Rory McCann

Rory McCann
McCann in 2014
Born (1969-04-24) 24 April 1969 (age 54)
Glasgow, Scotland
OccupationActor
Years active1999–present
Height6 ft 6 in (198 cm)

Rory McCann (born 24 April 1969) is a Scottish actor, best known for portraying Sandor "The Hound" Clegane on the HBO series Game of Thrones, Michael "Lurch" Armstrong in Edgar Wright's crime-comedy Hot Fuzz (2007), Jurgen the Brutal in the adventure comedy Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) and the voice of Megatron in Transformers: EarthSpark.

Early life

McCann was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He has a sister, Sally-Gay McCann, born in 1972.

Before becoming an actor, McCann was a painter who studied at the Scottish School of Forestry near Inverness. He also worked as a bridge painter (on the Forth Road Bridge), landscape gardener and carpenter. Rory McCann was first trained as an actor by writer-artist Robert Parsifal Finch in The Actor's Workshop, Glasgow in 1998.

Career

McCann's first acting job was as an extra on the film Willow (1988). He was fired because he laughed during the takes. He appeared in an advertisement for Scott's Porage Oats, dressed in a vest and kilt. As his first major acting role, McCann played a disabled personal trainer in the 2002 television comedy drama The Book Group, winning the Scottish BAFTA for the best television performance of 2002.

Since then, he has taken television roles as Detective Inspector Stuart Brown in State of Play, Peter the Great in Peter in Paradise, and a priest in the award-winning British comedy-drama series Shameless.

He made his Hollywood debut in the 2004 film Alexander, which required the actors to go through training in the African desert, and included shooting in Thailand, Morocco, and a London studio. In 2007, he appeared as Michael "Lurch" Armstrong in Hot Fuzz. In 2008, he played Moby in The Crew and Attila the Hun in the BBC docudrama Heroes and Villains.

McCann portrayed Sandor "The Hound" Clegane in 7 out of 8 seasons of the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Other projects include a BBC TV series by writer Jimmy McGovern called Banished, set in Australia in the 18th century. McCann plays a blacksmith named Marston.

In 2022 he became the narrator of the ITV1 series DNA Journey.

Personal life

McCann's younger sister, Sally-Gay McCann, works on costumes for film and television; he worked alongside her on Alexander and Game of Thrones. McCann is a supporter of the Scottish Green Party, and appeared in its 2007 Scottish Parliament general election broadcast.

In 1990, McCann broke multiple bones in a near-fatal rock climbing accident in Yorkshire.

McCann is the former frontman of a defunct band called Thundersoup. He plays the piano, guitar, banjo and mandolin.

McCann lives a solitary, transient lifestyle. He often lives on his boat or in places without modern conveniences. In 2006, he went to Iceland with Gerard Butler to attend the premiere of Beowulf & Grendel. He ended up living in Iceland for a year, part of the time in a tent after losing his apartment, and working as a carpenter.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Pasty Faces Goon
2003 The Devil's Tattoo Eric
Young Adam Sam
2004 Alexander Craterus
2005 Beowulf & Grendel Breca
2006 Sixty Six Policeman
2007 Hot Fuzz Michael "Lurch" Armstrong
2008 The Crew Mobey
2009 Solomon Kane McNess
2010 Clash of the Titans Belo
2011 Season of the Witch Soldier Commander Credited as Rory MacCann
2015 Slow West John Ross
2017 XXX: Return of Xander Cage Tennyson "The Torch"
2019 Jumanji: The Next Level Jurgen The Brutal
2023 Jackdaw Armstrong

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Coming Soon Fergus Television film
2000 Randall & Hopkirk Bouncer Episode: "Mental Apparition Disorder"
Monarch of the Glen Roger Episode No. 1.6
2002 London's Burning Keith Episode No. 14.7
2002–2003 The Book Group Kenny McLeod Main role; 12 episodes
2003 State of Play Stuart Brown Episode No. 1.1
Rockface Adam Recurring role; 6 episodes
Peter in Paradise Peter the Great Television film
2006 Shameless Father Critchon 2 episodes
2008 Heroes and Villains Attila the Hun Episode: "Attila the Hun"
2011 The Jury Derek Hatch Main role (season 2); 5 episodes
2011–2014;
2016–2019
Game of Thrones Sandor "The Hound" Clegane Main role; 38 episodes (seasons 1–4, 6–8)
2015 Banished Marston Main role; 4 episodes
2021 The Irregulars Arthur "the birdmaster" Hilton 2 episodes
2022 The Legend of Vox Machina Duke Vedmire (voice) 3 episodes
Transformers: EarthSpark Megatron (voice) Main role; 6 episodes
2024 Knuckles Miniseries

This page was last updated at 2024-01-16 23:17 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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