Michael McElhatton

• Name — Michael McElhatton • Born — 12 September 1963 • Birthplace — Dublin, Ireland • Children — 1 • Occupation — Actor, writer • Years Active — 1987–present • Education — Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

McElhatton was born on 12 September 1963 in Terenure, a suburb in the south of Dublin. He began studying acting at Terenure College, and afterward spent eight years in London where he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1987. McElhatton returned to Ireland in the early nineties, where he began his acting career mainly in theatre and television.

He appeared in a short film titled The Loser in 1990. In 1996, he was directed by John Carney in the film November Afternoon, in which he plays the main character. In the late nineties and early 2000s, McElhatton appeared in I Went Down (1997), Saltwater (2000), Blow Dry (2001), and The Actors (2003). Between 2000 and 2002, McElhatton gained fame from appearing in the situation comedies Paths to Freedom and Fergus's Wedding. In addition to acting, he also took on the role of screenwriter, writing the screenplay for all of the episodes. The character of Rats in Paths to Freedom (2000), which he wrote and starred in, became popular with the public and allowed it to be adapted into an entire feature film Spin the Bottle (2003). As his career went on, McElhatton continued playing minor characters in films by directors such as Lenny Abrahamson, John Boorman, and Kari Skogland. McElhatton also appeared in Perrier's Bounty (2009), and Death of a Superhero (2011). He returned to his role as writer in 2010, writing six episodes of the sitcom Your Bad Self. Over the next decade, McElhatton began appearing in much larger roles. In 2011, he had a role in the film Albert Nobbs, directed by Rodrigo García, and Death of a Superhero (2011). The following year the short Pentecost, which received a nomination for Best Short Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. That same year he took part in the James Marsh directed film Shadow Dancer. In 2012, McElhatton joined the cast of the HBO television series Game of Thrones, beginning in the second season, playing the character of warlord Roose Bolton. From the fifth season on he was promoted to series regular. In 2013, he appeared in The Fall, alongside Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan. In 2015, he played one of the protagonists in the horror film The Hallow, which was presented at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. He appeared in the screen adaptation of the true story of World War II drama The Zookeeper's Wife in 2017. In 2019, he starred as Andrei Stepashin in Chernobyl (2019). In 2020, he was Deputy Inspector Thomas O'Leary in Das Boot (2020), and starred in the series The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020). In 2021, McElhatton appeared as Tam al'Thor in the adaptation of The Wheel of Time (2021) on Amazon Prime Video. His casting was announced on 6 November 2019 through Twitter. In 2025, he played the butler's role of John Potter in the Netflix series House of Guinness based on the Dublin brewing family.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref. Reference • 1999 — The Ambassador — Commander 2 — Episode: "Vacant Possession" • 2000 — Paths to Freedom — Raymond 'Rats' Doyle — 6 episodes • 2001 — Rebel Heart — Cathal Brugha — Mini-series 3 episodes • 2002 — Fergus's Wedding — Fergus Walsh — 4 episodes • 2006 — Hide & Seek — Paul Holden — 4 episodes • 2010 — Your Bad Self — 6 episodes • 2011 — Zen — Ernesto Heuber — Mini-series Episode: "Ratking" • 2012–2016 — Game of Thrones — Roose Bolton — 19 episodes • 2013 — The Fall — Rob Breedlove — 4 episodes • Ripper Street — Commissioner James Monro — 2 episodes • The Ice Cream Girls — Brian — Mini-series 3 episodes • 2014 — New Worlds — John Hawkins — 3 episodes • 2015 — Strike Back: Legacy — Oppenheimer — 2 episodes • 2016 — Mammon — Melanie Holly, CIA Agent — 2 episodes • 2017–2018 — Genius — Dr. Philipp Lenard / Jonas Salk — 4 episodes • 2019 — The Rook — Lorik — 4 episodes • Chernobyl — Andrei Stepashin — Episode: "Vichnaya Pamyat" • Ant & Dec's DNA Journey — Voiceover — Television documentary • 2020 — Das Boot — Deputy Inspector Thomas O'Leary — 4 episodes • The Alienist: Angel of Darkness — Dr. Markoe — 6 episodes • 2021 — The Wheel of Time — Tam al'Thor • 2023 — Jack Ryan — Bill Tuttle — 6 episodes • The Long Shadow — Chief Constable Ronald Gregory • 2025 — House of Guinness — John Potter

• Year — Title — Voice role — Ref. Reference • 2013 — Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag — Vance Travers • 2019 — Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood — Gaius Baelsar • Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

• Paths to Freedom • Fergus's Wedding • Spin the Bottle • Your Bad Self

• The Night Alive, as Doc, Donmar Warehouse, London, and the Atlantic Theater, New York City • The Seafarer, as Nicky Giblin, National Theatre, London • Shining City, Royal Court Theatre, London • The Wexford Trilogy, Tricycle Theatre • An Ideal Husband, Gate Theatre • The White Devil, Project at The Mint • Car Show, Corn Exchange • Twenty Grand, Abbey Theatre • Greatest Hits, Project Arts Centre • The Way of the World, Project Arts Centre • A Decision Pure and Simple, Riverside Studios • An Enemy of the People, for Young Vic • As You Like It, Rose Theatre • Midnight Court, Project Theatre • Wind in the Willows, Sheffield Crucible • Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs, BAC • Water Music, Cockpit Theatre