Antony Byrne

Theatre

When Byrne left Central, he landed the role of Orlando in As You Like It at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 1991.^[3][4] After a season at the Crucible, Byrne performed with the Royal National Theatre^[5] and Bolton Octagon.^[6] In 1995, Byrne joined Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and did two plays in that season: he worked with Peter Hall on Julius Caesar, and he worked with Katie Mitchell on The Phoenician Women.^[7][8]

Byrne has played a wide range of Shakespearean roles, including Cinna and Lucilius in Julius Caesar, Aria and Oedipus in The Phoenician Women, Agrippa and Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, Sebastian in The Tempest, Duke of Montfort and King David in Edward III, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, King Henry VIII in Henry VIII, Macduff and Macbeth in Macbeth, Mowbray in Richard II, Worcester and Pistol in Henry IV, Pistol in Henry V, Earl of Kent in King Lear, Duke Senior and Duke Frederick in As You Like It, Duke of Vienna in Measure for Measure.^[3][8]

In 2017, Byrne starred as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[9] Kate Kellaway of The Guardian praised his performance, stating: "Byrne’s Antony is an ordinary, erring, henpecked bloke, but when he leaves Cleopatra, promising to be a “man of steel”, he sounds, movingly, like a man of flesh, and I have seldom witnessed a more horribly realistic death on stage."^[10]

Byrne's major theatre credits also include Bassanio in The Merchant Of Venice,^[11] Edward Kelly in The Alchemical Wedding,^[12] Parthenius in The Roman Actor,^[13] Piniero in The Island Princess,^[14] Dad in Skellig,^[15] Jerry in Betrayal,^[16] Martin in Rutherford and Son,^[17] Dr. Treves in The Elephant Man,^[18] Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights,^[19] Charley Malloy in On the Waterfront,^[20] Agamemnon in After Troy,^[21] John Bailey and Dr Gibbons in Bracken Moor.^[22]

Television

In 1992, Byrne made his debut on television as Duncan in the ITV series Heartbeat.^[23] In 1994, he played Ginger Slater in the miniseries The Cinder Path, based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Cookson.^[24]

Byrne has appeared in numerous British television series, including The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, Spender, Prime Suspect, Touching Evil, The Bill, Casualty, Playing the Field, 55 Degrees North, Doctors, The Royal, Timewatch, Midsomer Murders, Single-Handed, Emmerdale Farm, Silent Witness,The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Coronation Street, Vera, Law & Order: UK, Jericho, Grace, Trigger Point.^[23]

In 2021, Byrne appeared as the Nilfgaardian general Hake in the second season of The Witcher on Netflix.^[25] Back in 2011, Byrne voiced King Foltest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.^[26]

In 2022, Byrne took the role of Hiram Crombie in the Starz series Outlander.^[27] In the Outlander novel, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Hiram acts as an unofficial spokesperson for the families from Thurso.^[27] Also in 2022, Byrne portrayed an English football manager, Neil Warnock, in the television film Floodlights broadcast on BBC Two.^[28][29]

In 2023, Byrne was cast as an unscrupulous enforcer Ginger Baines in the Disney+ series Rivals (2024), based on the 1988 novel Rivals by Jilly Cooper, alongside a cast that included David Tennant, Alex Hassell and Nafessa Williams.^[30] In June 2026, Rivals was renewed for a third season.^[31]

Film

In film, Byrne's roles have tended to be smaller supporting parts. In 2006, he played the chilling role of a British interrogator in The Wind That Shakes the Barley.^[23] In 2012, he portrayed Colonel Demin in Anna Karenina.^[23] In 2014, Byrne played an English football administrator, Frederick Wall, in the French drama film United Passions.^[23]

Video Games

Byrne has provided the voice and motion capture performances for Victor Gideon in Resident Evil: Requiem^[32][33] and King Oswald in Ryse: Son of Rome.^[32][34] His other notable voice acting roles include King Foltest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Vaudin in A Plague Tale: Requiem, Officer Bradley in Call of Cthulhu, Calhoun in Vampyr, Biggs in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward and Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers.^[32]

Film

• 2006: The Wind That Shakes the Barley – The Interrogator
• 2007: Straightheads – Misha
• 2008: Bathory – Pastor Ponicky
• 2009: Thick as Thieves – Yaniushkin
• 2011: Mercenaries – Olodan Gragovic
• 2012: Anna Karenina – Colonel Demin
• 2014: United Passions – Frederick Wall

Television

Video games

Theatre

Other