Jonathan Rhys Meyers is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles in the films Velvet Goldmine, Bend It Like Beckham, Match Point, Mission: Impossible III and his television roles as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, and as King Henry VIII in the historical drama The Tudors. Take a look below for 27 more fascinating and interesting facts about Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
1. Meyers was born on July 27, 1977, in Dublin, Ireland, to Geraldine and folk musician John O’Keeffe, and brought up in County Cork.
2. His family is Roman Catholic.
3. His three brothers are professional musicians.
4. He attended North Monastery Christian Brothers School.
5. After being expelled from North Monastery for truancy, he spent much of his time working and socializing in pool halls.
6. Casting agents looking for Irish boys to appear in War of the Buttons spotted him at a Cork pool hall, the Victoria Sporting Club, and invited him to audition.
7. Although passed over for War of the Buttons, the casting agents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting.
8. Taking on the name Rhys Meyers, his first acting role came in the film, A Man of No Importance (1994).
9. In 1996, he appeared in Michael Collins, as the title character’s ambusher.
10. In 1999, he appeared in Ride with the Devil as psychopathic guerrilla fighter Pitt Mackeson.
11. From 2004 until 2012, Meyers was in a relationship with Reena Hammer, daughter of makeup artist Ruby Hammer.
12. On November 20, 2007, his mother, Mary Geraldine “Geri” O’Keeffe, died at Mercy University Hospital, Cork, aged 51, following a short, undisclosed illness.
13. In 2007, Meyers’ representative, Meredith O’Sullivan, confirmed that, “After a non-stop succession of filming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers has entered an alcohol-treatment program.”
14. His representative confirmed Meyers was again receiving treatment in 2010.
15. 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.
16. In 2009, Rhys Meyers was detained in Paris by French police because he allegedly assaulted an airport lounge employee while drunk.
17. 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 “nigger”. Allegedly, he had gotten drunk on vodka while waiting in the first-class lounge at approximately 7 am.
18. Rhys Meyers and Mara Lane, who were married in 2016, had a son, Wolf Rhys Meyers, in December 2016.
19. Lane said in September 2017 that she had miscarried a second child.
20. On September 9, 2017, an intoxicated Rhys Meyers was ejected from Dublin airport.
21. 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.
22. Meyers played the lead in the spy thriller Damascus Cover, based on the novel by Howard Kaplan.
23. On October 23, 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.
24. In 2013, Meyers was cast as Dracula in NBC’s television series Dracula alongside Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jessica De Gouw.
25. 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 April 21, 2014.
26. 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.
27. In February 2008, he became a celebrity ambassador for the Cork-based charitable organisation The Hope Foundation.
