Jonathan Rhys Meyers

*this site is not run by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. I am just a devoted fan of his amazing work and accomplishments. If you are a fan as well....please feel free to friend request and leave comments. NO SPAM PLEASE...or I will delete you. sorry. other than that....ENJOY!*Biography:Jonathan Rhys-Meyers was born July 27, 1977 in Dublin, Ireland as Jonathan Michael Francis O’Keeffe to young parents Geraldine Meyers and John O’Keeffe. He was born with a heart condition and was baptized quickly for fear he would not live long. He spent several months in the hospital but he made it past that first hurdle, becoming known around the world as Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and has become one of the most promising and fascinating actors of his generation. He and his family moved to County Cork, Ireland when the actor was nearly a year old, and then at the age of 3, his father left the family, leaving his mother to care for Jonny and his 3 younger brothers alone.Rhys-Meyers grew up with a tumultuous childhood, expelled from school at age 16. Happy to be out of school he began spending time in a local pool hall where he was discovered by Hubbard Casting. The casting agents were talent-spotting for the David Puttnam production of War of the Buttons (1994), and asked Meyers to appear for an audition. After three days of auditions he did not get the role, and Meyers gave up on his acting aspirations. However, he soon received a call to audition for a national ad campaign for Knorr soup, and though embarrassed by the attention and ad, he soon found himself considered for a major film.His movie acting debut was a very small role in the film, A Man of No Importance (1994), where his simple cast credit is as 'First Young Man'. He received his first lead role was in the film, The Disappearance of Finbar (1996). During a 6 month postponement in filming he returned home to Cork and there received a call about the film Michael Collins (1996). He traveled to Dublin to meet with director Neil Jordan and successfully won the role of Collins' assassin. Jordon wrote about his meeting with the actor, "I have found someone to play Collin's killer. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (sic), from County Cork apparently, who looks like a young Tom Cruise. Comes into the casting session with alarming certainty. Obviously gifted."Rhys-Meyers continued working constantly from that point and appeared in such films as, The Maker (1997), Telling Lies in America (1997), and The Tribe (1998) (TV). Going on to film, The Governess (1998), B. Monkey (1998), Titus (1999) and Ride with the Devil (1999/I), he has received critical acclaim for several performances, most notably as Brian Slade in Velvet Goldmine (1998), and as Steerpike in the British mini series "Gormenghast" (2000) (mini).Early on in his acting career, Jonathan said many times that he didn’t love acting but was doing it because it kept him off the streets and out of jail. However, he has grown quite passionate about acting and hopes he is accomplishing something with his diverse roles. Jonathan also enjoys listening to all kinds of music from Bob Marley to rap.Jonathan currently resides in London but still visits Cork, spending time with friends and family whenever he has a break from filming. One of his first big purchases when he started making a living as an actor was to buy his mother a proper house in Cork. He also owns an apartment in Morocco, a place Jonathan loves to get away to when he’s not busy with his latest acting jobs. Jonny is also a talented musician and singer of traditional Irish music and if you’ve seen “Velvet Goldmine”, you can hear a sampling of his skills on tracks 15 and 18 of the official soundtrack. His guitar and vocal skills will also be on display in the upcoming “August Rush”.other interesting info.-*Sang some of the songs that appear in Velvet Goldmine (1998). *Uncle of his brother's child, Dylan. *Has three younger brothers: Jamie, Paul and Alan. *He was born with a heart condition, and was baptized rather quickly for fear he would not live long. *Has a horse named Belle. C*hoosen by Cosmopolitan Magazine at #34 of the 100 Most Sexy Men In The World. [1998] *He changed his last name when he took up acting, taking his mother's maiden name of Meyers. *"Rhys" is pronounced "reese." *Beat out at least 200 actors for the role of Elvis Presley