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For the English-born American movie critic, see Steven Rea.

Stephen Rea
Born	(1946-10-31) 31 October 1946 (age 65) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–present
Spouse	Dolours Price (1983–2003)

Stephen Rea (born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto. Rea was nominated for an Academy Award for his lead performance as Fergus in the 1992 film The Crying Game.

Early life[link]

Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of a bus driver.^[1] One of four children in a working class Presbyterian family,^[2][3] he attended Belfast High School and the Queen's University of Belfast, taking a degree in English. Politically, Rea is a Protestant nationalist.^[4]

Career[link]

Rea trained at the Abbey Theatre School in Dublin. In the late 1970s, he acted in the Focus Company in Dublin with Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney. During the broadcasting ban on Sinn Féin imposed by Margaret Thatcher's government, in order to cut the 'oxygen of publicity', it was interpreted that Sinn Féin members could not be heard making statements expressing the views of Sinn Féin, so Rea was one of many actors contacted to provide an actor's voice to get around that problem. After appearing on the stage and in television and film for many years in Ireland and Britain, Rea came to international attention when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film The Crying Game. He is a frequent collaborator with Irish film maker Neil Jordan. Rea has long been associated with some of the most important writers in Ireland. His association with playwright Stewart Parker, for example, began when they were students together at the Queen's University of Belfast.

Rea helped establish the Field Day Theatre Company in 1980 with Tom Paulin, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney and Seamus Deane. In recognition for his contribution to theatre and performing arts, Rea was given honorary degrees from both the Queen's University of Belfast^[5] and the University of Ulster^[6] in 2004.

Stephen Rea's friendship with American playwright and actor Sam Shepard dates back to the early 1970's, and he starred in Shepard's directorial debut of his play "Geography of a Horse Dreamer" at the Royal Court Theatre in 1974. In 2007, Rea began a successful and acclaimed relationship with both the Abbey Theatre and Sam Shepard, appearing in Kicking a Dead Horse (2007) and Ages of the Moon (2009), both penned by Shepard and also both transferred to New York.^[7] Rea returned to the Abbey in 2009 to appear in the world premiere of Sebastian Barry's Tales of Ballycumber.^[8]

In 2011, Rea featured in the BBC crime drama The Shadow Line, playing antagonist Gatehouse.

In April 2012, Rea read James Joyce's "The Dead" on RTÉ Radio 1.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Stephen was married to former Provisional Irish Republican Army hunger striker and noted current critic of Sinn Féin, Dolours Price from 1983 to 2003. They have two children.^{[citation needed]}

Stephen Rea is an Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stephen Rea at the Internet Movie Database
• Stephen Rea at the Internet Broadway Database
• Stephen Rea at the Internet Off-Broadway Database