Jerome Patrick Flynn (born 16 March 1963) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Bronn in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011-19). His other roles include Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series Soldier Soldier (1991-95), Bennet Drake in the BBC mystery series Ripper Street (2012-16), Hector in the Black Mirror episode Shut Up and Dance (2016), and Banner Creighton in the Paramount+ western series 1923 (2022-).

Jerome Flynn
Flynn at the 2013 BAFTA TV Awards
Born
Jerome Patrick Flynn

(1963-03-16) 16 March 1963 (age 61)
Bromley, Kent, England
Alma materRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active1985–present
Websitewww.jeromeflynn.com

He and his Soldier Soldier co-star Robson Green also performed as Robson & Jerome in the latter half of the 1990s. They released a version of "Unchained Melody", which stayed at number 1 for 7 weeks on the UK Chart, selling more than a million copies and becoming the best-selling single of 1995. The duo had two further number 1 singles: "I Believe" and "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted". Their eponymous debut album and the follow-up Take Two both reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart.

Early life edit

Flynn was born on 16 March 1963 in Bromley, Kent (now part of Greater London), the son of actor and singer Eric Flynn, who was born on Hainan Island in China, and drama teacher Fern Flynn.[1] He has a brother, actor Daniel Flynn, a sister; and a half-sister and a half-brother, musician and actor Johnny Flynn, from his father's second marriage.[1][2]

Career edit

In 1986, Flynn appeared in the LWT television film London's Burning as firefighter Kenny "Rambo" Baines.[3] When the film spawned a series of the same name in 1988, he was unable to reprise his role due to previous commitments. Also in 1986, he played a minor role as the soldier "Franny" in "The Monocled Mutineer".In 1988 he played the character Freddie in the ITV drama; The Fear which was about the London underworld. He appeared as D.S Eddie Hargreaves for six episodes of the British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) winning police drama, Between The Lines between 1992 and 1994.[4]

Flynn portrayed Corporal Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series Soldier Soldier. The series began in 1991. He acted alongside Robson Green in the series. After Flynn and Green performed Unchained Melody on the programme, ITV was inundated by people looking to buy the song, and the pair were persuaded by record producer Simon Cowell to record it and release it as a single, a double A-side with White Cliffs of Dover. The single was released under the name Robson & Jerome and reached number one in the UK chart in 1995. It stayed at No.1 for 7 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, selling more than 1.9 million copies and making it the best-selling single of the year, and winning the duo the Music Week Awards in 1996 for best single and best album. The duo had two more number one hits in 1995 and 1996 with "I Believe" and "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" both re-makes of standards, they also produced two number one albums.[5]

In 1997, Soldier Soldier ended. Flynn went on to star as Eddie Wallis (alongside singing partner Robson Green) in the comedy-drama Ain't Misbehavin'.[6]

In 1999, Flynn starred in the short-lived police show Badger, played real-life footballer Bobby Charlton in the film Best, played Tommy Cooper in Jus' Like That, a tribute to the comic magician written by John Fisher and directed by Simon Callow.

In 2007, Flynn having semi-retired from acting and moved to Pembrokeshire,[7] directed and starred in the low budget film Rude Tales. The film was split into a series of short stories centred in the lead character, Jerome Rude, played by Flynn. The film was screened at a small number of independent cinemas in the Pembrokeshire area.

In July 2010, after almost 10 years away from acting,[7] it was confirmed that Flynn would be playing the role of Bronn in the HBO television series Game of Thrones,[7] based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels of George R. R. Martin.[8][9]

Flynn provides the voice of Daniel (the hound) in the children's television show Tommy Zoom.

Flynn stars alongside Matthew Macfadyen in four series of Ripper Street for the BBC.[10]

In 2016, Flynn appeared in "Shut Up and Dance", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.[11]

In 2019, in an interview, Flynn revealed that he'd been cast in Amazon Prime Video's upcoming series adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series in an unannounced role.[12]

In 2021, Flynn portrayed Neil Wallis specialist in crisis management in the BBC1 drama The Trick based on the true story around Climategate.

In 2022 he starred alongside Harrison Ford & Helen Mirren in Taylor Sheridan’s “1923” a spin off from the “Yellowstone” series with Kevin Costner. Flynn plays Scottish sheep farmer, Banner Creighton.

Flynn has narrated several Sleep Stories for the Calm App and is an advocate for Meditation and Mindfulness. Flynn acts as patron for the Mindfulness in Schools Project[13][14]

Personal life edit

Vegetarian since the age of 18,[15] Flynn is a patron of the Vegetarian Society and Compassion in World Farming.[16][17] He has joined PETA in advocating the vegan lifestyle he himself lives by.[18] In December 2018, Flynn joined the board of directors of VeganNation,[19] an Israeli-based vegan lifestyle project that aims to create an ‘international vegan economy based on a virtual currency, the VeganCoin.”[20] Having taken childhood holidays in Pembrokeshire, Wales with his family, as a then follower of Ratu Bagus, a form of meditation, Flynn and some friends moved to a Georgian house there in the late 1990s, where he still lived in 2014.[7]

In the height of his Soldier Soldier and music career, Flynn was in a relationship with Anna Jacobs. An actor friend introduced him to the works of the American spiritual guru Andrew Cohen, which he then followed. In the mid 90s, Anna sadly miscarried the couple's twins four months into her pregnancy,

Flynn was in a relationship with Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey; rumours spread about the relationship ending on bad terms some time before March 2014, resulting in the couple being kept apart on-set.[21] However, Flynn rebuffed the claims, stating he and Headey had worked in a scene together, adding "And the last time I saw Lena we were speaking, so I wouldn’t believe everything you read, and like I said, [the media] can get pretty desperate for stories."[22] He continued by calling Headey "a wonderful person and a wonderful actress."

Filmography edit

Film edit

YearTitleRoleNotes
1988A Summer StoryJoe Narracombe
1988To Kill a Priest
1991Edward IIEdmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
1991KafkaCastle Attendant
2000BestBobby Charlton
2007Rude TalesJerome Rude
2013Dante's DaemonFisherman
2017Loving VincentDr. Gachet
2019John Wick: Chapter 3 – ParabellumBerrada

Television edit

YearTitleRoleNotes
1985American PlayhouseKurtEpisode: "Displaced Person"
1986Screen TwoNigelEpisode: "The Russian Soldier"
1986The Monocled MutineerFrannyEpisodes: "When the Hurly-Burly's Done", "Before the Shambles"
1986Breaking UpJohn Mailer
1986London's Burning: The MovieKenny 'Rambo' BainesTV movie
1988TroublesMatthewsTV miniseries
1988The FearFreddie
1989Flying LadyBenny BartonEpisode: "The Trip"
1990BergeracAlan BrutonEpisode: "Under Wraps"
1991CasualtyAlan DeaconEpisode: "Living in Hope"
1991BoonChris ShepleyEpisode: "Lie of the Land"
1991–1995Soldier SoldierPatrick "Paddy" Garvey
1992Between the LinesEddie Hargreaves6 episodes
1993Don't Leave Me This WayTony FlemingTV movie
1995A Mind to MurderPeter NagleTV movie
1997Ain't Misbehavin'Eddie WallisTV miniseries
1999The Ruth Rendell MysteriesMartin UrbanEpisode: "The Lake of Darkness"
1999–2000BadgerTom McCabe
2007Tommy ZoomDanielVoice role
2011–2019Game of ThronesBronn36 episodes
2012–2016Ripper StreetBennet Drake31 episodes
2016Black MirrorHectorEpisode: "Shut Up and Dance"
20221923Banner CreightonMiniseries
2023The ChangePig ManTV series[23]

Awards and nominations edit

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2011Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesGame of ThronesNominated
2013British Academy Television AwardsBest Supporting ActorRipper StreetNominated
2015Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesGame of ThronesNominated

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Eric Flynn's obituary". The Telegraph. 16 March 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Johnny Flynn's special relationship". The Guardian. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  3. ^ London's Burning (TV Movie 1986) - IMDb, retrieved 14 May 2019
  4. ^ Between the Lines (TV Series 1992–1994) - IMDb, retrieved 14 May 2019
  5. ^ "Robson Green live on Breakfast". BBC.co.uk. 4 December 2002. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  6. ^ Ain't Misbehavin' – TV Guide
  7. ^ a b c d Gerard Gilbert (22 November 2014). "Jerome Flynn: Game of Thrones and Ripper Street star is back in the limelight". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Game of Thrones cast gets local additions". BBC News. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  9. ^ "From HBO". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. ^ "In like Flynn: Soldier Soldier star Jerome is back on TV in Ripper yarn". The Mirror. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Joe Wright To Direct 'Black Mirror' Episode For Netflix; Bryce Dallas Howard & Alice Eve To Star". Deadline. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  12. ^ Jenkins, Kelly (20 April 2019). "Game Of Thrones star quit acting and bought holiday cottage before bagging role". Mirror Online. Daily Mirror.
  13. ^ Calm. "Jerome Flynn chooses mindfulness over the sword".
  14. ^ Mindfulness in Schools Project. "Jerome Flynn, MiSP Patron".
  15. ^ "Jerome Flynn". Viva! Vegetarians International Voice for Animals. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  16. ^ "List of patrons". Vegetarian Society. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  17. ^ "Patrons and High profile supporters". www.ciwf.org.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Jerome Flynn Urges People to Go Vegan," vegconomist.com, 11 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Jerome Flynn Joins the VeganNation Initiative". Medium. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  20. ^ "Game of Thrones Star Jerome Flynn for VeganNation!". YouTube.com. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Game of Thrones stars Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn 'not on speaking terms'". Telegraph. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  22. ^ Bill Bradley (13 July 2019). "'Game Of Thrones' Star Jerome Flynn Shoots Down Long-Time On-Set Feud Rumor". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Bridget Christie comedy reveals cast". Comedy.co.uk. 5 July 2022.

External links edit