Brendan Gleeson

Born: 1956
Where: Dublin, Ireland

School teacher Brendan only became an actor at the age of 34 and first won cinematic attention as the ill-fated Hamish opposite Mel Gibson's William Wallace in the Oscar winning Braveheart.

But the actor had already amassed a following in his native Dublin, where he embarked on a TV career which was to eventually launch him into the realms of Hollywood.

In 1998 he was cast as Irish criminal Martin Cahill in John Boorman's The General, and his uncanny physical resemblance to the real life crook brought his performance further critical plaudits.

His featured role in the sequel to Mission: Impossible, starring Tom Cruise brought the Irish actor instant recognition and inn 2001 he starred in The Tailor of Panama.

Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York are two more movies to watch out for Brendan in.