Hugh O'Conor


Hugh O'Conor is an Irish actor, writer, director and photographer. In 2020, he was listed as number 49 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Personal Life

O'Conor was born on 19 April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland.
He studied drama at the Samuel Beckett Centre in Trinity College Dublin, and received a Fulbright scholarship to attend NYU Film School.

Career

His first film appearance was opposite Liam Neeson in the 1985 movie Lamb.
He won a Young Artist Awards in 1990 for his role in the Oscar-winning film My Left Foot, in which he portrayed the childhood days of Christy Brown, an Irishman born with cerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. In his Oscar acceptance speech, Daniel Day-Lewis said he “shared Christy's life with a remarkable young actor called Hugh O'Conor.” The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, and won two, including Brenda Fricker for Best Supporting Actress.
He was nominated as part of the cast for Outstanding Performance by a Cast at the 2001 SAG-AFTRA awards for his performance as Pére Henri in Chocolat. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture. It was also nominated for eight BAFTAs and four Golden Globes, both including Best Picture.
In 2007 he was nominated for Best Actor at the Irish Film and Television Awards for his performance as James Van Der Bexton in Tony Herbert’s Speed Dating.
His short film Corduroy was selected for competition as part of the Generation 14Plus presentation at the 60th Berlinale in Berlin. It received the award for Best Fiction/Experimental Film at the 2010 Clones Film Festival.
In 2011, his music videos for I Draw Slow and The Whileaways were nominated for the Irish Music Video awards.
He was part of the creative and performing team for RTE’s sketch comedy Your Bad Self, along with Domhnall Gleeson and Amy Huberman; the show won Best Entertainment at the 2011 Irish Film and Television Awards.
His photograph Beckah, Dublin Airport was shortlisted and exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland as part of the inaugural Hennessy Portrait Prize in 2014.
In 2014, he received the Best Supporting Actor award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards for his performance as the Fool in Selina Cartmell’s production of King Lear at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
In 2018, his feature debut Metal Heart and animated short film The Overcoat premiered at the 2018 Galway Film Fleadh. The Overcoat won Best Animated Sequence.
In 2018, he received the Jim Sheridan Award for Achievement in Irish Film at the Irish Screen America film festival in Los Angeles.
He received the Dublin Film Critics' Circle Maverick award at the 2019 Dublin International Film Festival. The Overcoat received a special mention.
He was nominated for the Independent Spirit award at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival for Metal Heart.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1985LambOwen Kane
1986Rawhead RexRobbie Hallenbeck
1988DaBoy Charlie
1989My Left FootYoung Christy Brown
1993Red HotYuri
1993'King Louis
1994Words Upon the Window PaneCabin Boy
1995'Graham Young
1996'Paul
1997Sawdust TalesIsaac
2000Hotel SplendideStanley Smith
2000ChocolatFather Henri
2002DeathwatchAnthony Bradford
2003Coney Island BabySatchmo
2003Il compagno americanoMuffa
2003BloomStephen Dedalus
2004BlueberryYoung Mike BlueberryAKA, Renegade
2005'Mr. Henry CavendishShort film
2005GeorgeShort film
2007BotchedDmitry
2007Speed DatingJames Van Der Bexton
2007Waiting for DublinTwickers
2008FlickJohnny 'Flick' Taylor
2008Summer of the Flying SaucerFather Burke
2008'Detective
2008'Annoying Guy Short film
2010Miss Remarkable & her CareerBoyfriend Short film
2010Reuniting the RubinsYona Rubin
2011Killing BonoGary
2013The StagFionnan
2015Shem the Penman Sings AgainJames Joyce
2015PilgrimageBrother Cathal
2016Handome DevilDr. Eoin Mee-
2016Property of the StateFr. Joe Walsh-
2017Mary ShelleySamuel Taylor Coleridge
2018Sonja The White SwanWinnie
2019FritziVoice of Dad

YearTitleRoleNotes
1984'Jim DonovanEpisode: "Qweneen the Sprat"
1991Perfect ScoundrelsLiamEpisode: "The Carpetbaggers"
1998'Vinnie DawsonTV film
2002Fergus's WeddingSex Shop AssistantEpisode: "1.3"
2005ShowbandsKarlTV film
2006Showbands IIKarlTV film
2007Northanger AbbeyJames MorlandTV film
200810 Days to WarMagooEpisode: "Our Business Is North"
2009Psych WardDanny O'HaganRecurring role
2009Wild DecembersThe CrockTV film
2010Your Bad Self6 episodes
2010LewisFather JasperEpisode: "The Dead of Winter"
2010Three Wise WomenTomTV film
2011Garrow's LawCathal FoleyEpisode: "3.2"
2012Saving the TitanicJonathan ShepherdTV film
2012Moone BoyElfEpisode: "Dark Side of the Moone"
2013Ripper StreetEaglesEpisode:In My Protection
2013Lt. Arthur DicksonTV film
2015The Frankenstein ChroniclesJames Hogg-
2016The FallDr. LucasSeries 3
2019ResistanceDr. Laurence Moore

Film and television as writer and director