Colin Morgan: Difference between revisions

Colin Morgan
Colin Morgan promoting BBC TV series Merlin at 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	(1986-01-01) 1 January 1986 (age 39) Armagh, Northern Ireland
Education	Integrated College Dungannon Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education
Alma mater	Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2007–present

Colin Morgan (born 1 January 1986) is a Northern Irish film, television and theatre actor best known for playing the title character in the BBC TV series Merlin. He made his West End theatre acting debut in 2007 as Vernon Little in DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little, followed by his role as Esteban in Pedro Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother). Since then, he has been in the London theatre productions Thomas Babe's A Prayer for My Daughter (2008), Pedro Miguel Rozo's Our Private Life (2011), Step in Time at The Old Vic 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala (2012), Shakespeare's The Tempest (2013), and Jez Butterworth's Mojo (2013–14). His first main part on television was as the title character in the BBC TV series Merlin (2008–12). He is a recent addition to the second series of award-winning Northern Ireland television crime drama The Fall (2014) as Tom Anderson. He will also portray the lead role Leo in the AMC/Channel 4 Sci-fi TV Series Humans (2015). His film roles include Parked (2010) and Island (2011). His current film projects Testament of Youth and Legend are scheduled for release in 2015. Additionally, he has been cast as Sean MacDiarmada, the film's lead, in the historical 1916 Irish Easter Rising 100 year anniversary film, The Rising (2016).

For his performance in Merlin, he has received the Outstanding Newcomer award from Variety Club Showbiz Awards (2008), nominations for Outstanding Actor (Drama) in the Monte Carlo TV Festival Awards (2009, 2010, 2011), the Best Actor award in Virgin Media TV Awards (2012), and the prestigious Best Actor in Drama Performance: Male award in National Television Awards (2013). He also won Best Featured Actor in a New Production of a Play as Ariel in the Shakespeare play, The Tempest, in Broadway World West End Awards (2013). On October 2013, he was in the number one spot in BuzzFeed's "The 17 Rising British Actors Most Likely To Do A Cumberbatch."^[1] And on April 2014, The Daily Edge included him in their list of "8 young Irish actors who could be on the brink of global stardom."^[2] Additionally, on December 2014, The Independent listed him as one of their "Bright Young Things: 10 Faces to Watch in 2015."^[3]

Morgan was born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, the son of a painter and a nurse.^[4] He is the younger of two brothers and was raised as a Roman Catholic during "The Troubles," a period of political, ethnic, and sectarian violence where the threat of bombings and shootings became a normal part of growing up.^[5] Despite limited opportunities due to the turmoil surrounding him, his natural acting ability and ambition was evident from an early age -- he was only five years old when he made his acting debut, appearing in the chorus in a production of Cinderella and then Peter Pan, then going on to participate in various local amateur stage productions during his childhood.^[5] While he was attending Saints and Scholars Integrated Primary School, Morgan had a teacher named Harry McGee who was a tremendous inspiration to him and whose support and belief made a real difference in how he felt and gave him the real confidence to go on. According to Morgan, "He recognized something in me that... He would stay behind after class each day and he'd pull out a poem and he'd say, 'Let’s work on this,' and we'd just do it. He really believed in me and really fueled my passion. And that’s all it takes sometimes, I think, just one person to believe in you."^[6]

Morgan was inspired to become a professional actor. From the age of eleven, he studied in Integrated College Dungannon from 1997 until 2002, winning the 'Denis Rooney Associates Cup' for best overall student in Year 10. The school described him as a keen musician and budding actor, as he starred in several college productions including the renowned Surgical Sensations at St Senapods and Bad Day at Black Frog Creek.^[7] Morgan's drama teacher at the college, James McCoy, said this about him, "His potential to become a successful actor was evident from a young age here at ICD. He participated wholeheartedly in every Drama class, concert and production that the college was showcasing. He loved Drama and he was a pleasure to teach."^[8] On 12 September 2002 (but with a broadcast date of 27 October 2002), at the age of 16, Morgan (among 100 other young contestants) auditioned at Belfast's Waterfront Hall for the You're A Star RTÉ One programme which was in search of star quality performers. The winner was to receive a record contract and also to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest. He didn't make it but was quoted as saying, "I was turned down but it's not the end of the world. I'm going to try and make it on stage one day."^[9] Determined, he went on to study in Belfast, and every day for two years, he commuted between Armagh and Belfast for an hour and twenty minutes each way because it was the closest place that had a college that offered drama as a subject.^[5] There, he was awarded a National Diploma in Performing Arts from the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education in 2004. After leaving Northern Ireland, he attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where he graduated in 2007. In the final year of his under-graduate course, he was discovered by theatre director Rufus Norris and had to leave three-quarters of the way through to make his professional London West End theatre debut as the title character of Vernon God Little, a critically acclaimed role that was assessed for his final grade.^[4][10]

In November 2010, the Belfast Metropolitan College (formerly the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education) honoured Morgan with an Award of Distinction for his contribution to the Arts.^[11]

In 2007, while still in drama school, Morgan made a sensational professional stage debut in the West End as Vernon Little, the title role of the Young Vic's adaptation of DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little.^[10] As Vernon, a troubled Texan teenager on the run from cops, The Telegraph said that he "captures all the vulnerability, confusion and gallows humour of the adolescent hero who finds himself in no end of trouble... By the end you feel like cheering him on to a happy ending,"^[12] while The Stage said this about his performance, "Full of restless energy and youthful charisma from start to finish, Morgan is an absolute delight and carries the weight of the production on his shoulders with ease and a certain swagger, in what is his major stage debut."^[13] In the same year, he played the role of Esteban, an aspiring teenage writer, in the Old Vic stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother) opposite Dame Diana Rigg, Lesley Manville, and Mark Gatiss.

Morgan appeared in the 2008 Young Vic production of Thomas Babe's A Prayer for My Daughter as Jimmy Rosario, a young Latino junkie being interrogated for a murder crime in a downtown New York Police station. For this role, in which he had a nude scene during a tense part of the interrogation, The Independent said that his portrayal of "the waif-like and wasted Jimmy, whose twisting, twitching mood-swings and mix of half-druggy cackling punk and half-angelic visionary [was] brought to life,"^[14] while Variety also gave him excellent reviews for his "remarkable level of twitchy intensity."^[15]

In 2011, he performed in the Royal Court Theatre production of Colombian dramaturg Pedro Miguel Rozo's play Our Private Life to favourable reviews as Carlos, a gay, unhappy "bipolar compulsive fantasist," who thinks he may have been molested by his father as a child.^[16][17] On 9 December 2012, Morgan performed in Step in Time at The Old Vic 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala in aid of The Old Vic Trust as Gary, a flamboyant dance instructor trying to win the heart of one of his students.^[18]

He played the nimble and fey spirit Ariel opposite Roger Allam's Prospero in the 2013 Globe Theatre production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, which was later broadcast to cinemas as a part of Globe On Screen in May 2014, getting good reviews,^[19] and with a subsequent DVD release in July 2014.^[20][21] For this role, he gave his portrayal of Ariel a unique and memorable take, as he combined the pale, ethereal stillness with acrobatic precision that he learned from parkour trainer, Chris Rowat.^[22] Peter Marks, a theatre critic for the Washington Post, said that Morgan was a "terrific young actor," that he "can't remember a better Ariel," and that Morgan's portrayal was "mysterious, in a way [he's] never quite experienced before -- also wonderfully vulnerable,"^[23] while Birmingham Post's review of the play that was screened live from Globe Theatre Malvern Festival Theatres said that, "...the quality of the acting surpassed everything and Colin Morgan’s Ariel is arguably the best to date. Morgan has an athlete’s build and the poise of a fine actor. Add to this a sense of restraint and otherworldliness and you can see why Prospero views him with a touch of unease."^[24]

From 2013 to 2014, he took on the role of Skinny Luke with an ensemble cast including Brendan Coyle, Ben Whishaw, Rupert Grint and Daniel Mays in Jez Butterworth's dark comedy Mojo, set during the fledgling rock 'n' roll scene of 50s Soho, and performed in the Harold Pinter Theatre.^[25] Mojo received good reviews^[26] and the London production was extended for two weeks, finishing on 8 February 2014.^[27] Radio Times described his performance as "an accomplished study in human weakness as Skinny, his eventual fate played with precision and pathos" and in his final scene, Morgan impressed viewers and critics alike.^[28] The Daily Express's Simon Edge said that Morgan "does one of the best death scenes [he's] ever seen," possibly setting a new precedent in on-stage death scenes.^[29]

In television, Morgan first appeared as embarrassed gay son John Leary in sketches on The Catherine Tate Show episode "Christmas Special" in 2007. In 2008, he portrayed the conflicted emo space boy Jethro Cane opposite David Tennant in the fan-favourite Doctor Who episode "Midnight."

Morgan is best known for playing the title role in BBC TV series Merlin from 2008 to 2012 with a main cast including Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Richard Wilson, John Hurt, Anthony Head, and Nathaniel Parker.^[30] Merlin, a young warlock who was Arthur's servant and Gaius' ward, must secretly develop his magical gifts under the gaze of kings Uther and Arthur, both of whom despise the art. The show was loosely based on the Arthurian legends of the young wizard Merlin and his relationship with King Arthur but differs from traditional versions. It was broadcast on BBC One from 20 September 2008 to 24 December 2012 with 65 episodes. The series was also popular worldwide, broadcast in 183 countries. For this role, Morgan won multiple awards and nominations, including the Caron Keating Outstanding Newcomer Award in the 56th annual Variety Club Showbiz Award ceremony on 16 November 2008 at the start of the series and the Best Actor in Drama Performance: Male award in the 2013 National Television Awards at the conclusion of the series.^[31] Before auditioning for the role of Merlin, Morgan got the script for Prince Arthur by mistake. He only had five minutes before auditioning to read over his part of Merlin.^[32][9]

The role of Merlin was the most difficult to cast, according to Merlin co-creator and executive producer Johnny Capps. He said: "We had to find an actor who has a broad playing range, someone with the lightness of touch who will be able to deal with action and magic. There's a lot of green-screen work. We were looking for all of those qualities or the potential of those qualities, and the other important thing for Merlin was likeability. If the audience didn't like Merlin then we might as well go home. We had an instinct about Colin. At first we weren't sure about him but then saw him again and again and we watched back his final auditions and said, 'He's perfect for the part.'"^[33]

The television series usually filmed eight months of the year in Wales and France. In between filming, Morgan had various projects ranging from film, theatre, and documentaries for the series. He, and co-star Bradley James, travelled on an exploration of Arthurian legends for BBC Wales, The Real Merlin & Arthur, in 2009. In the same year, he and the rest of the cast also did a behind the scenes special for Merlin called Merlin: Secrets and Magic for BBC.^[34]

Morgan appeared as ambitious journalist Jimmy Minor in 1950s Irish Crime Drama Quirke episode "Elegy for April" (2014), based on the books by John Banville (written under the pseudonym Benjamin Black).^[35]

On April 2014, it was announced that he will take on the role of Tom Anderson, a Detective Sergeant, joining Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan as one of the lead characters in the second series of award-winning BBC Two and RTÉ One drama serial The Fall.^[36] Morgan, like his character in The Fall, was approached to come on board; he met with writer Allan Cubitt and lead actress Gillian Anderson in London to discuss his involvement. To prepare for the role of the ambitious young cop, Morgan read up on police procedures and spoke to the set's police advisor. He said: "One of the things that was important for me to understand was procedure, particularly investigative interviewing techniques. I looked a lot into that, how things can be worded and presented, even down to things like the layout of a room or a crime scene... As much as you can act, it's better to have an understanding of what you're doing." He even did an impromptu interview of two police officers he saw in the street in London.^[37]

Morgan is set to star as Leo in Humans, the upcoming AMC/Channel 4 eight part sci-fi drama. The series is an adaptation of the Swedish series Real Humans. Filming commences Fall 2014 with a 2015 premiere.^[38]

In film, Morgan portrayed the role of the homeless, drug-addict Cathal O'Regan opposite Colm Meaney in the 2010 independent Irish film Parked, where he employed method acting as he spent a good few weeks in Dublin in various locations such as the Aids Alliance to research meticulously about drug addiction and homelessness before starting the film, took up smoking for a month, and used a local Dublin accent.^[39][40][41] The film has received multiple awards in various Film Festivals around the world, and his performance has been well-praised by the director Darragh Byrne as well as multiple critics.^{[41][42][43][44]}

In 2011, Morgan appeared in the film Island, an independent film adaptation of Jane Rogers' novel Island, as the slow, almost childlike (but with violent tendencies) Calum MacLeod, using a Scottish accent for the role.^[45][46]

Morgan portrayed WWI British soldier Victor Richardson, a school friend of Vera Brittain's brother Edward, in a BBC Films and Heyday Films feature adaptation of her first World War I memoir Testament of Youth, a film made in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of World War I.^[47][48] To prepare for the role, Morgan read the World War I books by Vera Brittain as well as the letters exchanged between Vera, Victor, and their other friends. He also contacted a Blind Veterans Charity in Brighton, going down there and interviewing someone who was older who had lost their sight in the Second World War, as well as someone younger whose blindness was more recent. He got both perspectives, but he also got to experience blindness using a blindfold and becoming a resident for five or six hours.^[49] Testament of Youth has a UK premiere of 16 January 2015 though its world premiere was featured in the The Centrepiece Gala, at the British Film Institute London Film Festival on 14, 16 and 17 October 2014.^[50][51] Reviews for the film has been excellent, and there has been a lot of praise for Morgan's portrayal. British Film Institute's brochure said, "Shining brightly and lingering long in the mind afterwards, are the performances of three rising British stars – Kit Harington, Taron Egerton and Colin Morgan – who do collective justice to the memory of the ordinary heroes they portray,”^[52] while Screen Relish said this about Morgan: "Colin Morgan as Victor Richardson is the best of the boys, perfectly cast for his take-him-home-to-mother-him childlike face, which Morgan fantastically merges with the sweet but pitiable Victor, who hardens as the war worsens."^[53] Rosie Alison, a producer at Heyday Films, said this about Morgan: "a brilliantly subtle, searching actor – and I was in tears even at his audition as Victor, when he returns from the Front blind. In his performance as Victor, who carries a candle for Vera, he offers a wonderfully poignant tenderness."^[54]

Additionally, Morgan will feature as Frankie Shea, the brother-in-law of Tom Hardy's Reggie Kray, in the 1960s London gangster film Legend based on the book "The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins" by John Pearson.^[55] Legend is scheduled for release on 18 Sept 2015.^[56]

Morgan was announced to play the lead Sean MacDiarmada, an Irish revolutionary in the bloody 1916 Irish Easter Rising, for the 100 year commemoration film The Rising (2016), written and produced by Kevin McCann.^[57]

Morgan has taken part in BBC Radio play, Cry Babies by Kim Newman, on BBC Radio 4 (March 2009), playing the part of Roger.^[58] He stars as Newton Pulsifer in the first audio dramatisation of the popular book Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, directed and adapted by Dirk Maggs, and produced by Heather Larmour; and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.^[59]

For the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking in the North Atlantic on 14 April 2012, Morgan performed readings from survivor's accounts and testimonials during Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film, broadcast live on BBC2 from Belfast's Waterfront Hall.^[60]

On 27 Aug 2014, Morgan narrated Big Mountain Productions' Addicts Symphony on Channel 4. The one off documentary followed composer, musician and recovering alcoholic James McConnel who brought together ten classical musicians whose lives have been blighted by addiction for a spectacular concert.^[61][62]

Morgan voiced the game sequences in Merlin: The Game (2012), playing as Merlin.^[63][64]

Morgan prefers not to discuss his personal life, saying:

If I could change anything about the entertainment industry it would be the 'celebrity culture.' Something has been lost somewhere along the way with the craft of story-telling and I agree with Paul Newman when he said something along the lines of "people don't shoot movies now, they shoot schedules, they shoot budgets." There are of course exceptions but when the creativity is overshadowed by 'the business', I often feel disappointed by that. We have some amazing film makers who are keeping the spirit of the craft alive and that's a hub of excitement I want to be in.^[65]

Among the few definite things that are known about him is the fact that, being a vegetarian because of his allergies and lactose intolerance, he can cook.^[9] He loves farmers' markets as well as Thai food.^[9] And he said, "I’m very interested in where food comes from. I think a lot of the health problems people face now are as a result of what they are eating. And I don’t just mean junk food. I’m talking about eating food where you don’t know where it has come from."^[66] His other great passion is the natural world, and he is always hungry for new experiences. He considers Sir David Attenborough, who is the face and voice of natural history programmes, as his hero. The conservation and protection of the natural world is very important to him, especially seeing animals in their natural habitats.^[66] He is into yoga, and says, "Yoga is phenomenal. I like the breathing, and the focus that it brings. But I can be quite energetic if I’m doing a play. You will often find me running along the corridors to let off steam."^[66] He is also into Anime, escapism, and rollercoasters. His favourite animated film is Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle. Additionally, he is an avid reader, known to research a lot about his acting roles by reading as much as possible. His favourite books are those by Terry Pratchett, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Yann Martel's Life Of Pi and the Bone comic book series. He is also a big fan of directors Tim Burton and Sam Mendes, as well as the band Death Cab for Cutie.^[9]

Morgan is an accomplished Bodhrán (Irish drum) player, a strong swimmer, and has a BAF 1 Star Stage Combat Certificate. He also has a great ear for accents. Apart from his native Northern Irish one, he can do RP English, Scottish, Dublin Irish, London Cockney, and American English.^[67] The biggest telltale sign of this talent is when he used RP English for five years in Merlin, and during his acceptance speech for Best Drama Performance: Actor in the 2013 National Television Awards, he caused bewildered spectators who had no idea he was from Northern Ireland to trend "Merlin is Irish" on Twitter.^[68]

From October 2009 until its conclusion on March 2011, Morgan was an official ambassador for the A Night Less Ordinary scheme which Arts Council England, in association with Metro, offered free theatre tickets to anyone under 26 years old.^[69][70][71] In 2010, he contributed several signed pictures to the 2010 Wamcare (Worldwide Association for ME/CFS Awareness and Research) charity auction, whose profits are destined for top quality biomedical research, including a large share to the Whittemore Peterson Institute and ME Research UK.^[72] He also donated his signature to StarCards (both individually and together with Bradley James) to support the 2010 Christmas auction, the funds to be donated to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.^[73][9] Additionally, he contributed a painting from the Merlin: Colin and Bradley Quest series to the 2010 BBC Children in Need official auction. It was sold for £620.00.^[9]

On 9 April 2011, Morgan collected funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital during the autograph signing session at the Kapow Comic Con Merlin panel, in London.^[9] In 2012, he contributed a doodled and signed cotton handkerchief for the Celebrity Hanky Doodle Auction for the Silent Auction charity which benefit Godolphin and Latymer School.^[74] On 9 December 2012, he was a part of the 24 Hour Musicals at the Old Vic Theatre, a glamorous, adrenaline-fuelled event that brought together more than 30 celebrated actors, directors, writers and composers to create four short musicals in just 24 hours. Everyone gathered the evening prior to prepare for an exhilarating, collaborative process, culminating in four world premieres presented to an audience of more than 1000. The evening raised a remarkable £182,000.00 towards the work that they do with emerging talent, schools and the community.^[75]

In 2011, Morgan was immortalised as the wax sculpture of his iconic character Merlin. At Warwick Castle, an attraction has been created entitled Merlin: The Dragon Tower, in which visitors are, "transported to the heart of Camelot to discover the secrets that are hidden deep inside the Tower before your ultimate encounter with the Great Dragon himself."^[76] People can meet Merlin (from the BBC TV Series Merlin) himself – or at least a true-to-life wax model, which was created with over 300 measurements and a catalogue of reference shots of Colin Morgan himself.^[76]

Upon seeing his wax work, Morgan said: "Little did I think that when I visited Madame Tussauds as a kid that I would have the honour of having the same fantastic team making a wax figure of myself. It’s truly amazing and I can’t praise their hard work enough in creating such a brilliant life-like me."^[76]

The wax model cost £150,000.00 and the entire castle experience is a £3 mil. investment by the Merlin Entertainment Group to promote the show.^[77]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Colin Morgan.

• Colin Morgan at IMDb
• Colin Morgan at United Agents
• Colin Morgan France (French fansite)

Template:Persondata