Burn Gorman


Burn Hugh Gorman is an English actor. He is known for his television roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series Torchwood, Karl Tanner in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Major Edmund Hewlett in the AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies, 'The Marshal' in the Prime Video series The Man in the High Castle, and Adolphus Murtry in Prime Video series The Expanse. His film roles include Phillip Stryver in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Hermann Gottlieb in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim and its sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, Commander Hoff in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Father Damien in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Early life

Burn Hugh Gorman was born on 1 September 1974 in Los Angeles, California, the son of English parents. His father was a professor of linguistics at UCLA. He has three older sisters. He has reportedly claimed to be the nephew of Bartley Gorman, considered "King of the Gypsies". At the age of 7, he moved with his family back to England, where they settled in London. He later trained at the Manchester School of Theatre at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Gorman is also an accomplished beatboxer. He participated in the 2003 International Human Beatbox Convention, where he won the title of Radio 1Xtra's Human Beatbox Champion.

Career

One of Gorman's earliest television roles was in 1998 as Etheric Foundation cult leader Ben Andrews in Granada TV's Coronation Street. He played William Guppy in the 2005 BBC One adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House, before being cast as Owen Harper in the BBC science fiction series Torchwood. Gorman starred in the first two series of the show before his character was killed off in the series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds".
Other BBC television roles include Lark Rise to Candleford, Funland, and Bonekickers; he also appeared in Channel 4's political thriller Low Winter Sun.
Gorman played scriptwriter Ray Galton in the BBC Four television play The Curse of Steptoe. He has also appeared in television series such as Dalziel and Pascoe, Casualty, Merseybeat and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
Gorman played Jed on the soap opera EastEnders in March 2007. He starred as Hindley Earnshaw in the ITV adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. In 2011, he starred in Sky1's second Martina Cole adaptation, The Runaway and in 2014, portrayed Adam, the lead character's stalker and fellow immortal, in ABC's Forever. He played Karl Tanner in seasons 3 and 4 of HBO's Game of Thrones, Major Hewlett in the AMC miniseries Turn and Nicholas Farlow on the BBC miniseries Jamestown.
On film, Gorman has had roles in Layer Cake, The Best Man, Penelope, Fred Claus, Cemetery Junction, and The Dark Knight Rises. He also appeared as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb in the film Pacific Rim and its sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising.
On radio, Gorman played Elizabethan spy Robert Poley in Michael Butt's The Babington Plot and Unauthorized History: The Killing and Mike Walker's The Reckoning: The Death of Christopher Marlowe.
Gorman's stage credits include Ladybird, Flush, and Gong Donkeys, prompting Michael Billington of The Guardian to write that "Gorman proves that he is one of the best young actors in Britain". He has performed in readings, workshops, and development initiatives with the National Theatre Studio, Young Vic, Royal Court, Oxford Stage Company, Paines Plough and Soho Theatre. Outside London, he has worked with Nottingham Playhouse, the Theatre Royal, Plymouth and the Royal Exchange and Contact Theatres, where he was nominated for a Manchester Evening News Best Newcomer Award.
From 2008 to 2009, Gorman played Bill Sikes in the West End revival of the musical Oliver! for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatre Awards.

Personal life

Gorman was married to schoolteacher Sarah Beard from 2004 to 2017. They have three children.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001Love is Not EnoughAl Weisberger
2004Layer CakeGazza
2005Colour Me KubrickWillie
2005The Best ManBus Driver
2006PenelopeLarry
2007Fred ClausElf
2008The Oxford MurdersYuri Podorov
2010Cemetery JunctionPC Renwick
2011Up ThereMartin
2011Johnny English RebornAgent Slater
2012Red LightsBenedict Cohen
2012The Dark Knight RisesPhillip Stryver
2013The Other ManSimonShort film
2013Jimi: All Is by My SideMichael Jeffery
2013Pacific RimHermann Gottlieb
2014Low DownWiggenhern
2014Walking with the EnemyOtto Skorzeny
2014Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad DayMr. Brand
2015Crimson PeakMr Holly
2016In a Valley of ViolencePriest
2016ImperiumMorgan
2018Pacific Rim UprisingHermann Gottlieb
2020UndergodsTim
2020The Good TraitorBerle
2020Enola HolmesLinthorn
2022WatcherDaniel Weber
2022Guillermo del Toro's PinocchioThe PriestVoice role
2023GhostedTaxi driver
2023RansomedRichard CarterSouth Korean film
2023The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & SnakesCommander Hoff
2024LiftCormac
2024Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceFather Damien
2025FrankensteinExecutioner
2025All the Devils Are HereNumbers
2026DiggerPost-production
2026Untitled Jumanji: The Next Level sequelFilming
TBAA Colt Is My PassportPost-production
TBABridesFilming

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998Coronation StreetBen AndrewsRecurring role, 16 episodes
2000CasualtyGeoff Simpson1 episode
2001MerseybeatSean Finnigan1 episode
2002'DC FairchildTelevision film
2005'Billy VergerEpisode: "In Divine Proportion"
2005FunlandTim Timothy3 episodes
2005Bleak HouseWilliam GuppyMain role, 11 episodes
2006Low Winter SunDet. Con. Kenny Morton2 episodes
2006Dalziel and PascoeJerry HartEpisode: "A Death in the Family"
2006–2008TorchwoodOwen HarperMain role, 26 episodes
2007Agatha Christie's MarpleJacko Argyle1 episode
2007EastEndersJed1 episode
2008BonekickersBanks1 episode
2008'Ray GaltonTelevision film
2009Wuthering HeightsHindley EarnshawMiniseries, 2 episodes
2011'Richard GatesMiniseries, 5 episodes
2011'Thomas Kish4 episodes
2011Lark Rise to CandlefordReverend Marley1 episode
2013Spies of WarsawJourdainMiniseries, 4 episodes
2013RevengeMr Trask4 episodes
2013It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaScientist1 episode
2013–2014Game of ThronesKarl Tanner4 episodes
2014–2015ForeverAdam / Lewis FarberRecurring role, 8 episodes
2014–2017Turn: Washington's SpiesMajor Edmund HewlettMain role, 28 episodes
2015And Then There Were NoneDetective Sergeant William BloreMiniseries, 3 episodes
2015'The Marshal2 episodes
2016Stan Lee's Lucky ManDoug3 episodes
2017–2019JamestownNicholas FarlowMain role, 15 episodes
2019'Adolphus MurtryRecurring role, 10 episodes
2019CheatBen Jarvis4 episodes
2022HaloVinsher GrathRecurring role, 5 episodes
2022'Charles BluhdornMiniseries, 10 episodes