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Hans Matheson (born 7 August 1975) is a Scottish-born actor.
Life and career
Matheson was born in Stornoway, Scotland, the son of Sheena, a therapist, and Iain, a folk musician and painter. He made his feature film debut as Johnny Silver in Jez Butterworth's critically acclaimed directorial debut, Mojo. Prior to Mojo, Matheson appeared in various plays and television series.
He followed his role in Mojo with Stella Does Tricks, playing a male prostitute hooked on drugs. Then came the classic literary character Marius, in Bille August's film version of Les Misérables. Matheson then took up his guitar for the role of Luke Shand, a youthful rocker helping to invigorate an old band in the sleeper hit Still Crazy.
Matheson continued with a starring role in the acclaimed independent British hit Tube Tales, which led to his first commercialized film, Bodywork, starring with the talented cast of Beth Winslet, Charlotte Coleman, and Clive Russell. Despite its lack of blockbuster success, Matheson quickly became recognized as an extraordinarily gifted actor. Handpicking his roles carefully, Matheson continued his intriguing film choices with the modern literary classic Canone Inverso, as Jeno Varga. He learned how to play the violin to portray Vargo, and continues playing violin and fiddle to this day.
Following Canone, he took on the rigid role of Mordred in the American TV film The Mists of Avalon, based upon the famed literary fantasy series, alongside such talent as Julianna Margulies, Anjelica Huston, and Joan Allen.
Matheson proceeded in his career with a Danish film based upon another modern classic - I Am Dina. Despite the film's mixed reviews, Matheson once again stood out; he then landed the role of a lifetime as Yurii Zhivago, in Giacomo Campiotti's 2002 adaptation of Boris Pasternak's classic novel, Doctor Zhivago.
Matheson continued his career starring in independent films, such as 2002's controversial, religious themed war film Deathwatch and the docu-film Comfortably Numb. Comfortably Numb, a docu-film centered around the lives of drug patients, was a successful experiment in incorporating together onscreen actors and real-life drug addicts.
In 2006, Matheson co-starred with actress Demi Moore in the film Half Light.
Hans portrayed the Earl of Essex in a lavish BBC production about Queen Elizabeth I of England called The Virgin Queen, broadcast in the US in 2005 and the UK in 2006.
Matheson returned to 16th century in 2008 when starred as the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in the second season of the ongoing Showtime series The Tudors. His character featured heavily in the season but was not shown in the third season though his character's name was mentioned on a number of occasions.
Hans more recently played the part of Alec Stoke-d'Urberville in the 4 part BBC adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles (2008) and the fictional character of Lord Coward in Guy Ritchie's version of Sherlock Holmes (2009). One of Hans' more recent roles is in the Clash of the Titans remake where he plays Ixas.
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