Conleth Hill

Conleth Hill made his Broadway debut in Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones, playing Charlie in productions at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, the Tricycle Theatre, the New Ambassadors Theatre and Duke of York's Theatre in London, the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto, and the Golden Theater in New York in 1996 with Tim Murphy and in 1999 with Sean Campion. He received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his work in the Canadian production. His other early stage credits included Winners by Brian Friel as Joe, One Day in Summer in a Garden as Uncle Jim, Incredible Adventure of Doctor Faustus as Mephistopheles' secretary and Fools' Bar in various roles with Fringe Benefits Theatre Company (1984–85); The Adventures of a Bear Called Paddington in various roles (1986); West Side Story as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, with Ulster Youth Theatre (1986); Broken Nails by Damian Gorman as Joe at St. Peter's Cathedral in West Belfast (1988); Orlando at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1988); Girl Crazy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1989); Little Shop of Horrors at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast (1989); The School for Wives as Horace at the John Player Theatre and Arts Theatre in Belfast (1989); and The Picture of Dorian Gray as Dorian at the Arts Theatre in Belfast (1989).

In 1990, Hill appeared in Too Late to Talk to Billy as John Fletcher at the Arts Theatre, Oliver Twist as the Artful Dodger, Mr. Limbkins and other roles at the Lyric Theatre, Over the Bridge by Sam Thompson as Ephraim Smart at the Lyric Theatre, Playboy of the Western World as Shawn Keogh at the Lyric Theatre, The Iceman Cometh as Willie Oban at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, and The Importance of Being Earnest as Algernon at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. His 1991 stage credit was Leave Him to Heaven at the Arts Theatre in Belfast. In 1993, he played the Headmaster in Government Inspector at the Rock Theatre. His 1994 credits included Christmas Eve Can Kill You at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and Playboy of the Western World as Christy Mahon at the Redgrave Theatre in Farnham. In 1995, he appeared in Tall Tales for Small People, also known as Tall Tales for Cold, Dark Nights, with Communicado in Scotland, and in Eddie Bottom's Dream by Marie Jones as Puck at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.

Hill's stage work in 1997 included A Midsummer Night's Dream as Nick Bottom and Playboy of the Western World as Christy Mahon at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, Shining Souls at the Old Vic in London, and The Suicide by Nikolai Erdman as Semyon Podsekalnikov with Communicado in Scotland. In 1998, he appeared in Juno and the Paycock as Joxer Daly at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, Northern Star by Stewart Parker as Henry Joy McCracken with Field Day/Tinderbox, Christmas Carol with Communicado in Scotland, and No Stars on Sunday by Tim Loane at the Old Museum Arts Center in Belfast. His 1999 credits included A Whistle in the Dark as Michael Carney at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, Criminal Genius as motel manager Phillie with Prime Cut Productions in Belfast, and Waiting for Godot as Estragon at the Lyric Theatre. In 2002, he appeared in Conversations on a Homecoming as Michael at the Lyric Theatre, After Darwin as Charles Darwin with Prime Cut Productions in Dublin and Belfast, and The Chance as Daniel with Prime Cut Productions in Belfast. In 2003, he played Gunter Guillaume in Democracy at the National Theatre in London.

In 2004, Hill played Roger DeBris in The Producers at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. He appeared as Petesy in Shoot the Crow at Trafalgar Studios in London and the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 2005, as Hamm in Endgame with Prime Cut Productions in Belfast in 2006, and as Teterev in Philistines at the National Theatre in London in 2007. He played Ivan Curry in The Seafarer at the National Theatre in London and the Booth Theatre in New York in 2007. In 2008, he appeared as Dallas Sweetman in Dallas Sweetman at Canterbury Cathedral. In 2009, he played Parolles in All's Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre, Richard in Home Place at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, and appeared in STARS – A Ballycastle Nativity by Damian Gorman at Cross & Passion College and Ballycastle High School. In 2010, he played Leonid Shervinskiy in White Guard at the National Theatre. In 2011, he played Lopakhin in The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre and Uncle Vanya in Uncle Vanya at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. He played Henry in Quartermaine's Terms at Wyndham's Theatre in London in 2013, Macbeth in Macbeth at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2016, and George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London in 2017. He directed SPUD at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast in 2019 and played Sandy in The Antipodes at the National Theatre in London in 2019. In 2025, he appeared in King Lear at the Gate Theatre in Dublin.

Hill began his screen career with the film A Man You Don't Meet Every Day in 1994, playing Michael. His subsequent film credits included Coulter in Crossmaheart, also known as Dead Man's Girl, in 1998; Robert, a teacher, in Intermission in 2003; Brockman in Whatever Works and Russ in Perrier's Bounty in 2009; Parolles in National Theatre Live: All's Well That Ends Well in 2009; Paddy in the short film The Shore and Lopakhin in National Theatre Live: The Cherry Orchard in 2011; and Bernard Sugden in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen in 2011. In 2012, he played Barber in Whole Lotta Sole, also known as Stand Off in North America, and the Delivery Man in Keith Lemon: The Film. His 2014 credits included Jackie Fullerton in Shooting for Socrates, Dr. Chaney in Serena, and Da Taggart in the short film The Good Word. He played Harry Montague in Two Down and Sandy Duffy in A Patch of Fog in 2015, Johnny Rafferty in The Truth Commissioner and Ritchie McKee in the short film Two Angry Men in 2016, and George in National Theatre Live: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 2017.

In 2018, Hill played Douglas Innis in The Isle, on which he also served as executive producer. He played Roger Alton in Official Secrets in 2019, Aido Deveney in Herself and Mark Kearney in Here Are the Young Men in 2020, Marty Ritt in To Olivia and Professor Aaron Östergaard in Infinitum: Subject Unknown in 2021, and Da Taggart in Tell Me a Creepy Story in 2023 in the segment The Good Word. In 2026, he played Ham Gilyard in The Sheep Detectives.

Hill's television credits began with Boon in 1988 as Second Pupil and Casualty in 1988 as Rob. In 1990, he appeared in ScreenPlay as a Soldier and Medics as Liam McGuinness. He played Roache in Bunch of Five in 1992 and Deliveryman in On the Up and Neil in Screen One in 1992. In 1993, he played Michael White in The Bill. He reprised the role of Roache in Blue Heaven in 1994 and narrated Lit by Love and Sunshine in 1994. His 1995 television credits included Casualty as Theo and Crown Prosecutor as Neville Osborn. He played Derek in the television film Out of the Deep Pan in 1996, Carl in the television short film Meaningful Sex in 2000, and Con in TV to Go in 2001.

In 2002, Hill played Max Staefel in the television film Goodbye, Mr. Chips. In 2007, he appeared as various roles in Ronni Ancona & Co and as Jared in The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle. In 2008, he played Geraldine's Mum in the television film Britain's Got the Pop Factor.... From 2011 to 2019, he appeared as Lord Varys in Game of Thrones, recurring in season one and becoming a main cast member in seasons two through eight, appearing in 46 episodes. He played Sharon's Dad in Little Crackers in 2012. In 2013, he played Edward Darby in Suits across seasons two and three.

Hill's 2014 television credits included Stevie in Inside No. 9, Frank in the television film That Day We Sang, and an uncredited role in Sherlock. In 2015, he played Sir Ian Woodhead in Foyle's War and Sergeant Upton in the miniseries Arthur & George. He played Reverend Anthony Huxley in Stan Lee's Lucky Man and Elsie in Peter Kay's Car Share in 2017. In 2018, he appeared as John Tynan-O'Mahony in the television film Dave Allen at Peace, Interpol Agent Bonham in 12 Monkeys, and Jon Pitt in Hang Ups. In 2019, he played Dr. Edward Mullen in Doc Martin and Superintendent O'Kelly in Dublin Murders, while appearing as Mendel Liebermann in Vienna Blood from 2019 through 2024.

In 2022, Hill played Alan Conway in Magpie Murders, Pronsias Stevenson in the television film St. Mungo's, Sgt. PJ Collins in Holding, Dr. Alwyn Thomas in the miniseries Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, and Carlos Santini in Derry Girls. In 2023, he played Philip in The Lovers and Martin Parker in The Power of Parker. He returned as Martin Parker for the show's second series in 2025. His 2024 television credits included Pope Gregory XIII in 3 Body Problem, a Party Guest in Inside No. 9, Brennan in The Cleaner, and Alan Conway in Moonflower Murders. In 2025, he played Commissioner Sir Ian Blair in Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Hill provided the voice of Lord Varys in the 2012 video game Game of Thrones, based on the television series. His audiobook credits include Hafez in Tamburlaine: Shadow of God by John Fletcher in 2008 and narration of Zurich (The Wire) by Pearse Elliott in 2009.

His radio work includes The Man Who Came to Dinner on BBC Radio 4 on December 25, 2000; Tricycles on BBC Radio 3 The Wire on November 7, 2002; The Travels of Marco Polo on BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play on February 18, 2004; Titanic Letters as Reader in episode 33 on BBC Radio Ulster on April 19, 2012; The Biggest Issues as Jerry Cartwright on BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Drama on April 24, 2012; and Big Country as JD Quinn on BBC Radio Ulster in 2017.