Stuart Townsend attended the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. His professional stage debut was in 1994's True Lines, directed by John Crowley, who later directed Intermission.



Townsend's early movie roles were in Irish short films. His first part in a feature length film was Trojan Eddie, a 1996 UK/Irish co-production. In 1997 he landed a lead role in the British film Shooting Fish.



After his appearance as the outrageous seducer in the title role of About Adam, he started to be noticed in the United States by critics and the public alike. In the summer of 2000, he briefly returned to the London stage in the Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending, starring as Val Xavier, alongside Helen Mirren as Lady Torrance.



In recent years he has appeared in a number of big budget films including Queen of the Damned, opposite Aaliyah, as the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt; and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as Dorian Gray opposite Sean Connery. He was a lead in Sony Pictures drama "Head in the Clouds" opposite Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz and he also played the lead in the romantic comedy "The Best Man," opposite Seth Green and Amy Smart.



Additional film credits include "Resurrection Man", "Under the Skin" and Michael Winterbottom's "Wonderland," He starred in the title role in ABC¹s "The Night Stalker" & also took a guest role on Will & Grace.



Most recently Stuart completed a lead role in Marcos Siega¹s Chaos Theory opposite Ryan Reynolds & Emily Mortimer for Warner Independent.



Battle in Seattle is his directorial & writing debut.



A native of Dublin, Ireland, Townsend divides his time between Europe and the US.

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