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Michael Colgan (actor)

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Michael Colgan (born 1972-1973[1] as Michael Hughes in Keady, County Armagh) is a Northern Irish actor, novelist and academic, currently a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Queen Mary University of London.[2]

Early life

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Colgan was educated at Saint Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh and did his undergraduate studies in English at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, then completed a MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, followed by a PhD at London Metropolitan University.[3] He also studied at l'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris and has lived in London.

Academic career

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Colgan, who uses his birth name of Michael Hughes in his academic career, taught both Creative Writing and English Literature at his alma mater London Metropolitan University and also taught Creative Writing as a Visiting Lecturer at Roehampton University and the University of Hertfordshire, then Lecturer in Creative Writing at Queen’s University Belfast, before joining Queen Mary University of London as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing.[4]

Acting career

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A notable early performance in Saint Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh was the role of Harpagon in Molière's L'Avare, which was performed entirely in French. After theatre school in Paris, he went back to Ireland to work with his younger brother, film director Enda Hughes, in 1996 in the feature film The Eliminator.

He starred in the 2002 feature film This Is Not a Love Song directed by Bille Eltringham. He also spent a year working in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and has appeared in several television productions, including Rebel Heart and Sunday (2002) for the BBC.[5]

Colgan has worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company and in productions at the Royal Exchange, the Abbey Theatre, the Lyric Players' Theatre, Belfast, the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, the Young Vic and the Tricycle Theatre.

In 2009 he was appearing at the Young Vic in Rupert Goold's critically acclaimed production of King Lear starring Pete Postlethwaite.[6]

In 2013, Colgan played Richard Webb in the drama series What Remains. In 2014 he appeared in the first episode of the Channel 5 detective drama Suspects (TV series).

In 2016, Colgan published his first novel, The Countenance Divine, under his real name Michael Hughes.[7] His second novel, Country, was published in August 2018.[8]

Colgan has appeared in two separate depictions of the Chernobyl Disaster. The first being BBC's Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster from 2006 in which he appears as Leonid Toptunov, senior reactor control chief engineer of Reactor 4.[9] The second was HBO's 2019 mini-series Chernobyl in which he depicts Soviet Minister of Coal Industry Mikhail Shchadov.[10]

In 2020, Colgan starred as Rory Maguire in the third series of Nordic noir detective series Marcella.[11][12]

In 2024, he depicted older Gerry Adams in the last three episodes of Say Nothing.[13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 The Eliminator O'Brien
2002 Sunday Gerard Donaghey TV film
2002 This Is Not a Love Song Spike
2002 Sinners Eammon TV film
2004 Wall of Silence Gerard Dillon TV film
2005 Song of Songs Male Journalist Voice
2005 The Year London Blew Up: 1974 O'Connell TV film
2005 Animals Danny Harkman TV film
2006 Soundproof Connor TV film
2010 Lennon Naked Derek Taylor TV film
2013 Good Vibrations Dave
2014 Heart of Lightness Arnholm

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2001 Rebel Heart Liam O'Toole 2 episodes
2004 The Long Firm Cutter Episode: "Jimmy's Story"
2004 Surviving Disaster Leonid Toptunov Episode: "Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster"
2007 Silent Witness George Woods 2 episodes
2008 Raw Mal Martin 6 episodes
2009 Occupation Will Davies
2009 The Bill Paul Brewer Episode: "Innocence Betrayed"
2010 Holby City Mitch Turner Episode: "Taking Over"
2011 Doctors Minford Boyle Episode: "Last Christmas"
2011 New Tricks Lorcan "Buzz" McCaffrey Episode: "Tiger Tiger"
2011 Midsomer Murders Father Behan Episode: "A Sacred Trust"
2011 Great Expectations Anxious Man Episode 1.2
2012 The Thick of It Mr. Chop / Declan 3 episodes
2013 The Fall Sheldon Schwartz 2 episodes
2013 What Remains Richard Webb 3 episodes
2014 Suspects Laurie Wilkins Episode: "Alone"
2016 Happy Valley Chaplain Episode 2.1
2016 The Secret Paul Ramsey Part 4
2016 Hooten & the Lady Monsignor Fitzgerald Episode: "Rome"
2016 My Mother and Other Strangers Father Nolan 2 episodes
2017 X Company Henri Episode: "Promises"
2019 Chernobyl Mikhail Shchadov Episode: "Open Wide, O Earth"
2020 Marcella Rory Maguire Main role
2020 The Crown IRA Lieutenant "Gold Stick"
2022 This England Gabriel Milland Main role
2024 Say Nothing Gerry Adams Last 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ "How Michael made a name for himself". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 26 March 2003.
  2. ^ "Michael Hughes". www.qmul.ac.uk.
  3. ^ "Michael Hughes". www.qmul.ac.uk.
  4. ^ "Michael Hughes". www.qmul.ac.uk.
  5. ^ "Charisma on the Stand: An Interview with Michael Colgan by Rada Djurica". Wild Violet. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Case study: Michael Colgan, actor". Creative Choices. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  7. ^ "John Murray acquires 'ambitious, genre-blending' British debut". Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  8. ^ "John Murray acquires Irish reimagining of Homer's Iliad". Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Surviving Disaster" Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster (TV Episode 2006) - IMDb, retrieved 25 December 2019
  10. ^ "Chernobyl" Open Wide, O Earth (TV Episode 2019) - IMDb, retrieved 25 December 2019
  11. ^ "Marcella Season 3 Is Coming To ITV In Early 2021". www.tyla.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  12. ^ Giannetti, Charlene (24 June 2020). "Anna Friel returns in Season Three of Marcella". Woman Around Town. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Why Does 'Say Nothing' Have a Disclaimer About Gerry Adams at the End of Every Episode?". Town & Country. 16 November 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
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