Brendan Coyle

Birthday: 2 December 1963, Corby, Northamptonshire, England, UK

Birth Name: David Coyle

Height: 183 cm

Brendan Coyle was born in Corby, Northamptonshire to an Irish father and Scottish mother; his parents moved to Corby from County Tyrone, Ireland. Brendan holds Irish citizenship and has previously lived in Dublin and London. However, according to a video clip from the site for "Rockface" he resides in Norfolk.Brendan is also the great nephew of footballing (i.e. soccer) legend Sir Matt Busby of Manchester United fame.Brendan trained at drama school in Dublin, founded in the late 1960s as the Focus Theatre, was co-founded by his aunt Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy. Brendan started there in 1981 and then received a scholarship to Mountview Theatre School in England in 1983. He has directed at least two plays at Mountview since graduating from there.Brendan has done a number of stage, television, and movie productions, including the play "The Weir" for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance award for his part as the bartender, Brendan. He continues to work on stage, in film and on television. Show less «

By the time you've been single for quite a long time, you can get quite specific about what you can ...Show more »

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. Show less «

I see myself as a performer and that applies to a Greek drama or a modern comedy.

I had to escape the destruction of my father's bankruptcy and all that difficulty.

I'd seen a play of 'Richard III' in Coventry when I was 15, which sowed the seeds that you could act...Show more »

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. Show less «

My dad was a master butcher and I trained to be a butcher when I left school. I didn't enjoy it at t...Show more »

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. Show less «

You can't be a casual observer of something humorous - you have to engage, you have to find it funny...Show more »

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. Show less «

When I was in my 30s, I was at the end of a long-term relationship and going through a very hard tim...Show more »

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.' Show less «

It's not something that's at the forefront of my mind, but I think I'd regret it if I didn't have ch...Show more »

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. Show less «

I think great humor lies in playing the truth of a situation. I see myself as a performer and that a...Show more »

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. Show less «

I think with Sky and BBC Three and Channel 4, there are some great television platforms, and the sta...Show more »

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. It's like rock n' roll here. 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. Show less «

Sometimes I think I missed out on things like travelling. I'd have been terrified of missing an audi...Show more »

Sometimes I think I missed out on things like travelling. I'd have been terrified of missing an audition. I didn't start a family because that's not something I take lightly. Acting meant so much to me. Show less «

I think great humor lies in playing the truth of a situation.

I'm single, I'm looking for something meaningful.

I'm more rooted in new plays and new writing.

If this TV success had come in my twenties and I'd become a heart-throb, I would have been very stup...Show more »

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. Show less «

Acting meant so much to me.

I can pretty much say all of us know when 'Downton' is going to end. This is a show with a finite li...Show more »

I can pretty much say all of us know when 'Downton' is going to end. This is a show with a finite life. Show less «

Am I a household name? I still can't get my head around that.

I left school at 16 but I wish I'd gone to university - I think I would have studied English literat...Show more »

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. Show less «

You get a lot of people requesting photographs but I tend to keep myself to myself, pull my cap down...Show more »

You get a lot of people requesting photographs but I tend to keep myself to myself, pull my cap down. Show less «

I'm going to be 50 soon. I'm single, I'm looking for something meaningful. By the time you've been s...Show more »

I'm going to be 50 soon. I'm single, I'm looking for something meaningful. 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. Show less «

Britain's a funny place and there's a lot of funny people coming out of there and a lot of people ar...Show more »

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. Show less «

The qualities I am looking for in Miss Right are intelligence and humour.

I would have loved to have been a footballer like my great uncle Matt Busby, but I knew quite early ...Show more »

I would have loved to have been a footballer like my great uncle Matt Busby, but I knew quite early on that I wasn't going to make the grade. Luckily I was told by the age of 13 that I wasn't good enough. That's not a bad thing. You see this 'X Factor' generation of kids now who don't accept that they're not good enough. Show less «

I took a gamble in becoming an actor and my dream job has been realised.