Jeremy John Irons (born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre productions, including the Shakespeare plays The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew and Richard II. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, receiving the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Irons's break-out role came in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited (1981) and is frequently ranked among the greatest British television dramas as well as greatest literary adaptations. It would earn him a Golden Globe Award nomination. His first major film role came in the romantic drama The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. After starring in dramas, such as Moonlighting (1982), Betrayal (1983), and The Mission (1986), he was praised for portraying twin gynaecologists in David Cronenberg's psychological thriller Dead Ringers (1988). Irons has won multiple awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his portrayal of the accused attempted murderer Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990).
Irons had roles in Steven Soderbergh's mystery thriller Kafka (1991), the period drama The House of the Spirits (1993), the romantic drama M. Butterfly (1993), voiced Scar in Disney's The Lion King (1994), played Simon Gruber in the action film Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Humbert Humbert in Lolita (1997) and Aramis in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). He starred in the action adventure Dungeons & Dragons (2000), played Antonio in The Merchant of Venice (2004), appeared in Being Julia (2004), the historical drama Kingdom of Heaven (2005), the fantasy-adventure Eragon (2006), the Western Appaloosa (2008), and the indie drama Margin Call (2011). In 2016, he appeared in Assassin's Creed and portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League (2017), and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).
On television, Irons appeared in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I, receiving a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor. From 2011 to 2013, he starred as Pope Alexander VI in the Showtime historical series The Borgias. In 2019, he appeared as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias in HBO's Watchmen. He is one of the few actors who have achieved the "Triple Crown of Acting" in the US, winning an Oscar for film, an Emmy for television and a Tony Award for theatre. In October 2011, he was nominated the Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
3.66
Popularity154
Credits6.7
Rating87.4M
Budget234M
RevenueActing
Primarily2025 Palestine 36
2025 Water People: The Story of Us as The Ocean (voice)
2025 The Crystal Planet as Governor Mordokan (voice)
2025 Encore as Nigel
2025 The Well of Saint Nobody as William
2025 The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl as Self
2024 Alec Guinness: A Class Act as self
2024 Wild Transylvania – Dracula's Hidden Kingdom as Narrator
2024 Quintessentially Irish as Self
2024 The Immortals: The Wonder of the Museo Egizio
2024 The Beekeeper as Wallace Westwyld
2023 Codice Carla as Self
2023 Once Upon a Studio as Scar (voice)
2023 The Cello as Francesco
2023 Making The Flash: Worlds Collide as Self - 'Alfred' Thanks
2023 The Flash as Alfred Pennyworth
2023 Seeing Through the Mists of Oblivion as Traveller (archived audio)
2023 Tom Hanks: The Nomad as Self (archive footage)
2022 Prisoners of Our Own History: The First Four Films of Roland Joffé as Self (archive footage)
2022 Franco Zeffirelli: Rebel Conformist as Self
2022 Birds Like Us as Mi (voice)
2022 Eternal Enemies: Revealed as Narrator (voice)
2022 Eye of the Leopard: Revealed as Narrator (voice)
2022 Relentless Enemies: Revealed as Narrator (voice)
2022 Ultimate Enemies: Revealed as Narrator (voice)
2022 Living With Big Cats: Revealed as Narrator
2022 The Way of the Cheetah as Narrator (voice)
2021 Munich – The Edge of War as Neville Chamberlain
2021 House of Gucci as Rodolfo Gucci
2021 Napoleon: In the Name of Art
2021 Marina Cicogna - La vita e tutto il resto as Himself
2021 Armin Mueller-Stahl - Ein Gaukler in Hollywood as Self
2021 Architects of Ancient Arabia as Narrator
2021 Zack Snyder's Justice League as Alfred
2021 Nepal Beyond Executive Producer
2020 Love, Weddings & Other Disasters as Lawrence Philips
2020 Jade Eyed Leopard as Narrator (voice)
2019 The Prado Museum: A Collection of Wonders as Self - Host / Narrator (voice)
2018 An Actor Prepares as Atticus
2018 Better Start Running as Garrison
2018 Red Sparrow as Vladimir Korchnoi
2017 Broadway: The Next Generation as Self
2017 Justice League as Alfred Pennyworth
2017 Their Finest as Secretary of War
2016 Assassin's Creed as Alan Rikkin
2016 The Sultan and the Saint as Narrator
2016 The Man Who Knew Infinity as G. H. Hardy
2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as Alfred
2016 Race as Avery Brundage
2016 DC Films Presents Dawn of the Justice League as Self
2016 Correspondence as Ed Phoerum
2016 I Wish For You as Grandfather
2015 High-Rise as Anthony Royal
2015 The Genius of George Boole as Narrator (voice)
2015 Emotional Uncertainties as Self Thanks
2015 Earthquake On Everest as Narrator (voice)
2014 Endless Corridor as Narrator
2014 The Voysey Inheritance as Edward Voysey
2013 Game of Lions as Narrator (voice)
2013 Muse of Fire as Self
2013 The Sunflower Superjam 2012 as Self
2013 Goodbye Granadaland as Self
2013 The Wind Gods as Narrator (voice)
2013 Night Train to Lisbon as Raimund
2013 Beautiful Creatures as Macon Ravenwood
2012 Trashed as Himself
2012 Another Way Home as Narrator
2012 The Words as The Old Man
2012 Seeds of Freedom as Narator
2011 Margin Call as John Tuld
2011 The Last Lions as Narrator
2010 Harold Pinter: A Celebration as Self
2010 The Majestic Plastic Bag as Narrator
2009 The Power of the Powerless
2009 Georgia O'Keeffe as Alfred Stieglitz
2009 Waking Sleeping Beauty as Self (archive footage)
2009 The Chronoscope as Narrator
2009 The Pink Panther 2 as Avellaneda
2008 Appaloosa as Randall Bragg
2008 1984 as Television Voice
2008 Eden at the End of the World as Narrator
2007 Lynch 2 as Self
2007 J.M.W. Turner: A National Gallery of Art Film Presentation as Narrator
2006 Eragon as Brom
2006 Inland Empire as Kingsley Stewart
2006 The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall as Self
2006 Eye of the Leopard as Narrator
2006 The Path to Redemption as Self
2006 Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffalo as Narrator (voice)
2006 Mathilde as Col. De Petris
2005 Casanova as Pucci
2005 Revisiting Brideshead as Self
2005 The Merchant of Venice as Himself
2005 Kingdom of Heaven as Tiberias
2005 Gallipoli as Narrator
2004 The Merchant of Venice as Antonio
2004 Being Julia as Michael Gosselyn
2003 Ultimate Enemies: Elephants and Lions as Narrator (voice)
2003 The Hittites: A Civilization that Changed the World as Narrator
2003 Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There as Self
2002 Callas Forever as Larry Kelly
2002 And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... as Valentin Valentin
2002 Last Call as F. Scott Fitzgerald
2002 Ohio Impromptu as Reader / Listener
2002 The Time Machine as Über-Morlock
2001 The Short Life of Anne Frank as Narrator (English version)
2001 The Fourth Angel as Jack Elgin
2001 The Making of "Dungeons and Dragons" as Self
2000 Dungeons & Dragons as Profion
2000 Longitude as Rupert Gould
1999 Faeries as The Shapeshifter (voice)
1998 The Man in the Iron Mask as Aramis
1998 The Lolita Story as Himself
1997 Chinese Box as John
1997 Lolita as Humbert Humbert
1996 Stealing Beauty as Alex Parrish
1995 The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies as Self
1995 Die Hard: With a Vengeance as Simon
1995 A Night to Die For as Self
1994 The Making of the Lion King as Self
1994 The Lion King as Scar (voice)
1994 Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! as Self (archive footage)
1993 The House of the Spirits as Esteban Trueba
1993 M. Butterfly as René Gallimard
1992 Damage as Dr. Stephen Fleming
1992 Tales from Hollywood as Odon Von Horvath
1992 Earth and the American Dream as Reader (voice)
1992 Waterland as Tom Crick
1991 Kafka as Kafka
1991 The Beggar's Opera as Prisoner
1991 'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe as Narrator
1990 Reversal of Fortune as Claus von Bülow
1990 Sesame Street: Sing Yourself Silly! as Self
1989 Australia as Edouard Pierson
1989 Danny and the Dirty Dog: The Making of 'Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World' as Narrator
1989 A Chorus of Disapproval as Guy Jones
1989 Danny the Champion of the World as William Smith
1989 The Dream
1988 Sesame Street | Put Down the Duckie: An All-Star Musical Special as Self
1988 Dead Ringers as Beverly Mantle / Elliot Mantle
1988 The Making of Dead Ringers as Self - Actor
1986 The Mission as Father Gabriel
1986 Rabbit Ears - The Steadfast Tin Soldier as Narrator (voice)
1986 Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary as Self
1985 The Statue of Liberty as Self (voice)
1985 Night of 100 Stars II as Self
1984 The Wild Duck as Harold
1984 Swann in Love as Charles Swann
1983 Betrayal as Jerry
1983 The Captain's Doll as Captain Alexander Hepburn
1982 Moonlighting as Nowak
1981 The French Lieutenant's Woman as Charles Henry Smithson / Mike
1980 Nijinsky as Mikhail Fokine
1978 Langrishe, Go Down as Otto Beck
7.09 Documentary 38
7.00 TV Movie 14
6.95 History 15
6.89 War 3
6.82 Crime 3
6.71 Horror 3
6.58 Western 1
6.56 Thriller 11
6.49 Action 13
6.49 Fantasy 9
6.47 Science Fiction 7
6.45 Music 7
6.42 Animation 5
6.36 Mystery 7
6.25 Drama 49
6.25 Adventure 17
6.19 Family 8
6.16 Comedy 14
6.14 Romance 22