Sean Harris was born in 1966 in Bethnal Green, London, and raised in Norwich, Norfolk, in a middle-class family. He has expressed strong pride in his British nationality. His interest in acting was sparked after watching Barbra Streisand's film Funny Girl. At the age of 23, he enrolled at the renowned Drama Centre London, where he studied from 1989 to 1992.

Acting Career and Breakthrough Roles

Sean Harris began establishing his name in acting with a range of intense, often dark characters. One of his earliest notable roles was portraying serial killer Ian Brady in the 2006 television film See No Evil: The Moors Murders. He continued to gain recognition through appearances in series like Wedding Belles, Cape Wrath (known as Meadowlands in the U.S.), and Ashes to Ashes.

In 2009, Harris played roles in both television and film, including Bob Craven in the Red Riding trilogy and Anton Blair in Svengali. The following year, he portrayed Brian Tobin in the BBC drama Five Daughters, which earned critical acclaim.

Between 2011 and 2013, Harris gained international attention for his portrayal of the skilled assassin Micheletto in the historical drama The Borgias. His performance as Stephen Morton in the 2013 Channel 4 miniseries Southcliffe earned him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 2014, marking a significant moment in his career.

Film Appearances and Acclaimed Performances

Harris starred as singer Ian Curtis in Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People (2002), a fictionalized depiction of the Manchester music scene. In 2009’s Harry Brown, he played the role of Stretch, a performance that reportedly impressed director Scott Derrickson enough to cast him without an audition in the 2014 horror film Deliver Us from Evil. In that film, based on the book Beware the Night by Ralph Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool, Harris portrayed the possessed ex-soldier Mike Santino.

In 2012, Harris appeared as the geologist Fifield in Ridley Scott’s science fiction epic Prometheus. Two years later, in 2014, he played Gene Womack in The Goob and Sandy Browning in ’71. His compelling performance in ’71 earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the British Independent Film Awards. That same year, he took on the role of Campbell in the drama Serena.

In a major franchise breakthrough, Harris portrayed the villain Solomon Lane in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), a role he would reprise in the sequel Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018). Over the span of his career, Sean Harris has appeared in more than 30 film and television productions.