Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the Resident Evil film series (2004–2016) and as Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). Other notable film and television roles include John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon (1990), Larry Winters in Silent Scream (1990) for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival, Manfred Powell in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Brother John in Song for a Raggy Boy (2003), the title role in Jack Taylor (2010–2016), Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey (2011), James Willett in Eye in the Sky (2015), Bruce Wayne in Titans (2019–2021), Magnus MacMillan in The Rig (2023–present), and Dr. Pete Nichols in Silo (2023–2025).
An accomplished stage actor, Glen has acted in a wide array of theatre including playing the titular roles in Shakespeare productions including Hamlet, Macbeth and Henry V. He received three Laurence Olivier Award nominations for his performances in the original production of the musical Martin Guerre, the West End production of The Blue Room and the 2006 West End revival of The Crucible, portraying John Proctor.
Early life and education Glen was born on 24 June 1961 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and educated at the Edinburgh Academy, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), followed by the University of Aberdeen. He then trained in acting at the RADA in London, because it was the only drama school holding auditions at that moment. He graduated in 1985 with an Acting (RADA) Diploma, having won the Bancroft Gold Medal. His older brother is Hamish Glen, artistic director of the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and former artistic director of the Dundee Repertory Theatre.
Career Glen's big screen debut came in the 1988 film Paris by Night, alongside Charlotte Rampling and Michael Gambon. The same year, Glen appeared in Gorillas in the Mist with Sigourney Weaver. In 1990, Glen won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival for his role in Silent Scream. That year he was cast as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, in Tom Stoppard's film adaptation of his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
In 1998, Glen was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Blue Room starring opposite Nicole Kidman.
In 2002, Glen starred with Emilia Fox in the Italian-French-British romance-drama film The Soul Keeper, directed by Roberto Faenza. In 2008, Glen was Samson in the BBC Radio 3 production of Samson Agonistes directed by John Tydeman.
Glen starred as John Fielding in the 2008 British TV mini-series City of Vice. Ian McDiarmid plays Henry Fielding (author of the novel Tom Jones) who along with his brother, John, started London's first professional police force.
In 2009, it was announced that Glen had joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones, starring as Ser Jorah Mormont, a knight in exile from Westeros, who becomes adviser to Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) when she joins the Dothraki.
In 2010, he played the role of Father Octavian, leader of a sect of clerics who were on a mission against the Weeping Angels in "The Time of Angels" and "Flesh and Stone", a two-episode story which formed part of the fifth season of the revived television series Doctor Who (played by Matt Smith). He appeared in the second series of Downton Abbey as Sir Richard Carlisle, a tabloid publisher who is a suitor to, and subsequently engaged to, Lady Mary.
From 2010 to 2016, Glen played the title character in the Irish TV crime series Jack Taylor, adapted from the novels by Ken Bruen, and set in Galway, Ireland.
In the 2012 BBC drama series Prisoners' Wives, he plays Paul, the husband of Francesca, whose comfortable life comes crashing down when he is imprisoned for drug trafficking. The same year, he starred in a new four-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, and directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Sasha Yevtushenko.
From December 2013 until early January 2014, Glen starred alongside Richard McCabe in Fortune's Fool at the Old Vic, directed by Lucy Bailey. He had been due to appear in the full run until late February 2014, but was forced to withdraw early to recover from illness, with his role taken by his understudy Patrick Cremin and then by William Houston, who joined the cast at around the same time as Glen's departure.
In 2019, it was revealed that Glen would be portraying Bruce Wayne on the DC Universe TV series Titans.
In 2023, Glen starred as Magnus MacMillan, in charge of the Kinloch Bravo oil rig in The Rig, in a cast that included Emily Hampshire, Martin Compston and Mark Addy. The same year, he starred as William Carr in Operation Napoleon, a thriller directed by Óskar Þór Axelsson and based on Arnaldur Indriðason's best selling book of the same name.
Glen plays Leonard in the Belgian film The Last Front, a story about a broken man who takes a stand during the First World War.
Glen has received numerous nominations and awards for his performance in Game of Thrones. Notably, he won the Best Actor award at the 2016 Taormina Film Fest.
Personal life Glen lives in south London with his wife and three children.
He is a keen cricketer, and has played for the Actors XI.
Filmography
+Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film Year Title Role Notes1988 Paris by Night Wallace Sharp Gorillas in the Mist Brendan1990 Mountains of the Moon John Hanning Speke Silent Scream Larry Winters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Hamlet Fools of Fortune William Quinton 1991 30 Door Key Joey 1993 The Young Americans Edward Foster 1998 Mararía Bertrand2000 Beautiful Creatures Tony Paranoid Stan2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Manfred Powell Gabriel & Me Dad2002 Darkness Mark The Soul Keeper Dr. Carl Gustav Jung 2003 Song for a Raggy Boy Brother John Spy Sorge Richard Sorge 2004 Resident Evil: Apocalypse Dr. Alexander Isaacs2005 Man to Man Alexander Auchinleck Vagabond Shoes Alec Murray Short film Tara Road Danny Kingdom of Heaven Richard Cœur de Lion 2006 Small Engine Repair Doug2007 The Last Legion Orestes Resident Evil: Extinction Dr. Alexander Isaacs / Tyrant Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution Frank Ratcliffe 2008 Slapper Red / Michael Simmons Short film2009 Pope Joan Village Priest Harry Brown S.I. Childs The Case of Unfaithful Klara Denis 2011 The Iron Lady Alfred Roberts 2013 Kick-Ass 2 Uncle Ralph2014 Guy Martin's Spitfire Narrator (voice) Documentary Monsters Behind the Iron Curtain Narrator (voice) Documentary2015 The Bad Education Movie Pasco Eye in the Sky James Willett2016 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Dr. Alexander Isaacs Dusty and Me Mickey the Bubble 2017 My Cousin Rachel Nick Kendall 2019 The Flood Philip The Fabric of You Isaac (voice) Short film Isabel Colin Short film2020 The Windermere Children Jock Lawrence The Racer Sonny Black Beauty John Manly 2021 Tides Gibson 2022 The Lost Girls Hook 2023 Operation Napoleon William Carr2024 The Last Front Leonard What About Love American Ambassador 2025 Tanvi The Great Michael SimmonsQuezonLeonard Wood 2026 John Ambrose Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 1986 Taggart Scott Adair Episode: "Knife Edge" 1986–1989 Screen Two Allan Innes / Sailor / Ray 3 episodes 1988 The Fear Carl Galton 5 episodes 1991 Adam Bede Adam Bede Television film1992 Frankie's House Tim Page 4 episodes Screen One Cmdr Powell Episode: "Black and Blue" 1993 Missus Father Pietro Salviati, Missus Television film 1996 Death of a Salesman Biff Television film 1997 Painted Lady Sebastian Stafford 2 episodes 1998 Trial & Retribution Damon Morton 2 episodes 1999 Wives and Daughters Mr. Preston 4 episodes2000 Glasgow Kiss Stuart Morrison 6 episodes The Wyvern Mystery Charles Fairfield Television film Anchor Me Nathan Carter Television film 2002 Impact Marcus Hodge Television film 2003 Carla Daniel Television film 2005 Kidnapped Alan Breck 2 episodes2007 Starting Over Gregor Dewhurst Television film The Relief of Belsen James Johnston Television film 2008 City of Vice John Fielding 5 episodes2009 The Diary of Anne Frank Otto Frank 5 episodes Law & Order: UK Luke Slade Episode: "Unsafe" Into the Storm King George VI Television film2010 Doctor Who Father Octavian 2 episodes Spooks Vaughn Edwards 8 episodes 2010–2016 Jack Taylor Jack Taylor Series of television films2011 Strike Back: Project Dawn Crawford 2 episodes Downton Abbey Sir Richard Carlisle 6 episodes 2011–2019 Game of Thrones Ser Jorah Mormont 52 episodes2012 Haven Roland Holloway Episode: "Real Estate" Henry IV, Part II Earl of Warwick Episode of The Hollow Crown 2012–2013 Prisoners' Wives Paul 10 episodes2013 Borgia Girolamo Savonarola 2 episodes Ripper Street Colonel Madoc Faulkner Episode: "The Weight of One Man's Heart" Agatha Christie's Poirot Dr. David Willoughby Episode: "Elephants Can Remember" Breathless Inspector Ronald Mulligan 6 episodes 2014 The Red Tent Jacob 2 episodes 2014–2017 Autopsy: The Last Hours of... Narrator (voice) 10 episodes 2016–2017 Cleverman Jarrod Slade 12 episodes 2016–2019 Delicious Leo 12 episodes2018 The Sidemen Show Narrator (voice) 7 episodes Mrs Wilson Alexander "Alec" Wilson 3 episodes 2019 Ice Age: Return of the Mammoth Narrator (voice) Television documentary 2019–2021 Titans Bruce Wayne 11 episodes 2021–present Reyka Angus Speelman 8 episodes 2023–2025 The Rig Magnus MacMillan 12 episodes Castlevania: Nocturne Juste Belmont (voice) 9 episodes 2023–presentSilo Dr. Pete Nichols 12 episodes 2026Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Lord Caterham 2 episodes
Selected theatre Edward II, Royal Exchange, Manchester 1986 The Man Who Had All the Luck Bristol Old Vic 1990 Hamlet, Bristol Old Vic, 1991 Macbeth (1993) Henry V (1995) Martin Guerre (1996–1997) The Blue Room (1998) A Streetcar Named Desire (2002) Hedda Gabler (2005) The Crucible (2006) Scenes of a Marriage (2008) Wallenstein (2009, Minerva Theatre, Chichester) – title role Separate Tables (2009) – roles of Mr Martin and Major Pollock – Chichester Festival Theatre Ghosts (2010) – also directed Uncle Vanya, The Print Room, 2012 – title role Fortune's Fool, The Old Vic, 2013 The Seagull Here King Lear Coriolanus She Stoops to Conquer Hapgood Road Small Engine Repair The Recruiting Officer Love From A Stranger
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResult1990Silver BearBest ActorSilent Scream1991Evening Standard British Film AwardBest ActorMountains of the Moon, Fools of Fortune, Silent ScreamIan Charleson AwardSpecial commendationLees, Caroline. "Classic recipes for success". Sunday Times. 9 February 1992Hamlet1994Evening Standard Theatre AwardBest ActorHenry V1997Laurence Olivier AwardBest Actor in a MusicalMartin Guerre1999Best ActorThe Blue RoomDrama League AwardBest Actor2007Whatsonstage.com AwardBest ActorThe CrucibleLaurence Olivier AwardBest Actor2012Screen Actors Guild AwardGame of Thrones2013Downton Abbey2014Game of Thrones20152016201820202016Taormina Film FestBest ActorGame of Thrones2019IGN Summer Movie AwardsBest TV EnsembleGame of Thrones2021Almeria Film FestivalLand of Cinema AwardN/A (Lifetime Award)
References
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