Jonathan Harden (born 1979) is a Northern Irish actor and director.

Early life

Harden was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 1979, the son of an Irish father and an American mother.

Career

Harden's most notable credits include the roles of David 'Jonty' Johnston in BBC cop drama '' Blue Lights'', Sean Rawlins in the crime drama series ''

Unforgotten ''Unforgotten'' is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Ca ...

'', Gregory in the final season of the comedy series ''

Peep Show A peep show, peepshow, or, a peep booth is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the devel ...

'', Walter Hill in the costume drama series '' Titanic: Blood and Steel'', Newman Noggs and the narrator in the BBC adaptation of ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'', or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'', is the third novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his ...

'', Brendan Murphy in Jimmy McGovern's 2021 prison drama ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', and an unnamed character in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi''. Harden's stage credits include Henry Joy McCracken in

Stewart Parker James Stewart Parker (20 October 1941 – 2 November 1988) was a Northern Irish playwright. Early life Born into a working-class family in East Belfast in 1941, he was one of the post-WWII generation to be the first in their family to attai ...

'
''Northern Star''
at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

and '' Children of the Sun'' at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

under the direction of the late Howard Davies. Of his performance in Northern Star, the Time Out review wrote, "Jonathan Harden reveals himself as an extraordinary talent whose performance leaves an afterglow like a good whiskey." Harden provided the narration for 2015

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winning short film '' Boogaloo and Graham''. He has also provided voices for several video games, most notably as

Xenophilius Lovegood The following is a list of characters from the ''Harry Potter'' series. Each character appears in at least one ''Harry Potter''–related book or story by J. K. Rowling. These books and stories include the seven original ''Harry Potter'' nov ...

in '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I''. In 2014, he played Axl in the

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

-produced ''

Halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

'' film ''Halo: Nightfall''. In 2015, Harden launched ''In Anything at the Minute? The Honest Actors' Podcast'', a project centred on interviews with other jobbing actors and available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. In 2017, he produced and directed his first film project, ''Guard'', a female-led boxing film set in

. It had its debut at the

Galway Film Fleadh The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Ire ...

in July 2017, and soon after had its North American premiere at the

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newpor ...

. In 2018, it was followed by ''Troubles'', on the subject of male mental health, which again debuted at the Galway Film Fleadh. Following his venture into film directing, Harden made his London stage directing debut in 2020, with Joe Crilly's ''On McQuillan's Hill'' at the

. The production sold out and received critical acclaim, including five stars from the ''Morning Star'' and four stars from ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

''. Originally produced in 2000 at the

Lyric Theatre, Belfast The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the principal, full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In January 2023 it won The Stage's Theatre of the Year award in recognition of "its programme...as well as for its online festiva ...

, the Finborough production was an English premiere and marked the 20th anniversary of the play's Belfast debut. In 2021, Harden appeared in Jimmy McGovern's prison drama ''

'' as lifer, Brendan Murphy. The role earned him praise from many, with ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' calling this performance, "a highly-charged, emotive turn, and the '' Sunday Life'' noting it as "superb".

Personal life

Harden is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and enjoys running. He is married to Northern Irish actress Bronágh Taggart.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harden, Jonathan 1979 births Living people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Male actors from Belfast Male film actors from Northern Ireland Male television actors from Northern Ireland Male stage actors from Northern Ireland Male video game actors from Northern Ireland Male voice actors from Northern Ireland Theatre directors from Northern Ireland People educated at Rathmore Grammar School Film directors from Belfast