
James Nesbitt
James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is a Northern Irish actor. Born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Nesbitt grew up in the nearby village of Broughshane, before moving to Coleraine, County Londonderry. He wanted to become a teacher, like his father, so began a degree in French at the University of Ulster. He dropped out after a year when he decided to become an actor, and transferred to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. After graduating in 1987, he spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical Up on the Roof (1987, 1989) to the political drama Paddywack (1994). He made his feature film debut playing talent agent Fintan O'Donnell in Hear My Song (1991). Nesbitt got his breakthrough television role playing Adam Williams in the romantic comedy-drama Cold Feet (1998–2003), which won him a British Comedy Award, a Television and Radio Industries Club Award, and a National Television Award. His first significant film role came when he appeared as pig farmer "Pig" Finn in Waking Ned (1998). With the rest of the starring cast, Nesbitt was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. In Lucky Break (2001), he made his debut as a film lead playing prisoner Jimmy Hands. The next year, he played Ivan Cooper in the television film Bloody Sunday, about the 1972 shootings in Derry. A departure from his previous "cheeky chappie" roles, the film was a turning point in his career. He won a British Independent Film Award and was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. Nesbitt has also starred in Murphy's Law (2001–2007) as undercover detective Tommy Murphy—a role that was created for him by writer Colin Bateman. The role twice gained Nesbitt Best Actor nominations at the Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTA). In 2007, he starred in the dual role of Tom Jackman and Mr Hyde in Steven Moffat's Jekyll, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination in 2008. Nesbitt has since appeared in several more dramatic roles; he starred alongside Liam Neeson in Five Minutes of Heaven (2009), and was one of three lead actors in the television miniseries Occupation (2009) and The Deep (2010). He also starred in the movies Outcast (2010) and Emilio Estevez's The Way (2011), and has been cast in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (2012/13). Nesbitt is married to former actress Sonia Forbes-Adam, with whom he has two daughters. He is a patron of numerous charities and in 2010 accepted the ceremonial position of Chancellor of the University of Ulster.
98 acting credits
Acting · 98

The Graham Norton Show
2007

Top Gear
2002

The One Show
2006

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
2014

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
1996

Screen Two
1985

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012

The Jonathan Ross Show
2011

GMTV
1993

Soldier Soldier
1991

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013

Lovejoy
1986

Parkinson
1998

Between the Lines
1992

Soccer AM
1995

Cold Feet
1998

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
2001

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1992

Ballykissangel
1996

The Missing
2014

Run Away
2026

Murphy's Law
2001

ScreenPlay
1986

Missing You
2025

Stan Lee's Lucky Man
2016
The Terry and Gaby Show
2003

Michael McIntyre's Big Show
2016

The Late Late Show
1962

Suspect
2022

The Secret
2016

Match Point
2005

Playing the Field
1998

Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
2009

Bloodlands
2021

Babylon
2014

Stay Close
2021

Jekyll
2007

Canterbury Tales
2003

Fairy Tales
2008

Monroe
2011

DNA Journey
2019

The Hollywood Greats
1977

Common As Muck
1994

Soccer Aid
2006

The Deep
2010

The Way
2010

Jude
1996

The Passion
2008

Occupation
2009

Tractor Tom
2002

James Nesbitt: Disasters That Changed Britain
2018

Coriolanus
2011

Millions
2005

Stan Lee's Lucky Man: The Bracelet Chronicles
2017

Waking Ned
1998

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Trenches of Hell
1999

Gold
2014

Midnight Man
2008

Bloody Sunday
2002

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007

Five Minutes of Heaven
2009

Lost Lives
2019

The John Bishop Show
2022

Welcome to Sarajevo
1997

Women Talking Dirty
2001

Hear My Song
1991

The Coronation Concert
2023

Outcast
2010

Passer By
2004

Lucky Break
2001

Go Now
1995

This Is the Sea
1997

Resurrection Man
1998

Matching Jack
2010
OFI Sunday
2005

Occupation
2009

Cherrybomb
2009

The James Gang
1997

The Most Fertile Man in Ireland
2000

Wild About Harry
2000
Quite Ugly One Morning
2004

Love Lies Bleeding
1993

Big Dippers
2005

The Heist Before Christmas
2023

Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story
2012

River Deep, Mountain High: James Nesbitt in New Zealand
2013

The End of the World Man
1986

Wall of Silence
2004

Alex Higgins: The People's Champion
2010

The Friday Night Project
2005

Virtuoso
1989

Blessed
2008

James Nesbitt Presents Eat My Goal
2004
James Nesbit: A Game of Two Halves
2020

James Ellis: An Actor's Life
2007

Ireland's Rugby Number 10
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The Cry
1984

So You're Going to Die
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