- published: 06 May 2014
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Aidan Gillen (born Aidan Murphy; 24 April 1968) is an Irish stage and screen actor, best known for his appearances in two HBO television series; he played Tommy Carcetti in The Wire and Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in Game of Thrones. He is set to appear as a CIA agent in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.
Gillen was born as Aidan Murphy in Drumcondra, Dublin, and educated at St. Vincent's C.B.S. in Glasnevin. He has a sister, Fionnuala Murphy, who is an actress, and a brother, John Paul Murphy, who is a playwright. Gillen began his acting career as a teenager with Dublin Youth Theatre, at the age of 16 playing Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Project Arts Centre, before moving to London.
He played Stuart Alan Jones in the ground-breaking Channel 4 television series, Queer as Folk, and its sequel, Queer as Folk 2, for which he was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 2000.
Gillen was nominated for a Tony Award for his highly acclaimed Broadway role in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker in 2003. He played Tommy Carcetti in HBO's television series The Wire from 2004-2008. He has also been nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for his portrayal of Teach in the Dublin Gate Theatre's 2007 production of David Mamet's American Buffalo.