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Allen Leech

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Allen Leech
Leech in 2011
Born
Alan Leech

(1981-05-18) 18 May 1981 (age 43)
Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present
Spouse
Jessica Blair Herman
​
​
(m. 2019)​
Children2

Allen Leech (born 18 May 1981) is an Irish actor. He is widely known for his roles as Tom Branson in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015) and Paul Prenter in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).

Leech made his professional acting debut in the 1998 production of A Streetcar Named Desire, had his first major film role as Vincent Cusack in Cowboys & Angels (2003), and earned an Irish Film & Television Award nomination for his performance as Mo Chara in Man About Dog (2004). Leech played Marcus Agrippa on the HBO historical drama series Rome (2007).

Early life

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Leech was born in Killiney, County Dublin, to David Leech, the CEO of a computer systems company, and Kay Leech.[1] He is the third of four children:[2] he has an older brother, Greg; an older sister, Alli; and a younger brother, Simon.[3] He attended St Michael's College.[1] Leech became interested in acting at 11 when he was given the part of the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz and found he loved being on stage.[2] He recalled how he immediately decided to become an actor when Peter McDonald told him how acting is a profession on the last night of the production's run.[2]

Afterwards, drama became the "focal point" of Leech's teenage years, apart from his family life, and drama and family support helped him through his school years.[4] He became set on acting after winning a small role in a 1998 production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Gate Theatre.[5] He earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin,[6] later noting this was a "loophole" in his parents' stipulation that he earn a degree to fall back on if he failed to have success as an actor.[7] He landed his first major roles in Cowboys & Angels and Man About Dog while at Trinity, and he has admitted that he did little schoolwork because he spent his time on auditions and acting.[5]

Career

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Leech at the Malibu Film Society in 2019

Leech's first professional stage role was in 1998 at the Gate in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire.[8][9] "I was the gentleman caller to Frances McDormand's Blanche Dubois. The Coen brothers were walking backstage, and me a naive 16-year-old."

He appeared as Willi in the Queen and Peacock, at the Garter Lane Arts Centre. The following years, Leech was in Tom Murphy's The Morning After Optimism and then Hugh Leonard's Da at the Abbey.

Leech's breakthrough film performance was in Cowboys and Angels,[10] in which he played Vincent, a gay fashion student, followed by a role in the 2004 cross-country caper film Man About Dog.[11][12]

Leech played the role of Shane Kirwan in the Ireland's RTÉ series Love Is the Drug, in which he received a Best Actor nomination from the Irish Film and Television Awards. He followed that up with the role of Willy in the television series Legend, which is the story of three different Irish families.[13] He received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from Irish Film and Television Awards for his performance.

In 2007, Leech appeared in the HBO drama series Rome as Marcus Agrippa, Octavian's top soldier and friend.[14] The film, Rewind, opened in Ireland on 25 March 2011.[15]

In 2010, he appeared on the small screen in The Tudors as the doomed Francis Dereham, former lover of Catherine Howard. Leech also appeared in ITV 2010s television series Downton Abbey as chauffeur Tom Branson, whose twin beliefs in socialism and Irish Republicanism clash with those of the British upper class. He played the role of officer Sam Leonard in television series Primeval in 2011 in series five. Leech also starred in the 2012 film adaptation The Sweeney.[6] In 2014 he starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, as the spy John Cairncross, in The Imitation Game.

Leech was voted sexiest Irish male in 2005 in U Magazine. He was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed men in Britain in 2015.[16]

In 2017, Leech appeared alongside Ginnifer Goodwin in the Los Angeles stage production of Constellations.[17] The play ran from June 14 to July 23, 2017, at the Geffen Playhouse.[18]

Leech played Paul Prenter, who was briefly Freddie Mercury's manager and lover, in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018),[19] which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards.[20]

Leech reprised his role as Tom Branson in the feature films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). He has an upcoming role in the crime drama The Vanishing Triangle opposite India Mullen.[21]

Personal life

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In February 2018, Leech announced his engagement to actress Jessica Blair Herman.[22][23] They were married in an outdoor ceremony on 5 January 2019 at the Alisal Ranch and Resort in Solvang, California. Guests at the ceremony included Leech's Downton Abbey co-stars Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens, as well as his Bohemian Rhapsody co-stars Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, and Lucy Boynton.[24] In September 2019, the couple announced they were expecting their first daughter.[25] In May 2022, they announced that they were expecting their second daughter, due later that year.[26]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2000 Iníon an Fhiaclóra (The Dentist's Daughter) Rory Short film
2002 The Escapist Policeman 1
2003 Cowboys & Angels Vincent Cusack
2004 Man About Dog Mo Chara
2007 Deep Breaths Danny Short film
2008 Factory Farmed
2009 From Time to Time Fred Boggis
2010 Rewind Karl
2012 The Sweeney Simon Ellis
2013 Grand Piano Wayne
In Fear Max
Hello Darkness Mark Cooper
2014 The Imitation Game John Cairncross
2017 The Hunter's Prayer Richard Addison
2018 Bohemian Rhapsody Paul Prenter
2019 Downton Abbey Tom Branson
2022 Downton Abbey: A New Era
2024 You Can't Run Forever Eddie
Cold Meat David Petersen
2025 Untitled Downton Abbey: A New Era sequel Tom Branson Filming

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2000 Yesterday's Children Brian Television film
2003 Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor British Officer
2004 Battlefield Britain Episode: "A Clash of Kings: The Battle of the Boyne"
Love Is the Drug Shane Kirwen 4 episodes
2006 Legend Willy 6 episodes
2007 Rome Marcus Agrippa 8 episodes
2008 Heroes and Villains Edeco Episode: "Attila the Hun"
2009 Running Low Bala Whedon 2 episodes
2010 The Tudors Francis Dereham
2010–2015 Downton Abbey Tom Branson 45 episodes
2011 Primeval Officer Sam Leonard One episode
Black Mirror Pike Episode: "The National Anthem"
2017 Bellevue Eddie Rowe
2019 Surveillance Scott Yardley
2020 The Good Doctor Ariel Reznik Episode: "Sex and Death"
2021 As Luck Would Have It Brennan Hallmark movie
2023 The Vanishing Triangle David Burkely
2024 Too Good To Be True Elliott Fielding 4 episodes; also executive producer

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Assassin's Creed III Thomas Hickey Voice
2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Hjalmar an Craite

Stage

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Year Title Role Theatre Notes
1998 A Streetcar Named Desire Gentleman Caller Gate Theatre Performed as Alan Leech
1999 This Lime Tree Bower Joe New Theatre
2000 The Queen and Peacock Willie Garter Lane Arts Centre
2001 The Morning After Optimism Edmund Abbey Theatre
2002 Da Young Charlie Abbey Theatre
2008 Everybody Loves Sylvia Harlequin Project Arts Centre
Zero Hour Benny, Ensemble Abbey Theatre
2010 Phaedra Hippolytus Project Arts Centre
On Baile's Strand Young Man Abbey Theatre
2011 Ecstasy Mick Hampstead Theatre, Duchess Theatre
2017 Constellations Roland Geffen Playhouse

Appearances

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Year Appearance Notes
2004 The Panel TV series (1 episode: "Episode #2.5")
2005 3rd Irish Film and Television Awards TV documentary
2007 4th Irish Film and Television Awards Presenter

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
2004 Irish Film & Television Awards Best New Talent Cowboys & Angels Nominated
2005 Best Actor in Television Love Is the Drug Nominated
2007 Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Television Legend Nominated
2013 Downton Abbey Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Won
2014 Nominated
2015 Won
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Imitation Game Nominated
Irish Film & Television Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Film Nominated
20th Critics' Choice Awards Best Acting Ensemble Nominated
2016 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey Won
2019 Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Bohemian Rhapsody Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b MacDonald, Marianne (22 July 2007). "Rome Sweet Rome". The Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 12 November 2012 – via Infotrac.
  2. ^ a b c Randall, Lee (15 September 2012). "Interview: Allen Leech on the return of Downton Abbey". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  3. ^ Butler, Laura (3 November 2012). "'Downton' star Allen loves his role as rebellious Irishman". Irish Independent. Dublin. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Downton Abbey star Allen Leech denies being bullied as a child". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b Nolan, Emma (3 September 2006). "A cowboy and an angel wrapped up to make a legend". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Allen Leech". Troika Talent. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Allen Leech on the Thursday Interview". The Right Hook. Dublin. 1 November 2012. Newstalk. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013.
  8. ^ "Allen Leech". Biography in Context. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  9. ^ Wolf, Matt (18 May 1998). "A Streetcar Named Desire". Variety. Los Angeles.
  10. ^ Koehler, Robert (13 July 2004). "Cowboys & Angels" Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  11. ^ Cline, Rich (19 October 2004) "Man About Dog". ShadowsOnTheWall.
  12. ^ Russell, Jamie (14 November 2004). "Man About Dog (2004)". BBC News. Hereford & Worcester
  13. ^ Wallace, Arminta (9 December 2018). "Living legends". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  14. ^ "HBO". Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  15. ^ "rewindthefilm on Twitter". Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  16. ^ "50 Best Dressed Men in Britain 2015". GQ. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015.
  17. ^ Gardner, Chris (23 January 2017). "Ginnifer Goodwin Set for 'Constellations' at Geffen Playhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Los Angeles Premiere Of "Constellations" At The Geffen Playhouse Extends Through July 23". Westside Today. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  19. ^ Busch, Anita (30 August 2017). "Allen Leech Joins 'Bohemian Rhapsody' As Paul Prenter, Freddy Mercury's Judas". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  20. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (12 December 2018). "SAG Awards: Full List of Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  21. ^ Whittock, Jesse (1 September 2022). "'The Vanishing Triangle': 'Downton Abbey's Allen Leech & 'Normal People's India Mullen To Lead Sundance Now, Virgin Media & Eccho's Irish Drama Series". Deadline. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Allen Leech on Instagram". Instagram. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  23. ^ Martin, Annie (16 February 2018). "Downton Abbey alum Allen Leech engaged to actress". UPI. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  24. ^ Shahid, Sharnaz (15 January 2019). "Exclusive: Downton Abbey's Allen Leech surrounded by co-stars on wedding day". Hello!. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  25. ^ Jen, Juneau (10 September 2019). "Downton Baby! Allen Leech and Wife Jessica Blair Herman Expecting First Child". People. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  26. ^ Morris, Nicky (17 May 2022). "Downton Abbey's Allen Leech reveals gender of second child in most adorable way". Hello!. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
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