95 Facts About James Nesbitt

William James Nesbitt was born on 15 January 1965 and is an actor from Northern Ireland.

From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical Up on the Roof to the political drama Paddywack.

James Nesbitt made his feature film debut playing talent agent Fintan O'Donnell in Hear My Song.

James Nesbitt got his breakthrough television role playing Adam Williams in the romantic comedy-drama series Cold Feet, which won him a British Comedy Award, a Television and Radio Industries Club Award, and a National Television Award.

James Nesbitt won a British Independent Film Award and was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

James Nesbitt has starred in Murphy's Law as undercover detective Tommy Murphy, a role that was created for him by writer Colin Bateman.

James Nesbitt has since appeared in several more dramatic roles; he starred alongside Liam Neeson in Five Minutes of Heaven, and was one of three lead actors in the television miniseries Occupation.

James Nesbitt starred in the movies Outcast and The Way.

James Nesbitt portrayed Bofur in The Hobbit film series.

In 2014, James Nesbitt starred as Tony Hughes in the acclaimed BBC One drama series The Missing.

William James Nesbitt was born on 15 January 1965 in Ballymena, County Antrim.

James Nesbitt has three older sisters named Margaret, Kathryn, and Andrea, all of whom eventually became teachers.

The family lived in the house adjoining the one-room school where James Nesbitt was one of 32 pupils taught by his father, while the other pupils were all farmers' children.

James Nesbitt grew up "completely" around women and spent a lot of time alone, "kicking a ball against a wall".

James Nesbitt had ambitions to play football for Manchester United or to become a teacher like his father.

James Nesbitt's parents were Protestants, and Lisnamurrican was in "Paisley country".

James Nesbitt completed his primary education at Blagh primary school, then moved on to Coleraine Academical Institution.

James Nesbitt continued to act and sing with Riverside until he was 16, and appeared at festivals and as an extra in Play For Today: The Cry.

James Nesbitt got his Equity card when the actor playing Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio broke his ankle two days before the performance, and Nesbitt stepped in to take his place.

James Nesbitt left CAI at the age of 18 and began a degree in French at Ulster Polytechnic in Jordanstown.

The day after leaving CSSD in 1987, James Nesbitt got a bit part in Virtuoso, a BBC Two Screen Two television play about the life of John Ogdon.

James Nesbitt reprised the role when the production returned to Plymouth in early 1989.

James Nesbitt appeared in two other plays in 1989; in June, he played Dukes Frederick and Senior in Paul Jepson's As You Like It at the Rose Theatre Club, and then appeared in Yuri Lyubimov's version of Hamlet.

James Nesbitt recalled that the play received "shocking" reviews, but was exciting.

Paddywack, in which James Nesbitt's character is suspected by others of being an IRA member, transferred to the United States for a run at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut in October 1994.

In 1996, James Nesbitt appeared in an episode of the BBC Northern Ireland television drama Ballykissangel, playing Leo McGarvey, the ex-boyfriend of Assumpta Fitzgerald and love rival of Peter Clifford.

James Nesbitt reprised the role for four episodes in 1998.

In 1996, James Nesbitt auditioned to play Adam Williams, the male lead in Cold Feet, an ITV Comedy Premiere about three couples in different stages of their romantic relationships.

Executive producer Andy Harries persuaded him to stay for one more series by suggesting that Adam be killed off, so James Nesbitt signed on for the fifth series.

Cold Feet ran for five years from 1998 to 2003, and James Nesbitt won the British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actor in 2000, the Television and Radio Industries Club Award for Drama TV Performer of the Year in 2002, the National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performance in 2003, and the TV Quick Award for Best Actor in 2003.

James Nesbitt played Jimmy Hands, an incompetent bank robber who masterminds an escape from a prison by staging a musical as a distraction.

James Nesbitt had been approached at a British Academy Television Awards ceremony by director Paul Greengrass, who wanted him to star in a television drama he was making about the 1972 "Bloody Sunday" shootings in Derry.

James Nesbitt was filming Cold Feet in Manchester when he received the script.

James Nesbitt read it and found that had "an extraordinary effect" on him.

Shortly before Bloody Sunday was broadcast, James Nesbitt described it as "difficult but extraordinary" and "emotionally draining".

The film was screened at film festivals such as the Stockholm International Film Festival, where James Nesbitt was presented with the Best Actor award.

James Nesbitt refers to his career since the film was released as "post-Bloody Sunday".

In 2003, James Nesbitt played undercover police detective Tommy Murphy in the first series of Murphy's Law, after starring in a successful pilot episode in 2001.

The series was conceived when James Nesbitt was working on Playing the Field; he and producer Greg Brenman approached author Colin Bateman about creating a television series for James Nesbitt in a similar vein to Bateman's Dan Starkey novels.

Bateman and James Nesbitt were already well acquainted; James Nesbitt had been considered for a main role in Divorcing Jack, based on Bateman's original novel.

James Nesbitt was made a creative consultant and suggested that Murphy keep one undercover role for a full series, instead of changing into a new guise every episode.

Alongside his research with former undercover officer Peter Bleksley, James Nesbitt hired a personal trainer and grew a handlebar moustache to change Murphy's physical characteristics and tone down the "cheeky chappie" persona that the audience had become accustomed to from his roles.

James Nesbitt genuinely has the air of a man who means business.

Murphy's Law was not recommissioned for a sixth series, which James Nesbitt attributed to the damage done to the fifth series ratings when it was scheduled opposite the popular ITV drama Doc Martin.

In 2004, James Nesbitt appeared in Wall of Silence, a fact-based drama about the aftermath of the murder of schoolboy Jamie Robe.

James Nesbitt played Stuart Robe, the boy's father, who tries to break down the wall of silence in the local community to discover exactly what happened to his son.

James Nesbitt had only just completed Bloody Sunday when he was offered the part and was unsure whether he wanted to take on such a demanding role so soon after playing Ivan Cooper.

James Nesbitt decided to accept the part because he found it interesting.

James Nesbitt spoke with his natural accent instead of affecting Robe's South London speech, as he did not want the audience to be distracted from the drama.

James Nesbitt loses the respect of his wife, his son and at work, and has to reach the lowest possible point before finding redemption.

James Nesbitt was given coaching to perfect the accent but it was discarded on the advice of both the director and his co-star Daniela Nardini.

James Nesbitt was considering taking time off from acting and did not really want the role in Match Point.

James Nesbitt sent in an audition tape and was accepted for the part.

James Nesbitt's character appears at the end of the film and he read only that part of the script, so did not know the full circumstances of the crime Banner investigates.

James Nesbitt returned to theatre acting in June 2005 when he appeared in David Nicholls' After Sun, a ten-minute-play performed as part of the Old Vic's 24-Hour Play season.

James Nesbitt enjoyed the stimulation of learning his lines and rehearsing with the cast and director.

James Nesbitt spent an hour each day being made up as Hyde; a wig altered his hairline and prosthetics were added to his chin, nose and ear lobes.

James Nesbitt wore black contact lenses to make Hyde "soulless", though CGI was used to show the transformation from Jackman in close-ups.

James Nesbitt had originally rejected the script due to other filming commitments, but accepted the role after his agent told him to re-read it before making a final decision.

James Nesbitt was pleased to learn that the serial was being produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark, whose Bleak House adaptation he had enjoyed, and that he would be appearing with his Jekyll co-star Denis Lawson.

James Nesbitt met with Griffin before filming began to learn about how his brother's murder affected him.

In Occupation, set over six years, James Nesbitt's character is one of three British soldiers who return to Basra, Iraq after their tours have concluded.

James Nesbitt researched the role by speaking to Territorial Army soldiers in Belfast, and RAF officers in Morocco, where the serial was filmed.

In March 2009, James Nesbitt signed a contract with the American talent agency United Talent Agency, as the global financial crisis was restricting roles in British television.

James Nesbitt continued to be represented in the United Kingdom by Artists Rights Group.

The next year James Nesbitt played the hunter Cathal in the low-budget British horror film Outcast, which was a departure from his previous character types.

James Nesbitt had previously worked with the film's director and co-writer Colm McCarthy on Murphy's Law, which was one reason he took the role.

James Nesbitt researched the mythical aspects of the character by reading about Irish folklore and beliefs.

James Nesbitt starred alongside Minnie Driver and his Welcome to Sarajevo co-star Goran Visnjic in the Tiger Aspect television serial The Deep.

August 2010 saw the release of Nadia Tass's film Matching Jack, in which James Nesbitt plays the leading role of Connor.

James Nesbitt became involved in the film after reading an early script draft in 2006.

In 2008, the global financial crisis severely reduced the budget of the film, and James Nesbitt volunteered a reduction in his salary so the film could still be made.

James Nesbitt researched the role of the neurosurgeon character by watching brain surgery being performed by Henry Marsh, and by consulting Philip Van Hille at Leeds General Infirmary.

Alongside many other British and Irish actors, James Nesbitt was cast in Peter Jackson's three-part film The Hobbit, as the dwarf Bofur.

In 2002, Nesbitt made his documentary debut as the presenter of James Nesbitt's Blazing Saddles, a production for BBC Choice that saw him spend two weeks in Las Vegas at the National Finals Rodeo and the Miss Rodeo America pageant.

An amateur golfer since his teenage years, James Nesbitt joined the European team for Sky One's All*Star Cup in 2005 and 2006.

James Nesbitt signed up to a series of high-profile television advertisements for the Yell Group in 2003, playing a hapless character called James for the company's Yellow Pages campaign until 2006.

Times writer Andrew Billen noted that the adverts "cost him some credibility" but James Nesbitt was pleased with the money he made from them.

James Nesbitt's vocals have appeared in Lucky Break and an episode of Cold Feet.

James Nesbitt hosted the 2013 British Independent Film Awards in London on 8 December 2013.

In 2014, James Nesbitt had the lead role as the father character Tony Hughes in harrowing BBC drama series The Missing, alongside Frances O'Connor and Tcheky Karyo.

In 2021, photographs of James Nesbitt were used in Series 6 of Line of Duty to represent the unseen character of DI Marcus Thurwell, James Nesbitt himself did not appear in the series.

James Nesbitt starred in the 2021 Netflix series, Stay Close, adapted from the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben.

James Nesbitt was married to Sonia Forbes-Adam, the daughter of the Reverend Sir Timothy Forbes Adam.

In October 2013, James Nesbitt announced that he and his wife would separate after 19 years.

James Nesbitt is a patron of Wave, a charity set up to support those traumatised by the Troubles.

James Nesbitt has been an honorary patron of Youth Lyric, one of Ireland's largest theatre schools, since 2007.

James Nesbitt is a fan of football teams Coleraine FC, Rangers FCand, most passionately, Manchester United FC He supports the Northern Irish national football team.

James Nesbitt has called the team "a heartbeat" of Coleraine and encouraged more people to watch Irish League football.

James Nesbitt was a vocal opponent of Malcolm Glazer's 2005 takeover of Manchester United; however, after the completion of the deal, he acted in television advertisements promoting executive boxes at Old Trafford and was criticised by fans.

In March 2010, James Nesbitt accepted the ceremonial position of Chancellor of Ulster University, succeeding former Lord Mayor of London Sir Richard Nichols.

Gerry Mallon, then-chair of the university ruling council, expected James Nesbitt to "bring considerable energy, dynamism and commitment" to the post.

James Nesbitt was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama and to the community in Northern Ireland.

James Nesbitt was born into a Unionist family but now identifies as "an Irishman, from the north of Ireland"; he holds both British and Irish passports.

James Nesbitt was the keynote speaker at a 2022 rally organised by Ireland's Future.