Scottish screen actor and filmmaker best known for his role in Ken Loach’s My Name Is Joe (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, and The Claim (2000). He is also winner of the World Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances at 2011 Sundance Film Festival for his work on Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur (2011).
Mullan appeared as supporting or guest actor in numerous cult movies, including Riff-Raff (1991), Braveheart (1995), Trainspotting (1996), Young Adam (2003), Children of Men (2006), War Horse (2011) and the Harry Potter film series (2010–2011).
Mullan is an acclaimed art house movie director. He won a Golden Lion at 59th Venice International Film Festival for The Magdalene Sisters, listed by many critics among the best films of 2003 and nominated for BAFTA Award for Best British Film and European Film Award for best film, and a Golden Shell at San Sebastián International Film Festival for Neds (2010). He is the only person to win top prizes both for acting (Cannes best actor award) and for the best film (Golden lion for The Magdalene Sisters) at major European film festivals.
In television, Mullan appeared in Gerard Lee’s and Jane Campion’s acclaimed miniseries Top of the Lake (2013) as Matt Mitcham, and was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for his work in the series. Since 2016, Mullan has starred in the BBC Two sitcom Mum. From 2017-2018, he appeared in the first two seasons of the Netflix series Ozark opposite Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. In 2018, he starred in the second season of HBO’s Westworld, and in 2020 in the first season of the Netflix series Cursed.
A self-styled Marxist, Mullan is politically active, supporting left-wing causes and protests. Mullan was a supporter of the Yes Scotland campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Mullan married Ann Swan, an actress and scriptwriter, in 1989; they divorced in 2006. He has four children – three with Swan and one with former girlfriend, activist Robina Qureshi.
Link to Wikipedia biography