Biography
When not in school, Scottish actor Hans Matheson spent much of his childhood traveling around Britain attending various musical festivals with his hippie parents. Music was in his family's blood--his father was a musician, as well as his grandfather and great-grandfather before him. Matheson attended drama school in his teens and subsequently landed a strong part in the play "Mojo," as well as in the later film version, and roles in the films "Stella Does Tricks" and the raucous comedy "Still Crazy." His breakout performance, though, was in Billie August's adaptation of "Les Misérables" as the revolutionary Marius. His brooding handsomeness would serve him well in other period movies through the years. In 2001, he played the evil Mordred in the television miniseries version of "The Mists of Avalon," a feminist retelling of the King Arthur myth. The following year he co-starred in the well-regarded World War I-set supernatural horror movie "Deathwatch" and played Yuri Zhivago opposite Keira Knightley in the miniseries version of "Doctor Zhivago," arguably his most well-known role. He also played the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, in the second season of the Showtime series "The Tudors." His role in the miniseries "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" as the manipulative Alec was another highlight. Not all his roles in historical fare have been relegated to drama, though. He played the villainous Lord Coward in Guy Ritchie's steampunk update of "Sherlock Holmes" and the brave warrior Ixas in the 2010 revamp of "The Clash of the Titans."
