Brendan Coyle
Brendan Coyle
Brendan Coyleis a British actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey. The last role earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth2 December 1963
drama lying thinking
I think great humor lies in playing the truth of a situation. I see myself as a performer and that applies to a Greek drama or a modern comedy.
school thinking decision
I left school at 16 but I wish I'd gone to university - I think I would have studied English literature. I had a knack for that. But I don't think you have the kind of wisdom at 16 to make that decision.
country thinking rocks
I think with Sky and BBC Three and Channel 4, there are some great television platforms, and the stand-up movement in this country is phenomenal. Its like rock n roll here. Britains a funny place and theres a lot of funny people coming out of there and a lot of people are finding mediums to express themselves.
regret children thinking
It's not something that's at the forefront of my mind, but I think I'd regret it if I didn't have children.
lying thinking situation
I think great humor lies in playing the truth of a situation.
hard relationship time
When I was in my 30s, I was at the end of a long-term relationship and going through a very hard time. I'd had about 15 different addresses and a series of relationships. I thought, 'It's time to have a look at yourself.'
life
I can pretty much say all of us know when 'Downton' is going to end. This is a show with a finite life.
specific time
By the time you've been single for quite a long time, you can get quite specific about what you can and can't put up with.
coming finding funny mediums people
Britain's a funny place and there's a lot of funny people coming out of there and a lot of people are finding mediums to express themselves.
seen
I'd seen a play of 'Richard III' in Coventry when I was 15, which sowed the seeds that you could act for a living.
success tv twenties wished
If this TV success had come in my twenties and I'd become a heart-throb, I would have been very stupid. I would have got into a lot of situations that I really wished I hadn't.
applies greek performer
I see myself as a performer and that applies to a Greek drama or a modern comedy.
butcher cooking dad enjoy left love master perhaps time trained
My dad was a master butcher and I trained to be a butcher when I left school. I didn't enjoy it at the time but I love cooking now, so perhaps I would have been a chef.
casual funny humorous observer relationship work
You can't be a casual observer of something humorous - you have to engage, you have to find it funny for the relationship between actor and audience to work.