Stephen Rea at 80: "He has an intelligence, and a conscience as an actor"

Neil Jordan:

"I have written several parts specifically for [Stephen], like with Angel and The Crying Game. It’s a relationship where we both started out together, and I have certain instincts that suit the actor very well. Of course, it helps that Steve is one of the best actors around, so it’s been a very fruitful relationship for me. He has an intelligence, and a conscience as an actor..." (2003)

Cillian Murphy:

“You know, when I was younger starting off, people like Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Rea and Liam Neeson were very encouraging and really took time with me. I’ve become good pals with Stephen and Brendan. I haven’t seen Liam in a while because he doesn’t live here anymore... I would go to them for advice. I would call them up and ask them questions, because I admire them. Even before I was an actor, or before I had any desire to be an actor, I would have admired those guys.

“I’ve been an actor since I was 20, but I mean even before. I originally wanted to be a musician, but I had an interest in cinema and I would always go to see Brendan in his films. I would always go and see Stephen Rea and all the Neil Jordan films, and obviously Liam as well. I think every generation has people that they look up to, and we’re lucky in this country that we’ve produced such fine actors through the generations.” (2017)

Stephen Rea and Cillian Murphy in Breakfast on Pluto. Photo: Patrick Redmond / Sony Pictures Classics

Tom Hughes:

“I was in a lot of scenes with Stephen [in 2022 series The English] and, wow, what an actor! The back-and-forth felt like tennis with him serving the aces. I found him to be wonderfully warm and embracing, so I wasn’t sat there thinking, ‘He’s such an enigma!’” (2025)

Liam Neeson:

"Working with several people like Aidan Quinn, Alan Rickman, Stephen Rea – we could do scenes, and we could have an unspoken language with each other. We don’t have to say, 'What if I did this, or you're doing that?' It all flowed, which was great." (1996)

Stephen Rea in Michael Collins (1996)