Hans Matheson is a Scottish actor. Some of his most notable film and television roles include Sherlock Holmes, The Tudors, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Clash of the Titans and as Aeschylus in . In addition to acting, Matheson plays guitar, violin and harmonica.
Life and career
Matheson was born in Stornoway, Scotland. His parents were Sheena, a therapist, and Iain, a folk musician and painter. His late younger brother, William Matheson, was also an actor. He made his feature film debut as Johnny Silver in Jez Butterworth's directorial debut, Mojo. Prior to Mojo, Matheson had appeared in various television series. He followed his role in Mojo with Stella Does Tricks, playing a young male hooked on drugs who befriends Stella, a 15 year old sexworker. Matheson then played Marius in Bille August's film version of Les Misérables. Matheson played guitar for the role of Luke Shand, a youthful rocker helping to invigorate an old band in the film, Still Crazy. Matheson continued with a starring role in the British hit Tube Tales, which led to his first commercialized film, Bodywork, starring with Beth Winslet, Charlotte Coleman, and Clive Russell. Matheson later starred in Canone Inverso, as Jeno Varga, a young man who falls in love with a pianist. He learnt the violin for this role. Following Canone, he took on the role of Mordred in the AmericanTV filmThe Mists of Avalon. Matheson proceeded in his career with a role as Thomas in the Danish-Norwegian film I Am Dina, based upon Dinas Bok. Matheson then landed the role of Yurii Zhivago, in Giacomo Campiotti's 2002 adaptation of Boris Pasternak's novel, Doctor Zhivago. Matheson continued his career starring in independent films, such as 2002's Deathwatch and the docu-film Comfortably Numb. In 2006, Matheson co-starred with actress Demi Moore in the film Half Light. He portrayed the Earl of Essex in a BBC production about Queen Elizabeth I of England called The Virgin Queen, broadcast in the US in 2005 and the UK in 2006. Matheson starred as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in the second season of the Showtime series The Tudors. Matheson played the part of Alec Stoke-d'Urberville in the four-part BBC adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and the Home Secretary Lord Coward in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. Matheson then played Ixas in the 2010 Clash of the Titans remake. He co-starred in The Christmas Candle and had a supporting role as Aeschylus in . In 2015 he was cast in the lead role of John Blackwood in the ITV series Jericho, which aired in January 2016 in the UK.
