Actor, director and screen-writer. Born in Peterhead, Mullan was raised in modest circumstances in the Mosspark district of Glasgow. He left Lourdes Secondary School at fourteen and became involved in gang culture, but recovered his life and completed his education at the University of Glasgow.
Mullan's film acting roles include Riff-Raff (1991), Shallow Grave (1994), Braveheart (1995), Trainspotting (1996), Young Adam (2003), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010), Tyrannosaur (2011) and Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011). His portrayal of a recovering alcoholic in My Name Is Joe (1998) won him the Best Actor Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. He has also taken roles in television such as the Channel 4 adaptation of Boy A (2007) and the crime dramas The Fixer for ITV (2008-09) and The Fear for Channel 4 in 2012.
His directing work includes Orphans (1998), which won an award at the Venice Film Festival, The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and the semi-autobiographical Neds (2010).
