Robert Sheehan was born in Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland. At an early age Robert displayed an interest in performing, starting with music, as he learned to play the banjo, bodhrán, and the spoons.
His interest in acting would come about at age 14, when his mother took him to an audition for the World War II-set drama Song For a Raggy Boy (2003), in which he was cast as O'Reilly 58. Following this role he would begin acting in theatrical performances.
During the 2000s Robert would land consistent work on various television shows. He was cast as a series regular on the Australian/Irish series Foreign Exchange, the historical fantasy series Young Blades, and the drama series Rock Rivals, but he is perhaps best known for his role as Nathan Young on the hit BBC series Misfits. Robert would eventually land his first Hollywood role as Simon in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013), Sony Pictures' film adaptation of author Jessica Postigo's Mortal Instruments YA book series.
Robert would follow it up with roles in films such as the post-WWII drama Anita B. (2014) the dramedy The Road Within (2014), the action-comedy Moonwalkers (2015), the mystery thriller The Messenger, and the drama Jet Trash (2017).
In 2017 Robert returned to television to appear in the British sci-fi psychological thriller Fortitude, while also continuing to take on additional film roles. He starred in Ari Gold's The Song of Sway Lake (2017), Ben Elton's Three Summers (2017), and took a supporting role in Dean Devlin's disaster flick Geostorm (2017). Robert would re-team with Devlin in his follow-up film Bad Samaritan in 2018, starring alongside David Tennant.
He would go on to appear in Duncan Jones' Netflix film Mute (2018) as well as another adaptation of a YA novel series in the Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines (2018), on top of appearing as Carles Casagemas in the historical anthology period drama Genius (2018).
Robert gained many more fans when he played Klaus on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, which was an instant hit when it debuted in February 2019. Robert was applauded for his daring and hilarious portrayal. The show then enjoyed a second season on Netflix, which debuted July 31, 2020. It has been renewed for a third season.
Photo courtesy: George Pimentel/Getty for Netflix
Filmography:
Bad Samaritan (2018)
Mute (2018)
Geostorm (2017)
Three Summers (2017)
The Song of Sway Lake (2017)
Jet Trash (2017)
The Messenger (2016)
Moonwalkers (2015)
Anita B. (2014)
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Demons Never Die (2011)
Killing Bono (2011)
Season of the Witch (2011)
Cherrybomb (2008)
Ghostwood (2008)
Summer of the Flying Saucer (2008)
Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)