# Robert Sheehan
**Robert Michael Sheehan** (born 1988) is an Irish actor from Portlaoise, County Laois, known for playing [Nathan Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/nathan-young) in the [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4) series *Misfits*, Darren in RTÉ's *[Love/Hate](https://www.edgepedia.org/love-hate-tv-series)*, and Klaus Hargreeves in Netflix's *The Umbrella Academy* (2019–2024).[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/robert-sheehan/) • [2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) In recent years he has also become an author, publishing short fiction and a meditation memoir.[3](https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/clients/robert-sheehan/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1988, Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/robert_sheehan) |
| Screen debut | Age 14 in *Song for a Raggy Boy* (2003), filmed in Cork[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Robert-Sheehan/) |
| Breakthrough roles | Nathan Young in *Misfits* (Channel 4, first two series); BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nomination (2011)[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Robert-Sheehan/) • [3](https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/clients/robert-sheehan/) |
| Irish fame | Darren in RTÉ's crime drama *Love/Hate*, three seasons; IFTA Best Actor in Television nomination[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) • [3](https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/clients/robert-sheehan/) |
| Global fame | Klaus Hargreeves in *The Umbrella Academy* (Netflix, 2019–2024, four seasons); season one viewed by more than 45 million households per Netflix statistics[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/robert-sheehan-interview-umbrella-academy-season-2-netflix-klaus-a9642571.html) |
| Books | *Disappearing Act* (2021); *Playing Dead: How Meditation Brought Me Back to Life* (2024)[3](https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/clients/robert-sheehan/) |
| Latest film | Emperor Dragan in the 2025 *Red Sonja* reboot[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Sheehan grew up in Portlaoise in a family with no show-business background: his father was a member of the [Garda Síochána](https://www.edgepedia.org/garda-siochana) with a passion for literature, and his mother worked for the health board.[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/robert-sheehan/) • [7](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/stars-in-his-eyes-1.933927) His mother ferried him to auditions in Dublin, Belfast and [Waterford](https://www.edgepedia.org/waterford), and his early performance experience came through music, including trips to Fleadhanna Cheoil and a town-twinning visit to France at age 10 with a musical group.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) He learned the banjo, the bodhrán and the spoons.[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/robert-sheehan/)
**No formal training.** His first acting credit was the lead in a school production of *Oliver*, titled *Oliver with a Twist*; his parents then brought him to the open casting call for Aisling Walsh's *Song for a Raggy Boy*, a film about a brutal reformatory school in late 1930s Ireland.[8](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/i-make-no-sense-at-all-1.560694) He was 14 when he got the part and spent seven weeks filming in Cork.[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Robert-Sheehan/) • [9](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-boy-in-the-hoody-1.1251073) Unsure whether acting was a realistic career, he enrolled in a film and television course at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, but left after a year because acting work kept coming; among his early film roles were *Summer of the Flying Saucer* (2008) and *Cherrybomb* (2009), the latter opposite [Rupert Grint](https://www.edgepedia.org/rupert-grint).[9](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-boy-in-the-hoody-1.1251073) • [8](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/i-make-no-sense-at-all-1.560694) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1588066/) As a teenager he also appeared as a series regular in the Australian series *Foreign Exchange* and as the future [Louis XIV](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-xiv) in the historical fantasy *Young Blades*, filmed in Vancouver.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1588066/) • [7](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/stars-in-his-eyes-1.933927)
## Misfits, Love/Hate and early recognition
Sheehan gained early attention in Britain for his turn as a rent boy in *Red Riding*, Channel 4's 2009 adaptation of David Peace's hard-boiled crime trilogy.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) The same year he began playing Nathan Young, a cocksure young offender with an immortality superpower, in the first two series of E4's *Misfits*; he did not return for the third series, later explaining that he wanted to do other things rather than stay bound to one show.[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Robert-Sheehan/) • [11](https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/celebrity/robert-sheehan-umbrella-academy-actor-klaus-a4515206.html) The role brought him a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2011.[3](https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/clients/robert-sheehan/)
In Ireland, his reputation was solidified by playing Darren in RTÉ's gangster drama *Love/Hate*, which he describes as having made him "very famous in Ireland".[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) • [12](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/aug/30/robert-sheehan-meditation-book-playing-dead-umbrella-academy-misfits) Alongside television he appeared in films including *Killing Bono* (2011), *[Season of the Witch](https://www.edgepedia.org/season-of-the-witch-2011-film)* (2011) with [Nicolas Cage](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicolas-cage), and *The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones* (2013) as Simon Lewis, and performed on stage at the Old Vic in John Crowley's production of *The Playboy of the Western World*, his first professional stage job.[13](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-i-was-largely-motivated-by-terror-the-fear-of-getting-it-completely-wrong-1.2136817) • [14](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/18/robert-sheehan-interview-misfits-borrowers)
## The Umbrella Academy
In 2019 Sheehan began starring as Klaus Hargreeves, also known as Number Four, in Netflix's *The Umbrella Academy*, based on the comic books by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and Gabriel Bá.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/robert-sheehan-interview-umbrella-academy-season-2-netflix-klaus-a9642571.html) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1588066/) Klaus is a queer, drug-addicted character who can communicate with the dead; his arc drew an unusually strong response from viewers.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) Sheehan recalled an outpouring of emotion from younger queer viewers who said the depiction of Klaus helped them come out, and described fan events after the show as intense in a way his earlier career had not been.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/robert-sheehan-interview-umbrella-academy-season-2-netflix-klaus-a9642571.html) According to Netflix's own statistics, the first season was viewed by more than 45 million households, and the series ran four seasons, ending in 2024.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/robert-sheehan-interview-umbrella-academy-season-2-netflix-klaus-a9642571.html) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1588066/)
The role marked a scale change from his earlier fame. "Love/Hate made me very famous in Ireland – a microcosm of fame. But Umbrella Academy was global," he told *The Irish Times* in 2025.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/)
## Film, stage and recent work
Sheehan has alternated between large international productions and smaller projects. Big-budget credits include *Mortal Engines* (2018) as Tom Natsworthy, *Geostorm* (2017), and [Duncan Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/duncan-jones)'s *Mute* (2018); smaller films include *The Song of Sway Lake* (2017), *Bad Samaritan* (2018), and *The Road Within* (2014), for which he received an MIFF Best Actor nomination.[15](https://www.lisarichardsagency.com/actors/robert-sheehan/) • [16](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/robert-sheehan-i-lost-roles-because-i-wasn-t-high-enough-status-1.3787061) On stage, he played Richard III in [Trevor Nunn](https://www.edgepedia.org/trevor-nunn)'s daylong *Wars of the Roses* adaptation at the Rose Theatre, a production that condensed Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III plays; he has called it his favorite role.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) • [17](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-i-was-a-contrarian-f-ker-i-thought-it-made-me-seem-more-edgy-1.4308824) In 2025 he played the ruthless Emperor Dragan opposite Matilda Lutz in the long-delayed big-screen reboot of [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics)' *Red Sonja*, shot at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/)
## Writing and meditation
Sheehan has diversified into writing. His debut book, *Disappearing Act: A Host of Other Characters in 16 Short Stories* (2021), is a collection of darkly comic character-driven stories.[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Robert-Sheehan/) • [2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) His memoir *Playing Dead: How Meditation Brought Me Back to Life* (Rider Books, 2024) traces a practice that began during a difficult period filming *Bad Samaritan* in Oregon in 2017, when he was depressed, lonely and self-medicating with alcohol and casual sex; the book mixes memoir with popular science, breathing exercises and humor, and includes episodes from a silent retreat in Bali and a six-day retreat in Spain.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) • [12](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/aug/30/robert-sheehan-meditation-book-playing-dead-umbrella-academy-misfits)
Meditation has also shaped his account of fame. He has described a period of rejecting celebrity before finding a balance through sitting practice, saying fame "doesn't feel like a social handicap any more".[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/) In recent years he has left former addresses in London and Los Angeles for Ballydehob in west [County Cork](https://www.edgepedia.org/county-cork), his mother's home area.[2](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/)
## References
1. [Robert Sheehan – About, Entertainment.ie](https://entertainment.ie/person/robert-sheehan/)
2. [Robert Sheehan: 'Living in Ireland helps with everything', The Irish Times (Tara Brady, 9 September 2025)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2025/09/09/robert-sheehan-living-in-ireland-helps-with-everything-everyone-feels-like-theyve-known-you-forever-i-love-that/)
3. [Robert Sheehan, Lisa Richards Creatives](https://www.lisarichardscreatives.co.uk/clients/robert-sheehan/)
4. [Robert Sheehan, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/robert_sheehan)
5. [Robert Sheehan bio, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Robert-Sheehan/)
6. [Robert Sheehan: 'Everything that's not the government line gets labelled a conspiracy theory', The Independent (Louis Chilton, 31 July 2020)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/robert-sheehan-interview-umbrella-academy-season-2-netflix-klaus-a9642571.html)
7. [Stars in his eyes, The Irish Times (23 August 2008)](https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/stars-in-his-eyes-1.933927)
8. ['I make no sense at all', The Irish Times (Tara Brady, 1 April 2011)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/i-make-no-sense-at-all-1.560694)
9. [Robert Sheehan: Boy in the hoody, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-boy-in-the-hoody-1.1251073)
10. [Robert Sheehan, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1588066/)
11. [Who is Robert Sheehan? Everything you need to know about the Umbrella Academy star, London Evening Standard (3 August 2020)](https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/celebrity/robert-sheehan-umbrella-academy-actor-klaus-a4515206.html)
12. [Robert Sheehan: 'My anxiety had got to the point where if I was left alone I was a twitching mess', The Guardian (Simran Hans, 30 August 2024)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/aug/30/robert-sheehan-meditation-book-playing-dead-umbrella-academy-misfits)
13. [Robert Sheehan: 'I was largely motivated by terror', The Irish Times (Tara Brady, 13 March 2015)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-i-was-largely-motivated-by-terror-the-fear-of-getting-it-completely-wrong-1.2136817)
14. [Robert Sheehan: 'I play a James Dean-style Borrower', The Guardian (Tom Lamont, 17 December 2011)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/18/robert-sheehan-interview-misfits-borrowers)
15. [Robert Sheehan, Lisa Richards Agency](https://www.lisarichardsagency.com/actors/robert-sheehan/)
16. [Robert Sheehan: 'I lost roles because I wasn't high enough status', The Irish Times (Shilpa Ganatra, 13 February 2019)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/robert-sheehan-i-lost-roles-because-i-wasn-t-high-enough-status-1.3787061)
17. [Robert Sheehan: 'I was a contrarian f**ker', The Irish Times (Patrick Freyne, 26 July 2020)](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/robert-sheehan-i-was-a-contrarian-f-ker-i-thought-it-made-me-seem-more-edgy-1.4308824)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Irish actors › Surnames N to W*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license