From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

JRM redirects here. For the aircraft, see JRM Mars

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Birth name	Jonathan Michael O'Keeffe
Born	July 27, 1977 (1977-07-27) (age 30) Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	actor, model
Years active	1994-present
Awards Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Miniseries 2006 Elvis

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born 27 July 1977) is an Irish Golden Globe-winning actor.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 2 Filmography 3 References 4 External links

Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Geraldine Meyers and John O'Keeffe, who was a musician.^[1][2] His stage name is derived from his mother's maiden name, Meyers.

Rhys Meyers was born with a serious heart problem and was baptised shortly after his birth, as it was feared he would not survive long enough for a traditional baptism ceremony. He spent the first few months of his life in the hospital. Meyers still lives in County Cork, Ireland where his family moved when he was a few months old. He has three younger brothers named Jamie, Alan and Paul.

When Rhys Meyers was three years old, his parents separated. His mother raised Jonathan and his brother Alan, while his other two brothers went to live at their grandmother's house with their father. They would not be in close contact for some years.

Rhys Meyers was expelled from the North Monastery Secondary School at age 16, and spent much of his time hanging out in pool halls namely the Victoria Sporting Club on Patricks Quay and the Coliseum Leisure Centre on McCurtain Street. Casting agents looking for Irish boys to appear in War of the Buttons spotted Rhys Meyers at a Cork pool hall, the Victoria Sporting Club, and invited him to audition. Although he was passed over for War of the Buttons, the casting agents encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. His first film role came soon afterward, in A Man of No Importance (1994). In 1996 he appeared in Michael Collins, as Collins' assassin.

Rhys Meyers has starred in television series including Gormenghast (2000) and in the CBS 4-hour mini-series Elvis (2005) as Elvis Presley alongside Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret. The latter earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win. He is currently starring in the Showtime series The Tudors (2007) as young King Henry VIII.

His film roles range from a David Bowie-inspired glam rock star in Velvet Goldmine (1998) to a dedicated girls' football coach in Bend It Like Beckham (2002). He appeared in Vanity Fair (2004) alongside Reese Witherspoon. In 2005, Rhys Meyers starred in Woody Allen's film Match Point, for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, he appeared in Mission: Impossible III. Other projects include August Rush (2007) and "The Children of Huang Shi" (2007). He is in talks to play Branwell Brontë in the movie Bronte, and is rumored to be appearing in Danny Glover's Haitian epic Toussaint (2008). He is also signed on to star as Lee Falk's comic strip hero Mandrake the Magician in an upcoming movie directed by Chuck Russell.

Rhys Meyers also has experience as a singer. He did much of his own singing in the role of rock star Brian Slade in Velvet Goldmine, although some of these songs were replaced on the CD release of the soundtrack with alternate tracks by better-known vocalists. Rhys Meyers also sings briefly in the TV miniseries version of The Magnificent Ambersons. His singing voice is also featured in his film August Rush.

Rhys Meyers was chosen as the face for the Versace men's collection of Autumn/Winter 2006 and Spring 2007, and he has also been the face of the Hugo Boss men's fragrance range since 2005.

Rhys Meyers has been romantically linked to several actresses in the past, including his Velvet Goldmine co-star Toni Collette, Rachael Leigh Cook, Irish model Glenda Gilson.^[3] and Estella Warren. He and Match Point co-star Scarlett Johansson both deny persistent rumors of romantic involvement. His engagement to Dublin socialite/model and university student Cha Cha Seigne ended in separation in 2003. In 2004, Rhys Meyers met Reena Hammer, London-based student and heiress to mother Ruby Hammer's cosmetics line (Ruby & Millie) and father George Hammer, owner of Urban Retreat Spa at Harrods. The relationship continues to be on and off again, briefly ending in early 2007. However, Hammer attended the premiere of his new film, August Rush, with him in October 2007.^[4]

In January 2007, Rhys Meyers checked into an undisclosed rehab facility seeking treatment for alcohol abuse. On 24 April 2007, the Associated Press reported that Rhys Meyers returned to treatment. The actor's representative Meredith O'Sullivan confirmed the news to People magazine citing his need to take a break from his busy schedule in order to maintain sobriety.^[5] On Sunday 18 November 2007 Rhys Meyers was arrested in Dublin Airport and charged with being drunk and in breach of the peace. He was later released on bail to appear at the Dublin District Court on 5 December 2007.^[6] He was in Dublin to promote his new movie August Rush on the Irish television programme Tubridy Tonight.

Two days later, on November 20, the actor's mother, Geraldine Meyers-O'Keeffe, died after being admitted to the Mercy Hospital in Cork. She was 50 years old.^[7]

• A Man of No Importance (1994)
• The Killer Tongue (1996)
• The Disappearance of Finbar (1996)
• Michael Collins (1996)
• Samson and Delilah (1996)
• The Tribe (1996)
• The Maker (1997)
• Telling Lies in America (1997)
• The Governess (1998)
• Velvet Goldmine (1998)
• The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999)
• B. Monkey (1999)
• Ride with the Devil (1999)
• Titus (1999)
• Gormenghast (2000)
• Prozac Nation (2002)
• Tangled (2002)
• Happy Now (2002)
• The Magnificent Ambersons (2002)
• Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
• The Tesseract (2002)
• Octane (2002)
• I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003)
• The Emperor's Wife (2003)
• The Lion in Winter (2003)
• Vanity Fair (2004)
• Alexander (2004)
• Elvis (2005)
• Match Point (2005)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• The Tudors (2007-Present)
• August Rush (2007)
• The Children of Huang Shi (newly retitled to "The Bitter Sea") (2007)
• Mandrake (film) (2008)

• Jonathan Rhys Meyers at the Internet Movie Database