Allen Leech Biography

Allen Leech (born 18 May 1981), known in his early career as Alan Leech, is an Irish stage, television and film actor. A native of Killiney, Leech made his professional acting debut with a small part in a 1998 production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He made his first major film appearance in as Vincent Cusack in Cowboys & Angels and earned an Irish Film & Television Awards nomination in 2004 with his performance as Mo Chara in Man About Dog. Leech came to international attention as Marcus Agrippa on the HBO historical drama Rome and is best known for his role as Tom Branson on the internationally successful costume drama Downton Abbey.

Early life and education

Leech was born in Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland to David Leech, the CEO of a computer systems company, and Kay Leech, a housewife. He is the third of four children; he has an older brother Greg, an older sister Ali, and a younger brother Simon. He has stated that he had a "strong family life." He attended St Michael's College. As a child, he was overweight and was bullied. Because of this, he became introverted and stated, "Until I was 15 I was cripplingly shy and refused to go out the front door." He became interested in acting at 11 when he was given the part of the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz and found he loved being on stage. He recalled how he immediately decided to become an actor when Peter McDonald told him how acting is a profession on the last night of the production's run. Afterwards, drama became the "focal point" of his teenage years, apart from his family life, and drama and family support helped him through his school years. He became set on acting after winning a small role in a 1998 production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Gate Theatre. Though his parents wanted him to become an architect, his parents supported his decision on the condition that he earn a degree to fall back on. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College, Dublin, later noting that this was a "loophole" in his parents' condition. He landed his first major roles in Cowboys & Angels and Man About Dog while at Trinity, and he has admitted that he did little schoolwork because he spent his time on auditions and acting.

Career

Leech's first professional stage role was at the Gate in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire. "I was the gentleman caller to Frances McDormand's Blanche Dubois. The Coen brothers were walking backstage, and me a naive 16-year-old."

He appeared as Willi in the Queen and Peacock, at the Garter Lane Arts Centre. The following years, Leech was in Tom Murphy's The Morning After Optimism and then Hugh Leonard's Da at the Abbey.

Leech's breakthrough film performance was in Cowboys and Angels, in which he played Vincent, a gay fashion student, followed by the 2004 cross country caper film Man About Dog, in which Leech plays Mo-Chara, one of three Belfast scallies who get in way above their heads.

Leech was voted sexiest Irish male in 2005 in U Magazine.

Leech played the role of Shane Kirwan in the Ireland's RT"? series Love Is the Drug, in which he received a Best Actor nomination from the Irish Film and Television Awards. He followed that up with the role of Willy in the television series Legend, which is the story of three different Irish families. He received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from Irish Film and Television Awards for his performance.

In 2007, Leech appeared in the HBO drama series Rome as Marcus Agrippa, Octavian's top soldier and friend.

The film, Rewind, opened in Ireland on 25 March 2011.

In 2010, he appeared on the small screen in The Tudors as the doomed Francis Dereham, former lover of Catherine Howard. Leech also appears in ITV 2010s television series Downton Abbey as chauffeur Tom Branson, whose political ideologies clash with the upper class. He plays the role of officer Sam Leonard in television series Primeval in 2011 in series five. Leech also stars in the 2012 film adaptation The Sweeney.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Iníon an Fhiaclóra (English: The Dentist's Daughter)	Rory	Irish language short. Credited as Alan Leech.
2000	Yesterday's Children	Brian	TV film. Credited as Alan Leech.
2002	The Escapist	Policeman 1	Credited as Alan Leech.
2003	Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor	British Officer	TV film. Credited as Alan Leech.
2003	Cowboys & Angels	Vincent Cusack	Credited as Alan Leech
2004	Battlefield Britain		TV series (1 episode: "A Clash Of Kings: The Battle Of The Boyne"). Credited as Alan Leech.
2004	Man About Dog	Mo Chara
2004	Love Is the Drug	Shane Kirwen	TV series (4 episodes)
2006	Legend	Willy	TV series (6 episodes)
2007	Rome	Marcus Agrippa	TV series (8 episodes)
2007	Deep Breaths	Danny	Film short
2008	Heroes and Villains	Edeco	TV series documentary (1 episode: "Attila the Hun")
2008	Factory Farmed		Film short for the Sci-Fi-London 48hr Film Challenge
2009	From Time to Time	Fred Boggis
2009	Running Low	Bala Whedon	Web series for the RT"? Storyland Competition (2 episodes)
2010	Rewind	Karl
2010	The Tudors	Francis Dereham	TV series (2 episodes: 4.04 "Natural Ally" & 4.05 "Bottom of the Pot")
2010"present	Downton Abbey	Tom Branson	TV series (20 episodes)
2011	Primeval	Officer Sam Leonard	TV series (1 episode: 5.02)
2011	Black Mirror	Pike	TV series (1 episode: "The National Anthem")
2012	The Sweeney	Simon Ellis
2012	Assassin's Creed III	Thomas Hickey	Video game. Voice only.
2013	Grand Piano		Post production
2013	In Fear	Max
	Hello Darkness	Mark Cooper	In production
2013	The Imitation Game		Filming

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Theatre	Notes
1998	A Streetcar Named Desire	Gentleman Caller	Gate Theatre	Performed as Alan Leech
1999	This Lime Tree Bower	Joe	New Theatre	Performed as Alan Leech
2000	The Queen and Peacock	Willie	Garter Lane Arts Centre	Performed as Alan Leech
2001	The Morning After Optimism	Edmund	Abbey Theatre	Performed as Alan Leech
2002	Da	Young Charlie	Abbey Theatre	Performed as Alan Leech
2008	Everybody Loves Sylvia	Harlequin	Project Arts Centre
2008	Zero Hour	Benny, Ensemble	Abbey Theatre
2010	Phaedra	Hippolytus	Project Arts Centre
2010	On Baile's Strand	Young Man	Abbey Theatre
2011	Ecstasy	Mick	Hampstead Theatre, Duchess Theatre

Appearances

Year	Appearance	Notes
2004	The Panel	TV series (1 episode: "Episode #2.5")
2005	3rd Irish Film and Television Awards	TV documentary
2007	4th Irish Film and Television Awards	Presenter

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2004	Irish Film & Television Awards	Best New Talent	Cowboys & Angels
2005	Irish Film & Television Awards	Best Actor in Television	Love Is the Drug
2007	Irish Film & Television Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Television	Legend
2013	Irish Film & Television Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Television	Downton Abbey
2013	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey