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Allen Leech (born 18 May 1981) is an Irish stage, television and film actor, best known for his role as Marcus Agrippa in the 2007 HBO television series Rome, and his role as chauffeur Tom Branson in ITV's Downton Abbey television series.

Early life and education

Leech was born in Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland to David Leech, the CEO of a computer systems company, and Kay Leech, ahomemaker. He is the third of four children; he has an older brother Greg, an older sister Ali, and a younger brother Simon. He has stated that he had a "strong family life." He attended St Michael's College. As a child, he was overweight and was bullied. Because of this, he became introverted and has stated, "Until I was 15 I was cripplingly shy and refused to go out the front door." He became interested in acting at 11 when he was given the part of the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz and found that he loved being on stage. He recalled how he immediately decided to become an actor when Peter McDonald told him how acting is a profession on the last night of the production's run. Afterwards, drama became the "focal point" of his teenage years, apart from his family life, and drama and family support helped him through his school years. He became set on acting after winning a small role in a 1998 production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Gate Theatre. Though his parents wanted him to become an architect, his parents supported his decision on the condition that he earn a degree to fall back on. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College, Dublin, later noting that this was a "loophole" in his parents' condition. He landed his first major roles in Cowboys & Angels and Man About Dog while at Trinity, and he has admitted that did little schoolwork because he spent his time on auditions and acting.

Career

Leech's first professional stage role was at the Gate in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire. "I was the gentleman caller to Frances McDormand's Blanche Dubois. The Coen brothers were walking backstage, and me a naive 16-year-old."

He appeared as Willi in the Queen and Peacock, at the Garter Lane Arts Centre. The following years, Leech was in Tom Murphy's The Morning After Optimism and then Hugh Leonard's Da at the Abbey.

Leech's breakthrough film performance was in Cowboys and Angels, in which he played Vincent, a gay fashion student, followed by the 2004 cross country caper film Man About Dog, in which Leech plays Mo-Chara, one of three Belfast scallies who get in way above their heads.

Leech was voted sexiest Irish male in 2005 in U Magazine.

Leech played the role of Shane Kirwan in the Ireland's RTÉ series Love is the Drug, in which he received a Best Actor nomination from the Irish Film and Television Awards. He followed that up with the role of Willy in the television series Legend, which is the story of three different Irish families. He received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from Irish Film and Television Awards for his performance.

In 2007, Leech appeared in the HBO drama series Rome as Marcus Agrippa, Octavian's top soldier and friend.

The film, Rewind, opened in Ireland on 25 March 2011.

In 2010, he appeared on the small screen in The Tudors as the doomed Francis Dereham, former lover of Catherine Howard. Leech also appears in ITV 2010 and 2011 television series Downton Abbey as chauffeur Tom Branson, whose political ideologies clash with the upper class. He plays the role of officer Sam Leonard in television series Primeval in 2011 in series five. Leech also stars in the 2012 film adaptation The Sweeney.

Filmography

Theatre

Appearances

Awards

References

1. ^ HBO Rome Official Site
2. ^ MacDonald, Marianne (22 July 2007). "Rome Sweet Rome". The Evening Standard – via Infotrac (subscription required) . Retrieved 12 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. ^ Randall, Lee (15 September 2012). "Interview: Allen Leech on the return of Downton Abbey". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
4. Butler, Laura (3 November 2012). "'Downton' star Allen loves his role as rebellious Irishman". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
5. ^ Feinstein, Sharon (10 September 2000). "I was a fat boy who got bullied at school.. then I found I could act; How Screen Teenage Star Alan Leech Made Drama Out of His Crisis". The Sunday Mirror – via Highbeam (subscription required) . Retrieved 12 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
6. ^ Nolan, Emma (3 September 2006). "A cowboy and an angel wrapped up to make a legend". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
7. "Allen Leech". Troika Talent. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
8. Presenter: George Hook (1 November 2012). "Allen Leech on the Thursday Interview". The Right Hook. Newstalk. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
9. Matt Wolf: "A Streetcar Named Desire", , 18 May 1998
10. Robert Koehler: "Cowboys & Angels", , 13 July 2004
11. Rich Cline: "Man About Dog". ShadowsOnTheWall.co.UK,
12. Jamie Russell: "Man About Dog" (2004), , 14 November 2004
13. http://twitter.com/#!/rewindthefilm
14. http://www.troikatalent.com/#/kat-gosling/allen-leech/ Allen Leech's Troika agency profile

External links

• Allen Leech at IMDb
• RTÉ Legend Official Site

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from May 2011
• 1981 births
• Living people
• Irish film actors
• Irish television actors
• People from County Dublin
• Alumni of Trinity College, Dublin