Emmett J. Scanlan

Biography:

Emmett J. Scanlan was born on January 31, 1979, in Dublin.

He gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of the charming yet rebellious Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks (2011–2013), a role that earned him multiple soap award nominations and wins. He went on to appear alongside Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan in the BBC Two crime drama The Fall (2013–2014).

Between 2013 and 2016, Scanlan starred with Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders, appearing in Series 5 and 6. In 2016, he featured in the action film Breakdown alongside Craig Fairbrass, James Cosmo, Bruce Payne, Olivia Grant, and Tamer Hassan.

Scanlan also appeared in BBC Three’s In the Flesh (Series 2) and in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). In 2021, he played Inspector Kieran Shaw in ITV’s crime drama The Tower.

In 2022, he took on the role of Marcus MacLeod in the British adaptation of Call My Agent! titled Ten Percent, and starred as Jimmy Kinsella in RTÉ’s family gangster series Kin.

In 2024, he appeared alongside Michelle Keegan and Adeel Akhtar in Netflix’s thriller Fool Me Once. The following year, in MobLand (2025), he starred with Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, Paddy Considine, and Joanne Froggatt, playing a heavy for the Harrigan family in the British gangster drama.

Scanlan married actress Claire Cooper on December 31, 2015, in New York City. The couple welcomed a son in July 2020, and in November 2022, Cooper gave birth to their daughter, following a miscarriage the previous year. Scanlan also has an older daughter, born in September 2002, from a prior relationship.

He is a vegan, a supporter of PETA, and a devoted Manchester United fan.