Richard Coyle

Richard Coyle is an English actor best known for his character Jeff in the BBC television series Coupling.

Early Life
Coyle was born in Sheffield,England. Coyle is the second youngest of 5 sons and their father was an Irish builder. He began his acting career after a stint working on a ferry entertaining passengers, where he was told by a theatre director that he had a talent and should pursue it further. He graduated in Languages and Philosophy from the University of York in 1995 and was then accepted into Bristol's prestigious Old Vic Theatre school, graduating in 1998, the same year as his close friends Dean Lennox Kelly and Oded Fehr.

Career
He began by appearing in such television programmes as Lorna Doone, as John Ridd and Evelyn Waugh's wartime saga Sword of Honour, and in Mike Leigh's film Topsy-Turvy. He played Mr. Coxe in 1999's BBC version of Wives and Daughters. In 2000, Coyle's big break arrived in the form of the character Jeff Murdock in the comedy Coupling. In 2003 he chose not to return to Coupling for its fourth series, and refused requests to return for a "goodbye episode". In a 2005 interview, Coyle stated this was to avoid typecasting: "Im very proud to have been part of Coupling and very grateful for the chance to play Jeff but I was very keen that that character didn’t stick with me forever. I’m an actor and I want to be an actor when I’m 60. It’s a lifelong process, why cut it off by boxing yourself into a little pigeon hole early on?" - Richard Coyle, 2005

He also starred in the short-lived 2002-2003 BBC show Strange, and had roles in the films Human Traffic, Franklyn, and A Good Year. He appeared in the new special episode of Cracker: Nine Eleven in October 2006 (TV) and starred in The Whistleblowers on ITV 1. He also starred in the 2001 version of Othello as Michael Cassio.

In 2004, Coyle played the role of Alcock, body servant to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, in The Libertine alongside Johnny Depp. He appeared in Mike Newell's 2010 movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, playing Jake Gyllenhaal's older brother, the ambiguous Crown Prince Tus. He was cast as the lead role, Moist von Lipwig, in the film Going Postal, based on the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett.[6] This was broadcast on television in May 2010. Coyle had a leading role in Renny Harlin's movie Georgia renamed 5 Days of War, about the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over the territory of South Ossetia.

In September 2011, Coyle appeared as William Winthrop, in Madonna's feature-directorial debut W.E. about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The film premièred in London on the 11th of January 2012 to mixed reviews.

He appears as Garda Ciarán O'Shea in Grabbers, the Irish comedy monster movie which received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Coyle also plays Wallace in Outpost Black Sun, the sequel to the 2008 British horror film Outpost which as yet has no confirmed release date.

Richard Coyle's has most recently finished work on the English language remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s 1996 cult classic Pusher where he plays the lead role of drug pusher Frank. The film is directed by Luis Prieto.

He is currently working in the United States on USA network hit show "Covert Affairs" playing an FSB spy being investigated by the CIA. Richard will begin shooting movie rom-com "The Food Guide To Love" in August in Dublin, Ireland.

Related Links
IMDB