Biography
Whether called upon to play an alcoholic security guard, a grief-stricken striking miner or a sanctimonious sibling, Lewis can be counted on to create indelible portraits that linger in audiences' memories long after the lights have come up.
Born and raised in the tough Easterhouse section of Glasgow, Lewis has described in interviews the dichotomy of his upbringing: his parents stressed the value of education, yet he his formal studies were …
Career Milestones
2006 | Cast in "Eragon" a fantasy/adventure movie based on the novel of the same name | |
2006 | Cast in Danny Cannon's "Goal! The Dream Begins" | |
2002 | Cast in Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" | |
2000 | Supported Michael Caine in "Shiner"; screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival | |
2000 | Acted with Sean McGinley in the screen adaptation of Samuel Beckett's play "What Where"; screened at Toronto Film Festival; released theatrically in summer 2001 as part of the package "Samuel Beckett on Film" before airing on TV | |
2000 | Breakthrough screen role as the striking miner whose youngest son expresses an interest in becoming a ballet dancer in the crowd-pleasing "Billy Elliot" | |
1999 | Played supporting role in "The Match", a drama about a soccer team; released direct-to-video in USA in 2001 | |
1998 | Acted in the direct-to-video thriller "Postmortem", starring Charlie Sheen; played on Cinemax in 1999 | |
1998 | Reunited with Loach for "My Name Is Joe", a portrait of a recovering alcoholic scripted by Laverty and starring Peter Mullan; cast as a former hard-drinking security guard | |
1997 | Had featured role as the sanctimonious oldest sibling in "Orphans", directed by Mullan | |
1997 | US TV acting debut in the made for cable movie "The Princess Stallion" | |
1996 | Had supporting role in "Carla's Song", starring Carlyle; written by Paul Laverty and directed by Kenneth Loach | |
| Acted in two shorts directed by Mullan, "Good Day for the Bad Guys" (1995) and "Fridge" (1996) | ||
1994 | Feature film debut, "Shallow Grave"; Mullan had co-starring role | |
1991 | Began acting in films in Peter Mullan's short "Close"; not completed until 1994 | |
1991 | Began acting career at age 32 when he joined the recently formed Raindog Theatre, founded by Robert Carlyle | |
| Raised in Easterhouse section of Glasgow, Scotland | ||
Awards
2001 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in Billy Elliot |
2000 | BAFTA Award for Actor In a Supporting Role in Billy Elliot |