Gabriel James Byrne began his acting career in Dublin theater. After minor appearances on several TV series, he made his screen debut on the drama-series ‘The Riordans’ (1978-1979) , followed by its spinoff, ‘Bracken’ (1980-1982). His made his film appearance in the medieval-fantasy film ‘Excalibur’ (1981).
Byrne worked with British thespians in the mini-series ‘Wagner’ (1983), followed by a title role in the mini-series ‘Christopher Columbus’ (1985), and as ‘Vittorio Mussolini’ in the series ‘Mussolini: The Untold Story’ (1985).
Byrne played the lead in the acclaimed political-thriller film ‘Defence of the Realm’ (1986), essayed ‘Lord Byron’ in the psychological-horror ‘Gothic’ (1986), and played the antagonist in ‘Lionheart’ (1987). Thereafter, he starred in several films, including ‘Siesta’ (1987), the romantic-drama ‘A Soldier’s Tale’ (1988), and the action-adventure ‘Shipwrecked’ (1990).
Byrne’s notable films include the Coen-Brothers’ neo-noir ‘Miller’s Crossing’ (1990), the action-film ‘Point of No Return’ (1993), the legal-thriller ‘Trial by Jury’ (1994), the historical-drama ‘Little Women’ (1994), the mystery-thriller ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995), and the supernatural-horror ‘Stigmata ‘ (1999), which earned him nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor.’
After starring in the psychological thriller ‘Spider’ (2002), the supernatural-horror ‘Ghost Ship’ (2002), and the drama-film ‘Jindabyne’ (2006) (winning an AACTA nomination for Best Actor in Leading Role), Byrne portrayed the central character ‘Dr. Paul Weston’ in the drama-series ‘The Treatment’ (2008-2010) earning a 'Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in Drama-series’ and also an Emmy and other nominations.
Byrne starred in the Costa-Gavras drama-film ‘Le Capital’ (2012), the disaster-survival film ‘The 33’ (2015), the comedy-horror film ‘Vampire Academy’ (2014), the drama-film ‘Mad to be Normal’ (2017) and the psychological-horror ‘Hereditary’ (2018). He then appeared on the historical-drama series ‘Vikings’ (2013), and the dark-comedy miniseries ‘Maniac’ (2018).