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50 facts about actor and talented musician Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
1. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born in Dublin, Ireland.
2. He and his family moved to County Cork, Ireland, when the actor was nearly a year old.
3. At the age of 3, his father left the family, leaving his mother to care for Jonny and his brothers alone.
4. He has 3 younger brothers.
5. Rhys Meyers grew up with a tumultuous childhood, spending some time in an orphanage.
6. He was permanently expelled from school at age 16.
7. Happy to be out of school, he began spending time in a local pool hall where he was discovered by Hubbard Casting.
8. Hubbard Casting agents were talent-spotting for the David Puttnam production of War of the Buttons, and asked Rhys Meyers to appear for an audition. After three days of auditions, however, he did not get the role, and Rhys Meyers gave up on his acting aspirations.
9. Soon afterward, he received a call to audition for a national ad campaign for Knorr soup, and though embarrassed by the attention from the ad, he soon found himself considered for a major film.
10. His movie acting debut was a very small role in the film A Man of No Importance, where his simple cast credit is as "First Young Man".
11. His first lead role was in the film The Disappearance of Finbar.
12. During a 6-month postponement in production of the film The Disappearance of Finbar he returned home to Cork and there received a call about the film Michael Collins. He traveled to Dublin to meet with director Neil Jordan and successfully won the role of Collins's assassin. Jordan wrote about his meeting with the actor, "I have found someone to play Collin's (sic) killer. Jonathan Rees-Myers (sic), from County Cork, apparently, who looks like a young Tom Cruise. [He] Comes into the casting session with alarming certainty. Obviously gifted".
13. Rhys Meyers continued working constantly from that point and appeared in such films as The Maker, Telling Lies in America, and The Tribe.
14. Going on to film The Governess, B. Monkey, Titus and Ride with the Devil, he has received critical acclaim for several performances, most notably as "Brian Slade" in Velvet Goldmine, as "Steerpike" in the British mini-series _"Gormenghast"(mini)_, and as a sympathetic football coach in Bend It Like Beckham.
15. Rhys Meyers is also a talented singer and musician.
16. He performed his own vocals in Velvet Goldmine.
17. He appeared on the soundtrack of Velvet Goldmine.
18. Rhys Meyers still resides in County Cork, Ireland.
19. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe.
20. He acted as Elvis Presley in the biographical miniseries Elvis.
21. His role in Elvis earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
22. For his role as King Henry VIII in the historical drama The Tudors he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
23. He has been the face model for several Hugo Boss fragrances advertising campaigns.
24. In 2013, Meyers appeared as the villain Valentine Morgenstern in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, based on Cassandra Clare's novel, City of Bones.
25. He also starred in the NBC drama series Dracula as the titular character.
26. Meyers appeared in the 2015 film Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich.
27. His father is a folk musician John O'Keeffe.
28. His family is Roman Catholic.
29. His three brothers are all professional musicians.
30. He also has two half sisters.
31. Meyer's mother drank heavily, and Meyers has spoken in interviews about how close he was to her and their living in poverty.
32. He starred in the CBC/Showtime co-production The Tudors as Henry VIII. He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2007 for the role.
33. He co-starred in 2004 in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander.
34. He starred in Woody Allen's drama Match Point, for which he received a Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival.
35. His projects include August Rush and The Children of Huang Shi, Shelter and From Paris with Love.
36. In 2011, he starred in Belle du Seigneur (an English-language film adaptation of Albert Cohen's novel) as Solal des Solal. The movie was released in Russia on 29 November 2012 and in France on 19 June 2013 after premiering at the Champs Elysees Film Festival.
37. A self-taught singer and guitarist, he has appeared in a number of musical roles.
38. His first musical roles was as "Brian Slade" in Velvet Goldmine; two of the songs he sang ("Baby's on Fire" and "Tumbling Down") are on the film's soundtrack.
39. In the 2007 music drama August Rush, he performed on-screen as singer-songwriter Louis Connelly and is credited for four songs on the soundtrack - "Break", "Moondance", "Something Inside", and "This Time". Of the four, "This Time" and "Break" were considered in the Best Original Song category of the 80th Academy Awards.
40. "This Time" was not released as a single but peaked at number 84 in the Canadian Hot 100.
41. Besides acting, Jonathan has also modelled for several clothing companies.
42. He modeled for Club Monaco in 2001.
43. Was chosen as the face for the Versace men's collection of Autumn/Winter 2006 and Spring 2007.
44. He is signed to Independent Models in London.
45. On 5 October 2008, Rhys Meyers received an Honorary Patronage from the Trinity College Philosophical Society in Dublin.
46. In 2013, Meyers was cast as Dracula, in NBC's television series Dracula alongside with Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jessica De Gouw.
47. It was also announced in May 2013 that Jonathan was to participate in the recording of his brothers' album entitled "Blossom" which was released on 21 April 2014.
48. On October 23, 2014 he received The Irish Post Legend Award at the London Hilton on Park Lane in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Film & Television over the previous twenty years.
49. Meyers will portray Patrick Pearse, a political activist and one of the leaders of the bloody 1916 Irish Easter Rising, in the centennial commemoration biopic film The Rising, written and produced by Kevin McCann. The film is set to be released on St Patrick's Day, 2016.
50. From 2004 until 2012, Meyers was in a relationship with Reena Hammer, daughter of makeup artist Ruby Hammer.
