Early life

Bremner was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, the son of two art teachers. He attended Davidson's Mains Primary School

Davidson's Mains

Davidsons Mains is a former village which is now a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the areas of Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill...

 and Portobello High School

Portobello High School

Portobello High School is a large secondary school in Portobello in the east of Edinburgh. With 1450 pupils it is one of the largest state schools in Edinburgh and Scotland. At one time it was the largest school in Europe mentioned in The Guinness Book of Records as having 2,500 pupils...

. He originally wanted to be a circus clown

Circus clown

Clowns have always been an integral part of the circus, offering a source of amusement for patrons and providing relief from the array of animal acts and performances by acrobats and novelty artistes....

, but was offered a chance in show business by television director Richard D. Brooks. One of his first notable roles was as a Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 schoolboy in Charles Gormley

Charles Gormley

Charles Gormley was a Scottish film director.His films included Living Apart Together and Heavenly Pursuits ....

's Heavenly Pursuits

Heavenly Pursuits

Heavenly Pursuits is a 1985 British comedy film directed by Charles Gormley and was released in 1985...

(1985). He would also play the lead in the BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...

 feature-length adaptation of the William McIlvanney

William McIlvanney

William McIlvanney is a writer of crime stories, novels, and poetry. McIlvanney is a champion of gritty yet poetic literature; his works Laidlaw, The Papers of Tony Veitch, and Walking Wounded are all known for their portrayal of Glasgow in the 1970s.- Life and career :McIlvanney was born in the...

 short story "Dreaming" (1990).

Career

Bremner is probably best known to British audiences for his portrayal of Spud in Danny Boyle's

Danny Boyle

Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...

 film adaptation

Trainspotting (film)

Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...

 of Irvine Welsh's

Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...

 Trainspotting

Trainspotting (novel)

Trainspotting is the first novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. It is written in the form of short chapters narrated in the first person by various residents of Leith, Edinburgh, who either use heroin, are friends of the core group of heroin users, or engage in destructive activities that are...

, and Mullet, a street thug in Guy Ritchie

Guy Ritchie

Guy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...

's Snatch

Snatch (film)

Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ...

.

In the 1995 stage version of Trainspotting, Bremner played the lead role of Mark Renton, the role played by Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor

Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...

 in the film. In America, he is probably best known for playing supporting roles in blockbusters

Blockbuster (entertainment)

Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...

 such as Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor (film)

Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...

and Black Hawk Down, in which he appeared alongside Trainspotting costar Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor

Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...

. In 2005, he had a small role in the mini-series Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I (TV series)

Elizabeth I is a 2005 British television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper. The teleplay by Nigel Williams concentrates on the last 25 years of the nearly 45-year-long reign of Elizabeth I of England....

as James VI, King of Scots.
In December 2006, he played Harold Stritzke in the Sci Fi Channel

Sci Fi Channel (United States)

Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...

 miniseries The Lost Room

The Lost Room

The Lost Room is a science fiction television miniseries that aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States. The series revolves around the titular room and some of the everyday items from that room which possess unusual powers. The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects...

.
In 2007, he played Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

 in the BBC Four

BBC Four

BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....

 documentary Ian Rankin Investigates Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Heavenly Pursuits Heavenly Pursuits Heavenly Pursuits is a 1985 British comedy film directed by Charles Gormley and was released in 1985...	Stevie Deans
1989	Conquest of the South Pole	Penguin	Television Role
1990	Taggart Taggart Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...	Jason	TV series
	Screen Two	Sammy	TV series
1993	Naked Naked (film) Naked is a 1993 British film directed by Mike Leigh. Before this film, Leigh was known for subtler comedic dissections of middle-class and working-class manners. Naked was more stark and brutal than his previous works...	Archie
1995	Judge Dredd Judge Dredd (film) Judge Dredd is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Danny Cannon, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Armand Assante, and Max von Sydow. The film is based on the strip of the same name in the British comic 2000 AD...	Junior Angel
	Skin	Billy Boy
1996	Trainspotting Trainspotting (film) Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...	Spud
	Harry Enfield and chums	Various Roles	TV series
1997	Deacon Brodie	Louis the Apprentice	(TV Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to... )
1998	The Acid House The Acid House (film) The Acid House is a film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's short story collection The Acid House. Welsh himself wrote the screenplay, and appears as a minor character in the film.-Plot:...	Colin 'Coco' Bryce
1999	Julien Donkey-Boy Julien Donkey-Boy Julien Donkey-Boy is a 1999 independent drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. The screenplay concentrates on the schizophrenic Julien, played by Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, and his dysfunctional family. The film also stars Chloe Sevigny as Julien's sister, Pearl, and Werner Herzog as...	Julien
2000	Snatch Snatch (film) Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ...	Mullet
	The Secret World of Michael Fry	Michael Fry
2001	Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor (film) Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...	Lt. Red Winkle
	Black Hawk Down	Nelson
2003	16 Years of Alcohol 16 Years of Alcohol 16 Years of Alcohol is a 2003 drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, based on his 1987 novel. The film is Jobson's first directorial effort, following a career as a television presenter on BSkyB and VH-1, and as the vocalist for the 1970s punk rock band The Skids. The cover of the DVD...	Jake
	The Rundown The Rundown The Rundown is a 2003 American action comedy film starring The Rock and Seann William Scott about a bounty hunter who must head for Brazil to retrieve his employer's renegade son. It was directed by Peter Berg...	Declan
2004	Around the World in 80 Days Around the World in 80 Days (2004 film) Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 American comedy adventure film based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name. It stars Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France. The film is set in 19th-century Britain and centers on Phileas Fogg , here reimagined as an eccentric inventor, and his...	Inspector Fix
	Alien vs. Predator	Graeme Miller
2005	Match Point	Inspector Dowd
	Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (TV series) Elizabeth I is a 2005 British television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper. The teleplay by Nigel Williams concentrates on the last 25 years of the nearly 45-year-long reign of Elizabeth I of England....	King James VI	TV Series
2006	Hallam Foe	Andy
	The Lost Room The Lost Room The Lost Room is a science fiction television miniseries that aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States. The series revolves around the titular room and some of the everyday items from that room which possess unusual powers. The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects...	Harold Stritzke	(Sci Fi Channel Sci Fi Channel (United States) Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...  miniseries)
2007	Death at a Funeral	Justin
2008	Mediator Mediator Mediator may refer to:*A neutral party who assists in negotiations and conflict resolution, the process being known as mediation*Mediator variable in statistics*The Mediator pattern in computer science...	Steven
	Fool's Gold Fool's Gold (2008 film) Fool's Gold is an 2008 American adventure/romance film from Warner Bros. Pictures about a married couple who rekindle their romantic life while searching for a lost treasure. The film was directed by Andy Tennant and reunites the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson...	Alfonz
	My Name Is Earl My Name Is Earl My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...	Raynard	Television series Episode 12 Season 4
	Faintheart Faintheart Faintheart is a 2008 film, the first to be created using input from an online site.The film was a result of a collaborative effort from Myspace, Vertigo films and Film4. The resulting group, MyMovieMashUp, sought to harness the talents of the online community and to enable them to be involved in...	Julian
2009	Spooks Spooks Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...	Ryan Baisley	Television series Episode 6 Season 8
2010	Chris Ryan's Strike Back	Gerald Baxter	Television Series; Two Episodes
2010	You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is a 2010 English-language Spanish-American co-production comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It features Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Pauline...	Henry Strangler
2010	Dive	Stewart	Made for TV movie
2011	Page Eight Page Eight Page Eight is a 2011 film written and directed for the BBC by the British writer David Hare, his first film as director since the 1989 film Strapless. The cast includes Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Tom Hughes, Ralph Fiennes, and Judy Davis. The film had its world premiere on 18 June...	Rollo Maverley	Made for TV movie

External links