Early life and education
Robert Sheehan started life in County Laois, Ireland on 7 January 1988. He first considered acting as a career aged 14 when his mother took him to an audition for Song for a Raggy Boy where he was offered a part. In 2006, Sheehan played the crippled boy in Cripple of Innishmaan. He briefly studied Film and TV studies at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, leaving in his first year. A life decision that boded well for his acting career. Here we take a brief look at his life, career and filmography.
Career
After leaving college Robert Sheehan appeared in a number of feature films including A Dublin Story, Ghostwood, An Créatúr, Summer of the Flying Saucer and Season of the Witch. He made several television appearances, included in fifteen episodes of Foreign Exchange and in all thirteen episodes of Young Blades as Louis XIV of France. In 2008, he appeared in the leading role in the series Rock Rivals for ITV. In July 2008, he appeared in the role of Liam in Bitter Sweet, a two-part RTÉ comedy drama.
In March 2009, he appeared in the role of BJ in the Channel 4 trilogy, Red Riding.
Robert Sheehan starred as one of the lead characters in the Cherrybomb (2009) set in Belfast. From 2009 to 2010, he starred as a young offender in the first two series of the E4 drama Misfits and in May 2011 he was nominated for a BAFTA in the “Male Supporting Actor” category for his role, though a month earlier it was announced he would not be appearing in Misfits for season three.
In 2010, Robert Sheehan was nominated for an IFTA award in the Rising Star category. He was chosen to replace the original voice of Ray in A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures. In October 2010, he was offered the part of Darren, a member of gangland Dublin in the four-part drama Love/Hate on Irish national television.
Sheehan played Kay in the US fantasy thriller, Season of the Witch (2011). From September to November 2011 his career shifted to the stage where he starred in The Playboy of the Western World at the Old Vic Theatre. He also starred in Arjun Rose’s Demons Never Die and appeared in the second season of the BBC crime drama series Accused the same year.
In 2011, he was involved in a trailer for Bleak Sea, a film trailer made solely for a trailer competition. In 2012 it was rumoured Sheehan was to star in three films currently in development: In Between The Waves, Wayfaring Strangers and Romeo and Brittney.
Robert Sheehan played Simon Lewis in the film City of Bones (2013) and in the same year was honoured by University College Dublin’s Literary and Historical society.
In September/October 2015 he played Richard Duke of Gloucester/Richard III in Trevor Nunn’s revival of The Wars of the Roses, John Barton’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s three parts of Henry VI and Richard III at the Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames.
In October 2015, he received the Burke Medal for Contribution to Discourse Through The Arts from Trinity College Dublin’s College Historical Society.
Filmography
2003 An Cuainín
2003 Song for a Raggy Boy
2003 A Dublin Story
2006 Ghostwood
2008 Summer of the Flying Saucer
2008 Lowland Fell
2009 Cherrybomb
2009 An Créatúr
2011 A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures
2011 Season of the Witch
2011 Demons Never Die
2011 Killing Bono
2011 The Borrowers
2013 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
2014 Anita B.
2014 The Road Within
2015 Moonwalkers
2015 The Messenger
2016 Jet Trash