Peter Mullan

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
birthdate = Birth date and age|1956|11|12|mf=y
birthplace = Peterhead, Scotland

Peter Mullan (born October 21 1956) is a Scottish actor and internationally acclaimed film maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.

Biography

Early life

Mullan, the fifth of eight children, was born in Peterhead, in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019185/bio Peter Mullan Biography - Yahoo! Movies ] ] [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/1/Peter-Mullan.html Peter Mullan Biography (1960-) ] ] His family was Roman Catholic [ [http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,793110,00.html Derek Malcolm talks to director Peter Mullan | Features | Guardian Unlimited Film ] ] and moved to Cardonald, a working class suburb on the south side of Glasgow. An alcoholic and latterly a sufferer from lung cancer, Mullan's father became increasingly tyrannical and abusive. When he was fourteen, Peter tried to poison him with sleeping pills. For a brief period, Mullan was a member of a street gang while at high school, and worked as a bouncer in a number of rough south-side pubs. His father died on the day Peter started his studies in economic history and drama at the Glasgow University.

Career

At University, Mullan began acting, and continued stage acting after graduation. He had roles in several Scottish films, including "Shallow Grave", "Trainspotting", "Braveheart", and a supporting role in Ken Loach's "Riff-Raff". He also began to work as a writer and director, producing the short films "Close", "Good Day for the Bad Guys", and "Fridge". His first full-length film "Orphans" won an award at the Venice Film Festival.

Mullan's appearance in Loach's 1998 film "My Name Is Joe", portraying a recovering alcoholic wrestling with his demons, won him the best actor prize at celtic awards the Cannes Film Festival. He appeared in the lead role in Brad Anderson's 2001 psychological/supernatural thriller Session 9. In 2002 he returned to directing and screenwriting with the controversial film "The Magdalene Sisters", based on life in an Irish Magdalene Asylum. For that movie Mullan won a Golden Lion award from the Venice Film Festival. In 2004, he starred in "On a Clear Day". In 2006 he featured in "Children of Men", a thriller directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2007, he played a prominent role in the Channel 4 adaptation of Boy A, and will star as the Irish freedom fighter James Connolly in the upcoming movie "Connolly". He currently co-stars in the ITV crime drama The Fixer. Mullan also had a short stint in a bbc childrens program called shoebox zoo in which he played a wizard. he sung a rite gid celtic sang once

Personal life & activism

Mullan's partner is human rights campaigner Robina Qureshi. A UK tabloid newspaper revealed their relationship in September 2006 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5331920.stm BBC NEWS | Scotland | What the Scottish Sunday papers say ] ] . The couple had their first baby, Sophia, in March 2008. [ [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/newsfeed/2008/03/21/baby-girl-joy-for-fixer-star-86908-20358060/ Daily Record | Scotland | Baby Girl Joy For Fixer Star ] ] Mullan has three children from a former relationship.

A Marxist, Mullan was a leading figure in the left-wing theatre movement which blossomed in Scotland during the Conservative Thatcher government, including stints in the and Wildcat theatre companies. He is a strident critic of Tony Blair's New Labour government, telling "The Guardian" "the TUC and the Labour Party sold us [the working class] out big style, unashamedly so". [ [http://film.guardian.co.uk/Player/Player_Page/0,4159,42318,00.html Peter Mullan | | Guardian Unlimited Film ] ]

References

External links

* [http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,418746,00.html Detailed interview with Peter Mullan]
* [http://film.guardian.co.uk/Player/Player_Page/0,4159,42318,00.html "Guardian" biography]
* [http://election.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=811&id=1832462005 "Scotsman" story about Mullan and the SSP]
* [http://www.revolutionarycommunistgroup.com/frfi/188/188_dep.html"RCG" Mullan against dawn raids]
*imdb name|0611932