Richard Brake | |
|---|---|
 Brake in July 2023 | |
| Born | Richard Colin Brake (1964-11-30)30 November 1964 (age 60) |
| Education | Western Reserve Academy |
| Alma mater | Duke University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Richard Colin Brake (born 30 November 1964) is a Welsh actor. Following his film debut inDeath Machine (1994), Brake had a supporting role asJoe Chill inBatman Begins (2005). He subsequently appeared in numerous horror films such asDoom (2005),Hannibal Rising (2007),Mandy (2018), andBarbarian (2022), as well as his first lead role inPerfect Skin (2018). A frequent collaborator ofRob Zombie, Brake has appeared in four of his films:Halloween II (2009),31 (2016),3 from Hell (2019), andThe Munsters (2022).
Brake is best known for his recurring roles as theNight King on thefourth andfifth seasons of theHBO fantasy drama seriesGame of Thrones (2014–15), Vlad on the fourth season of theShowtime crime drama seriesRay Donovan (2016), and Merle Callahan on the third season of theParamount+ crime thriller seriesMayor of Kingstown (2024–present). He is also known for his lead role as Conrad Harlow on the first season of theAmazon Prime Video crime thriller seriesAbsentia (2017).
Brake was born inYstrad Mynach, Wales. In 1967, he and his family migrated to the United States, where they first settled inAtlanta. He then grew up in the states ofNorth Carolina,Tennessee, andOhio, attendingWestern Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, andDuke University in Durham, North Carolina. Brake studied acting underSam Kogan, at hisAcademy of the Science of Acting and Directing inLondon,[1][2][3] andBeatrice Straight, at the Michael Chekhov Studio inNew York City. Despite growing up in the United States, Brake still considers himself Welsh.[4]
In 1993, he made his screen acting debut as a reporter on an episode of the British comedy seriesJeeves and Wooster. In 1994, Brake and actressRachel Weisz both made their film debuts in the science-fiction horror filmDeath Machine, which starredBrad Dourif. Following supporting roles in a few low-budget films (includingSubterfuge, co-starringMatt McColm), Brake did not appear in a single film until six years later when he landed his first role by a major film distributor inAnthony Minghella's civil war filmCold Mountain. He played the leader of a group of Union foragers who attempts to rape the young widow Sara (played byNatalie Portman). The film was released on Christmas Day 2003 and was a critical and commercial success, receiving sevenAcademy Award nominations.[citation needed]
In 2005, Brake finally achieved recognition from mainstream audiences inChristopher Nolan'sBatman Begins. He playedJoe Chill, the man responsible for murdering the parents ofBruce Wayne. Brake appeared as the warped and perverted space Marine Dean Portman inDoom, a live action adaptation of the video game series, withKarl Urban andDwayne Johnson. He appeared as a hostile American man inSteven Spielberg'sMunich, a cinematic retelling of theMunich massacre in the midst of the1972 Olympic Games. In that same year, Brake also provided the voicework in the video gameJuiced as T. K., the leader of the Urban Maulerz crew.
In 2006, Brake appeared in the music video forMuse'sKnights of Cydonia, playing a villainous sheriff in a strange futuristic western. Brake played paroled convict Bobby DeWitt inBrian De Palma'sThe Black Dahlia, a fictional account of the murder of actressElizabeth Short. Despite being a critical and commercial failure, the film received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, losing toPan's Labyrinth. In 2007, he had a supporting role inHannibal Rising, which was based on the2006 novel of the same name byThomas Harris. He played Enrikas Dortlich, one of the war criminals who murders Mischa Lecter, the younger sister of psychiatrist-turned-cannibalistic killerHannibal Lecter (played byGaspard Ulliel) .[5]
In 2008, he played ex-Marine Prior in the horror filmOutpost.[6] In 2009, following a guest appearance on the crime dramaCold Case and a supporting role as the titular character inPerkins' 14,[7] he appeared inRob Zombie'sHalloween II,[8] the sequel to his remake ofHalloween. He plays Gary Scott, a sleazy and perverted coroner who is brutally decapitated byMichael Myers following a car crash that kills his co-worker. Brake garnered the role based on a personal recommendation to Zombie from actorSid Haig.[9] Brake made a cameo in the thrillerCuckoo, which premiered at theCambridge Film Festival on 25 September 2009.[citation needed]
In 2010, he co-starred withIdris Elba in the psychological thrillerLegacy, which premiered at theGlasgow Film Festival on 28 February 2010. In 2011, he co-starred withReese Witherspoon andRobert Pattinson in the romantic dramaWater for Elephants, which was based onSara Gruen's2006 novel of the same name. The film was released on 22 April 2011, to positive reviews. Brake played Harry Green in the horror filmThe Incident, where he doesn't have any spoken dialogue throughout the film. The film had its world premiere at theToronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2011, where it was nominated for the Midnight Madness Award.[citation needed]
In 2013, he had supporting roles in the action thrillerThe Numbers Station starringJohn Cusack andMalin Åkerman, andRidley Scott's crime thrillerThe Counselor, starringMichael Fassbender andPenélope Cruz. Brake appeared in the superhero filmThor: The Dark World, the sequel toThor.[10] The film became the biggest commercial success for Brake's career, earning $644.6 million at the box office worldwide. Brake had a recurring role as mobster Terry Mandel onFrank Darabont's neo-noir crime dramaMob City. In 2014, he made guest appearances on the crime dramaCrossing Lines and the action thriller seriesTransporter: The Series, both roles he played were international criminals wanted for murder.[citation needed]
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From 2014 to 2015, Brake portrayed theNight King on theHBO fantasy seriesGame of Thrones, appearing in the show'sfourth andfifth seasons, most notably in the fifth-season episode "Hardhome", which received seven Emmy nominations. Brake appeared in the action comedyKingsman: The Secret Service, where he plays an unnamed man who interrogatesEggsy Unwin (played byTaron Egerton) character as part of his training to become a spy for the intelligence agency Kingsman. He made an appearance as a bar patron in the semi-biographical dramaSet Fire to the Stars, which premiered at theEdinburgh International Film Festival on 23 June 2014.
In 2015, he appeared on theFX historical fiction dramaThe Bastard Executioner as Baron Edwin Pryce. Due to scheduling conflicts withThe Bastard Executioner, Brake was unable to reprise as The Night King for the sixth season ofGame of Thrones and was replaced byVladimir Furdik, one of the shows main stunt performers. Brake guest-starred on an episode ofGrimm as a hunter with a penchant for severing a foot from his victims. He co-starred withMelissa McCarthy andJason Statham in the action comedySpy, where he played Solsa Dudaev, aChechen terrorist in pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The film was universally praised and was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Throughout 2016, Brake made guest appearances on several award-winning television shows such asHawaii Five-0 andPeaky Blinders. He also had a recurring role as Russian mobster Vlad on theShowtime seriesRay Donovan. In 2016, he starred as the main antagonist inRob Zombie's slasher horror film31. He played Doom-Head, a contract killer who participates in the annual titular game by murdering a group of victims who are kidnapped by goons. The film had its world premiere at theSundance Film Festival on 23 January 2016.[11] Despite mixed reviews from critics, Brake received enormous praise for his performance and was nominated for the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actor, losing toStephen Lang forDon't Breathe.
In 2017, Brake appeared as Medved inBitter Harvest and as Tarasov inThe Death of Stalin. Although both films focused on Soviet revolutionary and dictatorJoseph Stalin, the former was more preoccupied with theHolodomor. While the former was panned by critics, the latter received widespread praise. Brake had a recurring role on the crime thriller seriesAbsentia as Conrad Harlow, a wealthy banker who is released from prison after FBI agent Emily Byrne (played byStana Katic), who was hunting him down for the murders of several women, is found alive.
In 2018, he got his first lead role in the psychological horror-thrillerPerfect Skin, which premiered at Frightfest London on 25 August 2018. He played Bob Reid, a tattoo artist who, after the dissolution of his marriage as a result of being diagnosed with Parkinson's, kidnaps a Polish immigrant and tattoos her body in attempt to create one last piece of art before he dies. Brake's performance was critically acclaimed and was regarded as the best of his career. He subsequently won the Best Actor award at the First Glance Film Festival and the Vancouver Badass Film Festival for his performance.
Brake co-starred in the horror filmMandy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2018. He later appeared as Rex in the westernThe Sisters Brothers. The film had its world premiere at theVenice Film Festival on 2 September. In 2019, he portrayed Winslow Foxworth Coltrane in the horror film3 From Hell. He also co-starred in the thriller filmThe Rhythm Section, which was released on 31 January 2020. He played Valin Hess, an Imperial officer, in the seventh episode of the second season ofThe Mandalorian.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Death Machine | Scott Ridley | |
| 1996 | Subterfuge | Pierce Tencil | |
| Virtual Terror | Steve Baker | ||
| 1997 | Deus Volt | Bishop Von Match | |
| 2003 | Cold Mountain | Nym | |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Joe Chill | |
| Doom | Corporal Dean Portman | ||
| Munich | Belligerent American | ||
| Soul Searcher | Van Bueren | ||
| 2006 | The Black Dahlia | Bobby DeWitt | |
| 2007 | Hannibal Rising | Enrikas Dortlich | |
| Retribution | Masters | ||
| 2008 | Outpost | Prior | |
| 2009 | Cuckoo | Lone Wolf | |
| Halloween II | Gary Scott | ||
| Perkins' 14 | Ronald Perkins | ||
| 2010 | Legacy | Scott O'Keefe | |
| 2011 | Detention | Mr. Nolan | |
| Good Day for It | Norman Tyrus | ||
| The Incident | Harry Green | Also known asAsylum Blackout | |
| Water for Elephants | Grady | ||
| 2013 | The Counselor | Second Man | |
| The Numbers Station | Max | ||
| Thor: The Dark World | Einherjar Captain | ||
| 2014 | Kingsman: The Secret Service | The Interrogator | |
| Set Fire to the Stars | Mr. Unlucky | ||
| 2015 | Spy | Solsa Dudaev | |
| The Cannibal in the Jungle | Dr. Timothy Darrow | ||
| The Chameleon | Detective Brady | ||
| 2016 | 31 | Doom-Head | |
| 2017 | Bitter Harvest | Medved | |
| The Death of Stalin | NKVD Officer Tarasov | ||
| 2018 | Mandy | The Chemist | |
| Perfect Skin | Bob Reid | ||
| The Sisters Brothers | Rex | ||
| 2019 | 3 from Hell | Winslow Foxworth Coltrane | |
| Feedback | Brennan | ||
| The Dare | Credence | ||
| 2020 | The Rhythm Section | Lehmans | |
| Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot | Merlin | Direct-to-video | |
| Tremors: Shrieker Island | Bill | ||
| 2021 | The Virtuoso | Handsome Johnnie | |
| Bingo Hell | Mr. Big | ||
| 2022 | Barbarian | Frank | |
| Offseason | Bridge Man | ||
| Vesper | Darius | ||
| The Munsters | Dr. Henry Augustus Wolfgang,Orlock | ||
| R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned | Otis Clairborne / Astaroth | ||
| 2023 | The Gates | William Colcott | |
| The Last Stop in Yuma County | Beau | ||
| Lore | Darwin | ||
| Hammarskjöld | Hunter | ||
| 2024 | Altered | Frank Kessler | |
| The Strangers: Chapter 1 | Sheriff Rotter | ||
| 2025 | Pinocchio: Unstrung | Gepetto | Filming[12] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Jeeves and Wooster | Reporter | Episode: "Lady Florence Craye Arrives in New York (or, the Once and Future Ex)" |
| 2004 | Keen Eddie | "Dutch" Mike Vanderlay | Episode: "Sticky Fingers" |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Rich Kiesel | Episode: "Mind Games" |
| 2009 | M.I. High | Georgi | Episode: "Family Tree" |
| 2009 | NCIS: Los Angeles | John Bordinay | Episode: "Ambush" |
| 2010 | The Deep | McIndoe | 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Above Suspicion | Joseph Marshall / Alexander Fitzpatrick | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Mob City | Terry Mandel | 5 episodes |
| 2014 | Crossing Lines | Alexander Fuster / Winston Smith | Episode: "The Kill Zone" |
| 2014 | The Assets | Agent Waters | Episode: "Trip to Vienna" |
| 2014 | Transporter: The Series | Dezdu Magyar | Episode: "2B or Not 2B" |
| 2014–15 | Game of Thrones | Night King | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Grimm | Nigel Edmund | Episode: "Bad Luck" |
| 2015 | Obsession: Dark Desires | Dale | Episode: "Apocalypse Now" |
| 2015 | The Bastard Executioner | Baron Edwin Pryce | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Barbarians Rising | Geiseric | Episode: "Ruin" |
| 2016 | Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands | Arak | Episode 8 |
| 2016 | Hawaii Five-0 | Henry Garavito | Episode: "Ka Pono Ku'oko'a" (The Cost of Freedom) |
| 2016 | Peaky Blinders | Anton Kaledin | Episode 1 |
| 2016 | Ray Donovan | Vlad | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Absentia | Conrad Harlow | Series regular (Season 1) |
| 2017 | Eight Days That Made Rome | Seneca | Episode: "The Downfall of Nero" |
| 2017 | Supernatural | Luther Shrike | Episode: "The Scorpion and the Frog" |
| 2018 | Patrick Melrose | Mark | Episode: "Bad News" |
| 2018 | The Royals | Earl Frost | 5 episodes |
| 2019 | Creeped Out | The Hidden | Episode: "No Filter" |
| 2019 | Sanctuary | Carol | Recurring role |
| 2020 | Brave New World | Pope | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Cursed | Brother Theophilius | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | The Mandalorian | Valin Hess | Episode: "Chapter 15: The Believer" |
| 2021 | Exterminate All The Brutes | General | Recurring role |
| 2024–present | Mayor of Kingstown | Merle Callahan | 7 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Juiced | T. K. | Voice |
| 2023 | The Isle Tide Hotel [d] | The Receptionist | Interactive film |
| TBA | Squadron 42 | Wounded miner | Voice, post-production |
| Year | Title | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Knights of Cydonia | Muse | Played the role of Sheriff Baron Klaus Rottingham |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Tonto Woman | John Isham | |
| 2011 | The Sweethearts | Landlord |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | British Independent Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | The Chameleon | Nominated |
| Sydney Indie Film Festival | Best Supporting Male | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | BloodGuts UK Horror Awards | Best Actor | 31 | Nominated |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards[13] | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| Fright Meter Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won | ||
| 2019 | First Glance Film Festival Los Angeles | Best Actor – Feature Film | Perfect Skin | Won |
| Vancouver Badass Film Festival | Best Actor | Won |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
