Biography

The first baby born in Ireland 1981 at 00.01 AM January 1st.

Was surprised about getting the role of Robin Hood because he thought he would be too thin.

He was born in Ireland but raised in St. Annes, Lancashire, England and educated at Arnold School in Blackpool, England.

He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2003.

The 'Sheriff of Nottingham' & 'Robin Hood' are reunited in an episode of BBC One new series 'The Body Farm' airing in autumn 2011. With Keith Allen playing the detective & Jonas Armstrong as Nick Warner.

I'd heard through the grapevine that the BBC were doing Robin Hood and I was sitting in the pub with a few mates in the business talking about who we thought was going to get cast and coming up with all these established names. I remember thinking, 'F---ing hell. Imagine if I got an audition for Robin Hood.' Lo and behold, I get this call not long before I was due to go to India for work and my agent said I'd got a meeting for Robin Hood. I said, 'Oh, great. For what part?' She said, 'Robin Hood.' I just laughed down the phone. 'Don't be daft,' I said. 'There's no way in hell.' I mean, I'm quite a slight guy and they're going to be looking for some six-foot-three guy, chisel-featured, blond, golden wavy hair down to his shoulders. You know, a massive meaty fellah.

Playing the role of Nick [in Jimmy McGovern's "The Street"] helped change my perception of soldiers. It brought it so much closer to home. Making this film, I learnt so much about what soldiers do for us. When they come back home from a tour, many soldiers find it nearly impossible to readjust to normal life. It must be hellish out there. Even wearing all that kit in the boiling heat must be tough. They make an incredible contribution for us.

I didn't have quite as much confidence as maybe I should and the scale of the production was quite overwhelming for me at times. It took me a bit of time to get into it. I just felt like there were a lot of eyes on me, and there were - and rightly so. They said to me: 'OK, there you go, lad, off you go. There's your sword, there's your bow and arrow and that's your horse - get on with it.' But I wouldn't swap the experience for anything.

I really can't stress enough how difficult, yet how important it is to get home grown independent films off the ground, which are relevant to this day and age and relevant to our society in general.

[About filming Twenty8K]: The first time I've actually filmed in London,the locations we've all had have been real inner city, grimy urban places which has been great. Filming here, you've got everything on your doorstep so when you've got time off you can go into town, so I've really enjoyed it.