Jonathan Rhys Meyers

In 2019, it was announced that Meyers would star in Rajah, a biopic of the British explorer Sir James Brooke. He was also revealed to have joined the cast of American Night. A neo-noir thriller co-starring Emile Hirsch, Paz Vega, and Jeremy Piven.

In 2019 Meyers credited his family, and fatherhood in particular with making him the happiest he’s ever been. He stated “Once you have your first child, you become the past. We’re all busy giving out to ourselves and driving ourselves forward. A child gives you a new perspective on life”.

Rhys Meyers is also an ambassador for the children’s charity, Barretstown. Barretstown’s mission is to rebuild the lives of children affected by serious illness and their families, through life-changing therapeutic recreational programmes in a safe, fun and supportive environment. In 2019, he and fellow actor Aidan Gillen helped launch Barretstown’s new press play campaign. It aims to raise additional funds over the next five years to ensure that the charity can expand its programmes to serve more children who suffer from serious illness and their families.

In 2018, it was announced that Meyers would star in the remake of the Korean film Hide and Seek. That same year it was revealed that he would be joining the cast of the thriller Altitude.

In a 2018 interview with Larry King, Meyers addressed his drinking, stating that it doesn’t suit him. He also stated that before an incident within that same year, he’d been sober for a long time. He insisted that he’d learned his lesson and was now sober again.

Meyers played the lead in the spy thriller Damascus Cover, based on the novel by Howard Kaplan. It premiered on September 23, 2017, at the Boston Film Festival.

Rhys Meyers and Mara Lane, who were married in 2016, had a son, Wolf Rhys Meyers, in December 2016. Lane said in September 2017 that she had miscarried a second child.

In 2013, Meyers was cast as Dracula in NBC's television series Dracula alongside Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jessica De Gouw. It was also announced in May 2013 that Jonathan was to participate in the recording of his brothers' album entitled Blossom, which was released on 21 April 2014.

On 23 October 2014, he received The Irish Post Legend Award at the London Hilton on Park Lane in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Film & Television over the previous 20 years.

In 2014, Rhys Meyers was honoured at the Irish Post Awards and was presented with the Legend Award for his contributions to the film and entertainment industry.

In 2011, he starred as Solal in Belle du Seigneur, an English language film adaptation of Albert Cohen's novel Belle du Seigneur. The film was released in Russia on 29 November 2012 and in France on 19 June 2013 after premiering at the Champs Elysees Film Festival.

Meyers has continued to star in other films, such as Albert Nobbs in 2011. In 2013, Meyers appeared as the villain Valentine Morgenstern in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, based on Cassandra Clare's novel, City of Bones, he appeared in the 2015 film Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, in 2017, he starred in The 12th Man, and in 2018 he won the Best Actor award at the Manchester Film Festival for his starring role in Damascus Cover.

In 2010, Rhys Meyers made headlines when at John F. Kennedy International Airport he abused the staff and an official, who had refused him access to the boarding area, by calling them the 'N' word. Allegedly, he had gotten drunk on vodka while waiting in the first-class lounge at approximately 7 am.

In 2009, Rhys Meyers was detained in Paris by French police because he allegedly assaulted an airport lounge employee while drunk.

On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honorary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin.

In February 2008, Rhys Meyers was named the ambassador for the Hope Foundation. A charity formed in his native Cork. The charity provides shelter, medical care, and support to the street children of Calcutta.

He starred in the CBC/Showtime co-production The Tudors (2007) as Henry VIII. He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2007 for the role.

Subsequent projects include August Rush (2007), In 2008, he appeared in The Children of Huang Shi, and in 2010, Shelter and From Paris with Love.

In the 2007 music drama August Rush, he performed on-screen as singer-songwriter Louis Connelly and is credited for four songs on the soundtrack – "Break", "Moondance", "Something Inside" and "This Time". Of the four, "This Time" and "Break" were considered in the Best Original Song category of the 80th Academy Awards. "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at number 84 in the Canadian Hot 100.

In 2007, Meyers' representative, Meredith O'Sullivan, confirmed that, "After a non-stop succession of filming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers has entered an alcohol-treatment programme." His representative confirmed Meyers was again receiving treatment in 2010. In November 2011, Meyers was ordered by a French court to pay a restitution of €1,000 and was given a judgment of a suspended sentence for public intoxication 24 months earlier.

On 20 November 2007, his mother, Mary Geraldine "Geri" O'Keeffe, died at Mercy University Hospital, Cork, aged 51, following a short, undisclosed illness.

The following year he starred in Woody Allen's drama Match Point (2005), for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival, and in the CBS 4-hour mini-series Elvis (2005) as Elvis Presley alongside Randy Quaid as Colonel Tom Parker, but did not sing for his role in the miniseries. The latter earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win. In 2006, he appeared in Mission: Impossible III.

From 2004 until 2012, Meyers was in a relationship with Reena Hammer, daughter of makeup artist Ruby Hammer.

Besides acting, Rhys Meyers has also modeled for several clothing companies. He modeled for Club Monaco in 2001 and was chosen as the face for the Versace men's collection of Autumn/Winter 2006 and Spring 2007, and he was the face of the Hugo Boss men's fragrance range from 2006 until he was replaced with Jared Leto in 2011. He is signed to Independent Models in London.

Taking on the name Rhys Meyers, his first acting role came in the film, A Man of No Importance (1994). In 1996, he appeared in Michael Collins, as the title character's ambusher. He played a David Bowie-inspired glam rock star in Velvet Goldmine (1998), In 1999, he appeared in Ride with the Devil as psychopathic guerrilla fighter Pitt Mackeson. He appeared in Gormenghast (2000), he played a dedicated girls' football coach in Bend It Like Beckham (2002), in Vanity Fair (2004) opposite Reese Witherspoon, and co-starred in 2004 in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander where he plays Cassander.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles in the films Michael Collins (1996), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Alexander (2004), Match Point (2005), Mission: Impossible III (2006) and his television roles as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis (2005), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, as King Henry VIII in the historical drama The Tudors (2007–10), which earned him two Golden Globe Award nominations, and in the NBC drama series Dracula (2013–14) as the title character. He also starred as Bishop Heahmund in the History Channel television series Vikings.

Meyers was born on 27 July 1977 in Dublin, Ireland, to Geraldine (née Myers; 1957–2007) and folk musician John O'Keeffe, and brought up in County Cork. His family is Roman Catholic. His three brothers are professional musicians. He attended North Monastery Christian Brothers School.

Meyers portrays Patrick Pearse, a political activist and one of the leaders of the bloody 1916 Irish Easter Rising, in the centennial commemoration biopic film The Rising, written and produced by Kevin McCann.