Gary Lewis is a Scottish actor. He's had parts in Billy Elliot, Gangs of New
York, Eragon and Three and Out, as well as a major role in the television
docudrama, Supervolcano. Early life
Born and raised in the tough Easterhouse area of Glasgow, Lewis has described in
interviews the dichotomy of his upbringing: his parents stressed the
value of education, yet his formal studies were left wanting. When he left
school, he lacked a sense of purpose, taking a job as a road-sweeper to earn a
living. Later, Lewis found employment in the local library. Encouraged by his
brother, an English teacher at a Glasgow secondary school, he read voraciously
and thought about pursuing a career as an actor.
Acting career = Theatre=
Although he had pursued amateur theatrics, Lewis was 32 when he
committed to acting, joining Robert Carlyle's newly formed Raindog Theatre.
His career received a boost when he was befriended by actor-director Peter
Mullan whom he met at a socialist lecture.
= Film= Mullan hired Lewis for a role in the
short Close which began filming in 1991 but took some three years to complete.
By that time, both actors had appeared in Shallow Grave. Lewis went on to act
in Mullan's subsequent shorts Good Day for the Bad Guys and the award-winning
Fridge. Lewis joined director Kenneth Loach's
unofficial stock company lending support to his two mentors in separate films:
with Carlyle, he co-starred in Carla's Song, while he played a recovering
alcoholic alongside Mullan in My Name Is Joe. In between, Mullan cast him as the
over-righteous, somewhat dimwitted elder sibling Thomas in Orphans, an
examination of a dysfunctional family. He went on to co-star with Max Beesley
in The Match before landing his international breakthrough part as the
father of a young boy who wants to become a ballet dancer in Billy Elliot.
Lewis delivered a multi-layered turn as a man coping with grief over the death
of his wife, a violent strike that threatens his livelihood and the
struggles of raising two sons. The actor rounded out his banner year teaming with
Irish actor Sean McGinley in What Where, a 12-minute short film of Samuel
Beckett's play, and supporting Michael Caine as a boxing coach who may or may
not have been involved in a murder in Shiner.
In 2008, Lewis starred in the film Ecstasy based on The Undefeated from
Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical
Romance. Lewis starred in British comedy Three
and Out released on 25 April 2008. Lewis appeared in Scottish rom-com Not
Another Happy Ending as the father of protagonist Jane Lockhart.
= Television= Lewis has appeared in the Scottish
comedy Rab C Nesbitt and the criminal drama shows Taggart and Prime Suspect:
the Final Act. In 2010 Lewis appeared as Adam Ingram in
the Channel 4 drama Mo a biopic of former Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland Mo Mowlam, a role that saw him nominated for a BAFTA Television Award
in the category of Best Supporting Actor.
In 2011 Lewis appeared in episode five of new BBC drama Outcasts playing
Patrick Baxter. He also appeared as the enigmatic wizard Alator in two episodes
of the BBC fantasy drama Merlin. In September 2011, Lewis appeared in
episode two of the BBC drama The Body Farm, playing Jimmy West, butler to an
elderly man accused of murder. In December 2011, Lewis appeared in the
BBC mini-series Young James Herriot, in the role of Prof. Quinton Gunnel.
In May 2012 Lewis appeared in the Rai 1 TV film L'olimpiade perduta, which tells
of the XII and XIII Olympic Games, that took place in the Nazi concentration
camps. In this TV film, Lewis has the role of the British general Alex, who
organized the Olympic Games. In January 2014 Lewis appeared as DS
MacNeil in the Silent Witness two-parter "In A Lonely Place".
In July 2014, Lewis appeared in The Glasgow Girls as a teacher who supported
his pupils during their fight to save their classmate from deportation.
In August 2014, Lewis appeared in the recurring role of Colum MacKenzie, laird
of the MacKenzie clan, on the Starz series Outlander.
In 2015, Lewis appeared as Bill Williams in the BBC TV series Death in Paradise
episode 4.7. Filmography
What follows is a selected list of motion pictures in which Lewis has
appeared: Shallow Grave 1994
Orphans 1998 Won Best Actor, Gijón International Film
Festival My Name Is Joe, 1998
One Life Stand, 2000 Rob of the Rovers, 2000
What Where 2000 Billy Elliot, 2000
Won Best Actor, Flaiano Film Festival The Escapist, 2002
Gangs of New York, 2002 Pure, 2002
Solid Air, 2003 Boudica
Yes 2004 Ae Fond Kiss..., 2004
Supervolcano, 2005 Joyeux Noël, 2005
Goal!, 2005 Cargo, 2006
True North, 2006 Eragon, 2006
Ecstasy, Three and Out, 2008
Valhalla Rising, 2009 Neds, 2010
Outcasts, 2011 Merlin, 2011, 2012 - 2 episodes
altogether. Young James Herriot, 2011
When the Lights Went Out, Der Fall Wilhelm Reich,
Filth, 2013 Outlander, 2014
The Glasgow Girls, 2014 References
External links Gary Lewis at the Internet Movie
Database