank Bagby. The continuation of the cult picture was accepted by critics cooler than the original, but many fans were satisfied, and the project also showed good results at the box office.
In addition to working on the screen, Robert voices the characters of video games. He worked on several games of the Castellani series, a project based on the movie Eragon, and many others. In 2018, the actor should appear in the television version of the novel "War of the Worlds."
Personal life
Since 1997, the actor is married to make-up artist Anastasia Shirley. Robert Carlyle and his wife have three children - a daughter and two sons. The family lives in Glasgow.
Robert supports the Glasgow Rangers football club. Currently, he also provides financial assistance to one of the Romanian schools.