---
name: "Jonathan Rhys Meyers"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jonathan-rhys-meyers"
fi1m_id: "jonathan-rhys-meyers"
imdb_id: "nm0001667"
tmdb_id: 1244
wikidata_id: "Q213567"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "27 July 1977"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 68
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-05T13:04:19.199912+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jonathan Rhys Meyers

## Identity

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jonathan-rhys-meyers
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jonathan-rhys-meyers
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001667
- **TMDB ID:** 1244
- **Wikidata ID:** Q213567
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q213567, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001667/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1244

Actor. Born 27 July 1977 in Cork, Ireland.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 27 July 1977, Cork, Ireland
- **Active:** 1996–2013
- **Also known as:** Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keefe, JRM, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
- **Golden Globes:** 1 Golden Globe (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 68, as actor, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 78 (2), 2000s 70 (3), 2010s 56 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 68 to 62 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 6 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Action 2, Romance 2, Thriller 2, Action & Adventure 1, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $592m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q213567, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001667/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1244

## Coming up

- *Wilde VS England* (2028-01-05), as Oscar Wilde

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Bend It Like Beckham*](https://film.one/film/bend-it-like-beckham.md) (76)
- **Paramount+:** [*Mission: Impossible III*](https://film.one/film/mission-impossible-iii.md) (70)
- **Hulu:** [*The Tudors*](https://film.one/tv/the-tudors.md) (65)
- **Netflix:** [*The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones*](https://film.one/film/the-mortal-instruments-city-of-bones.md) (38)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jonathan Rhys Meyers

> Jonathan Rhys Meyers makes extravagant characters worth taking seriously. We value his conviction in *Velvet Goldmine*, even when Brian Slade remains difficult to know; the seriousness beneath the display is what holds our attention.

In *Velvet Goldmine* (1998), Jonathan Rhys Meyers wears Brian Slade's extravagance without treating it as a joke. His glam-rock singer is convincing as someone a fan could build a life around. We were moved by the urgency Rhys Meyers gives Slade's wish to be seen differently. Director Todd Haynes allows that wish to look a little ridiculous without making it contemptible. The performance gives us a reason to stay through the film's cumbersome investigation.

That combination of attraction and distance helps explain the casting that followed. After a supporting role in Neil Jordan's *Michael Collins* (1996), *Velvet Goldmine* put him at the centre as a performer inviting devotion. The title role in the miniseries *Elvis* (2005) returned him to a singer, while Woody Allen's *Match Point* (2005) gave him the lead as Chris Wilton. Television then offered the longer stretch of Henry VIII in *The Tudors* (2007–2010). These were parts that needed his ability to make other people's fascination believable.

His own reservation about Slade is useful: he has said he became too caught up in the fantasy and should have played him as working class. In *Velvet Goldmine*, Ewan McGregor's Curt Wild loosens things up, and Toni Collette gives Mandy Slade a sharper emotional presence than the writing usually grants the others. Rhys Meyers's seriousness is valuable, but it does not solve the unevenness of Haynes's screenplay. The music, with contributions from Carter Burwell and Craig Wedren, lets us enjoy the performances before we have to interpret them. When the dialogue struggles to persuade us, the soundtrack often succeeds.

His later television work continued the emphasis on intense men in period settings, with *Dracula* (2013–14) and Bishop Heahmund in *Vikings* (2017–2019). The latter reunited him with *The Tudors* creator Michael Hirst. We would be wary of treating that casting as the whole of what he can do: Slade is compelling because the wish to become someone else matters to him, not simply because he looks the part. Begin with *Velvet Goldmine*, and allow for the stretches when the music has to do the persuading.

## Biography

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is an Irish actor. Born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe on 27 July 1977, he adopted his stage name early in his career. His film debut was as Collins' Assassin in *Michael Collins* (1996).

He is known for roles in *Bend It Like Beckham* (2002), *Match Point* (2005), *Mission: Impossible III* (2006) and as Henry VIII in the television series *The Tudors* (2007–2010). He won a Golden Globe Award for playing Elvis Presley in the 2005 miniseries *Elvis*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, irishtimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones* (2013), Fi1m 38, as Valentine — [page](https://film.one/film/the-mortal-instruments-city-of-bones.md)
- *Vikings* (2013), Fi1m 74, as Bishop Heahmund — [page](https://film.one/tv/vikings.md)
- *The Tudors* (2007), Fi1m 65, as Henry VIII of England — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-tudors.md)
- *Mission: Impossible III* (2006), Fi1m 70, as Declan — [page](https://film.one/film/mission-impossible-iii.md)
- *Bend It Like Beckham* (2002), Fi1m 76, as Joe — [page](https://film.one/film/bend-it-like-beckham.md)
- *Velvet Goldmine* (1998), Fi1m 81, as Brian Slade — [page](https://film.one/film/velvet-goldmine.md)
- *Michael Collins* (1996), Fi1m 75, as Collin's Assassin — [page](https://film.one/film/michael-collins.md)

## Complete filmography (75)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Wilde VS England* (2028), as Oscar Wilde
- *The Room Below* (2026), Actor
- *Viper* (2026), as Trey 'Wolf' Johnson
- *Operation Blood Hunt* (2024), as Murphy
- *The Clean Up Crew* (2024), as Alex
- *97 Minutes* (2023), as Alex
- *Mercy* (2023), as Sean Quinn
- *Ambush* (2023), as Miller
- *Disquiet* (2023), as Sam
- *Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders* (2022), as Kyle
- *Wifelike* (2022), as William
- *The Good Neighbor* (2022), as Robert
- *The Survivalist* (2021), as Ben
- *Hide and Seek* (2021), as Noah Blackwell
- *American Night* (2021), as John Kaplan
- *Edge of the World* (2021), as Sir James Brooke
- *Yakuza Princess* (2021), as Shirô
- *Awake* (2019), as John Doe
- *Holy Lands* (2019), as David
- *The Aspern Papers* (2019), as Morton Vint · Executive Producer
- *The 12th Man* (2017), as Kurt Stage · Executive Producer
- *Damascus Cover* (2017), as Ari Ben-Sion / Hans Hoffmann · Producer
- *London Town* (2017), as Joe Strummer
- *Black Butterfly* (2017), as Jack
- *The Shadow Effect* (2017), as Reese
- *Roots* (2016), series, as Tom Lea
- *Stonewall* (2015), as Trevor
- *Eternal Return* (2013), as Narrator
- *Another Me* (2013), as John
- *Dracula* (2013), series, as Dracula/Alexander Grayson/Vlad Tepes
- *The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones* (2013), as Valentine — Fi1m 38, [page](https://film.one/film/the-mortal-instruments-city-of-bones.md)
- *Vikings* (2013), series, as Bishop Heahmund — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/vikings.md)
- *Belle du Seigneur* (2012), as Solal
- *Albert Nobbs* (2011), as Viscount Yarrell
- *6 Souls* (2010), as David / Adam / Wesley
- *From Paris with Love* (2010), as James Reece
- *A Film with Me in It* (2008), as Pierce 2
- *The Children of Huang Shi* (2008), as George Hogg
- *August Rush* (2007), as Louis Connelly
- *The Tudors* (2007), series, as Henry VIII of England — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-tudors.md)
- *Mission: Impossible III* (2006), as Declan — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/mission-impossible-iii.md)
- *Match Point* (2005), as Chris Wilton
- *Elvis* (2005), series, as Elvis Presley
- *Alexander* (2004), as Cassander
- *Vanity Fair* (2004), as George Osborne
- *The Tesseract* (2004), as Sean
- *The Lion in Winter* (2003), as Philip
- *The Emperor's Wife* (2003), as Chamberlain
- *Prozac Nation* (2003), as Noah
- *Octane* (2003), as The Father
- *I'll Sleep When I'm Dead* (2003), as Davey
- *Bend It Like Beckham* (2002), as Joe — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/bend-it-like-beckham.md)
- *The Magnificent Ambersons* (2002), as George Amberson Minafer
- *Tangled* (2001), as Alan Hammond
- *Happy Now* (2001), as Mark Wraith
- *Gormenghast* (2000), series, as Steerpike
- *Titus* (1999), as Chiron
- *Ride with the Devil* (1999), as Pitt Mackeson
- *B. Monkey* (1999), as Bruno
- *The Loss of Sexual Innocence* (1999), as Nic, aged 16
- *Velvet Goldmine* (1998), as Brian Slade — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/velvet-goldmine.md)
- *The Governess* (1998), as Henry Cavendish
- *The Tribe* (1998), as Adam
- *Telling Lies in America* (1997), as Kevin Boyle
- *The Maker* (1997), as Josh Minnell
- *The Disappearance of Finbar* (1997), as Finbar Flynn
- *Samson and Delilah* (1996), series, as 14-Year-Old Samson
- *Killer Tongue* (1996), as Rudolph
- *Michael Collins* (1996), as Collin's Assassin — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/michael-collins.md)
- *A Man of No Importance* (1994), as First Young Man
- *Blood and Dust*, Actor
- *The Rising: 1916*, as P. H. Pearse
- *Eyes in the Trees*, as Vince Henway
- *The Paralytic*, as Carpenter
- *The Catch*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Jonathan Rhys Meyers](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-bc4a73046a91.jpg) Jonathan Rhys Meyers — Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers_Cabourg_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jonathan in Los Angeles 2019](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-70750aec957e.jpg) Jonathan in Los Angeles 2019 — Xander1599, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Johnathan_and_Mara_2019.jpg/1280px-Johnathan_and_Mara_2019.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jonathan Rhys Meyers at the Mission: Impossible 3 British premiere. (2006)](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-6fd5052f0030.jpg) Jonathan Rhys Meyers at the Mission: Impossible 3 British premiere. (2006) — Caroline Bonarde Ucci at https://www.flickr.com/photos/caroline_bonarde/, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/JonathanRhysMeyersApr06.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Photographer: Brian_Bowen_Smith (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-4241542b286c.jpg) Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Photographer: Brian_Bowen_Smith (2023) — Brian Bowen Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jonathan Rhys Meyers](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-5ac22afebf9c.jpg) Jonathan Rhys Meyers — Image via TMDB
- ![Jonathan Rhys Meyers](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-2ed53baec0ea.jpg) Jonathan Rhys Meyers — Image via TMDB
- ![Jonathan Rhys Meyers](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-924860ec3047.jpg) Jonathan Rhys Meyers — Image via TMDB
- ![White House Correspondents Dinner (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-81608d922c26.jpg) White House Correspondents Dinner (2009) — angela n. from Washington, DC, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers_%283537142479%29.jpg/1280px-Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers_%283537142479%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![White House Correspondents Dinner (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/86906/gallery-38e5e7b35dff.jpg) White House Correspondents Dinner (2009) — angela n. from Washington, DC, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers_%283537953866%29.jpg/1280px-Jonathan_Rhys_Meyers_%283537953866%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Golden Globes — 1 won

- 2006: Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film (won), for *Elvis*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jonathan-rhys-meyers