My 5 favourite... Irish actors

From Jedi Knight to Batman villain, Hogwarts Professor to Satan, Irish actors have had many diverse roles in Hollywood. Here are my 5 favourites;
  
• Brendan Gleeson (IMDb page) Made his breakthrough in Braveheart with Mel Gibson. Has appeared in a number of historical films such as Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Gangs of New York. Joined the cast of the Harry Potter film series as 'Mad-Eye' Moody and appeared opposite fellow Irishman Colin Farrell in In Bruges.

• Cillian Murphy (IMDb page) Blue-eyed actor with a strong screen presence, Murphy has made his name working with two of Hollywood's hottest directors. He made a great first impression in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later... and joined him again for Sunshine. He also starred as the evil Dr. Crane in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and briefly in The Dark Knight, before starring in Nolan's highly rated Inception.

• Gabriel Byrne (IMDb page) Has had varied roles in a number of popular films including Miller's Crossing, Little Women and most famously, Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects. Paradoxically, he starred as both a priest (Stigmata) and Satan (End of Days) in the same year.

• Stephen Rea (IMDb page) Best known for his collaborations with director Neil Jordan. So far, the pair have worked together on nine films, Angel, The Company of Wolves, The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins, The Butcher Boy, In Dreams, The End of the Affair and Breakfast on Pluto. Also starred in the cult rock film Still Crazy and popular graphic novel adaptation V for Vendetta.

• Liam Neeson (IMDb page) Has starred in a large number of well-known Hollywood films including Schindler's List, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Love Actually, Batman Begins. He has taken on some iconic roles including the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia films, Greek God Zeus in Clash of the Titans and Hannibal Smith in The A-Team.

So those are my favourites, who are yours? Drop me a comment.