Michael Colgan (born Michael Hughes) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

actor and novelist. Born in Keady,

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has ...

, Colgan was educated at

Saint Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh St Patrick's Grammar School ( ga, Scoil Ghramadaí Naomh Pádraig), Armagh, is a Roman Catholic boys' non-selective voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of Coun ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 1 ...

, where he read English. He studied at

l'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq is a school of physical theatre located on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Founded in 1956 by Jacques Lecoq, the school offers a professional and intensive two-y ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

and now lives in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A notable early performance in

was the role of Harpagon in

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

's '' L'Avare'', which was performed entirely in French. After theatre school in Paris he went back to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to work with hi He starred in the 2002 feature film '' This Is Not a Love Song'' directed by Bille Eltringham. He also spent a year working in the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and has appeared in several television productions, including ''Rebel Heart'' and ''

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

'' (2002) for the BBC. Colgan has worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company and in productions at the Royal Exchange, the Abbey Theatre, the Lyric Players' Theatre,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, the Everyman Theatre,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 20 ...

and the

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as n ...

. In 2009 he was appearing at the

in Rupert Goold's critically acclaimed production of ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

'' starring Pete Postlethwaite. In 2013, Colgan played Richard Webb in the drama series ''

What Remains What Remains may refer to: * ''What Remains'' (book), a 2003 photography book by Sally Mann * ''What Remains'' (novella), a 1990 novella by Christa Wolf * ''What Remains'' (TV series), a 2013 British drama series * '' ...What Remains'', a 1999 a ...

''. In 2014 he appeared in the first episode of the Channel 5 detective drama '' Suspects (TV series)''. In 2016, Colgan published his first novel, ''The Countenance Divine'', under his real name Michael Hughes. His second novel, ''Country'', was published in August 2018. Colgan has appeared in two separate depictions of the

Chernobyl Disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 nuclear reactor, reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainia ...

. The first being BBC's ''

Surviving Disaster ''Surviving Disaster'' is a 2006 BBC, Discovery Channel, and ProSieben co-production documentary-drama series about disasters in the 20th century, starring people who survived them. It was produced in association with France 5. It is narrated ...

: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster'' from 2006 in which he appears as

Leonid Toptunov Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov ( uk, Леонід Федорович Топтунов, russian: Леонид Фёдорович Топтунов; 16 August 1960 – 14 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the senior reactor control chief engineer a ...

, senior reactor control chief engineer of Reactor 4. The second was HBO's 2019 mini-series ''Chernobyl'' in which he depicts Mikhail Shchadov, Soviet Minister of Coal Industry. In 2020, Colgan starred as Rory Maguire in the third series of Nordic noir detective series ''Marcella''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colgan, Michael Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Living people Male film actors from Northern Ireland Male stage actors from Northern Ireland Male television actors from Northern Ireland People educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh People from Keady Royal Shakespeare Company members