Age: 71
male
Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two BIFA's, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award, five times for a Golden Globe Award and once for an Academy Award. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson. He is best known for his performance as Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter films (2005–2010). He is also known for his supporting roles in films such as Braveheart (1995), Michael Collins (1996), 28 Days Later (2002), Gangs of New York (2002), Cold Mountain (2003), Troy (2004), Suffragette (2015), Paddington 2 (2017), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). He is also known for his leading roles in films such as The General (1998), In Bruges (2008), The Guard (2011), Calvary (2014), Frankie (2019), and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the lattermost film. He won an Primetime Emmy Award in 2009 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the television film Into the Storm. He also received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance as Donald Trump in the Showtime series The Comey Rule (2020). From 2017 to 2019 he starred in the crime series Mr. Mercedes. He received an Emmy Award nomination for Stephen Frears' Sundance TV series State of the Union (2022).
Set in the ruthless world of modern corporate power, King Lear follows Lear, an aging and fiercely controlling billionaire CEO who has spent decades building one of the world's most powerful business empires. Believing the time has come to secure his legacy, Lear announces that he will divide control of his company among his three daughters according to how convincingly each can demonstrate her love and loyalty to him. Goneril and Regan eagerly play the game, offering elaborate declarations that satisfy their father's vanity. Cordelia, Lear's youngest and most honest daughter, refuses to turn her love into a performance. Furious, Lear disowns Cordelia and gives her share of the empire to her sisters, setting in motion a brutal struggle for control. As Goneril and Regan consolidate their power, their alliances begin to fracture. Lear discovers that the daughters who promised him everything now consider him an obstacle. Cast out, Lear's anger and humiliation gradually give way to paranoia and madness. Unknown to him, Cordelia has returned in disguise as his Fool, allowing her to remain close to her father and care for him while challenging the delusions that increasingly consume him. Meanwhile, Lear's trusted associate Gloucester suffers a similar betrayal within his own family. His illegitimate son Edmund manipulates him into believing that his loyal legitimate son Edgar is plotting against him, forcing Edgar into exile and allowing Edmund to rise within the corporate hierarchy. As Edmund's ambitions intersect with those of Goneril and Regan, the struggle for Lear's empire becomes increasingly violent and destructive. Albany and Kent begin to recognize the devastating consequences of their family's pursuit of power. Lear's downfall becomes inseparable from the destruction of the empire he built, culminating in a final confrontation that leaves the surviving members of the family forced to reckon with the cost of ambition, betrayal, pride, and misplaced loyalty.
