Raised in Handsworth, England

Professional stage debut as Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury (credited as Shaun Behan)

British TV movie debut "Winter Flight"

Spent a season acting on stage with the Young Writers Festival

Joined the Royal Shakespeare Company

Feature film debut in Derek Jarman's "Caravaggio"

Delivered a fine performance as an Irish janitor in Mike Figgis' "Stormy Monday"

Reunited with Jarman for "War Requiem"

Portrayed the wicked Carver Doone in the Thames Television production "Lorna Doone"

Co-starred opposite Richard Harris in "The Field"

Garnered praise for playing Lovelace in the BBC adaptation of "Clarissa" (aired on "Masterpiece Theatre" in 1992)

Cast as gamekeeper Mellors opposite Joely Richardson's "Lady Chatterley" (BBC)

American film debut as an Irish radical in "Patriot Games" opposite Harrison Ford

Best known role as the Napoleonic era British soldier Richard Sharpe in "Sharpe" a series of 14 TV-movies adapted from Bernard Cornwell's novels (aired in the US on "Masterpiece Theatre")

Cast as Lord Richard Fenton in the CBS miniseries "Scarlett"; filmed as a sequel to "Gone With the Wind"

Portrayed Esau to Matthew Modine's "Jacob" in the TNT biblical movie

Cut a dashing figure as Vronsky in the remake of "Anna Karenina" starring Sophie Marceau

Co-starred in the international thriller "Ronin"

Portrayed real-life British soldier Andy McNab in the TV drama "Bravo Two Zero"

Played a man accused of murdering his family in the four-part ITV miniseries, "Extremely Dangerous"

Offered a strong performance as a volatile ex-con in the British gangster film "Essex Boys"

Cast as the leader of a gang of jewel thieves who resort to blackmail and murder in the thriller "Don't Say a Word"

Portrayed Boromir in the Peter Jackson-directed adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

Had small but pivotal role in the futuristic thriller "Equilibrium" (a.k.a. "Librium")

Featued in the comedy "The Big Empty"; also starred Jon Favreau

Reprised role as Boromir in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

Cast as the Greek hero Odysseus in director Wolfgnag Petersen's epic "Troy"

Cast opposite Nicolas Cage and Harvey Keitel in "National Treasure"

Played Francis McDormand's husband in "North Country"

Co-starred with Radha Mitchell in the thriller, "Slient Hill"

Starred in a remake of a 1986 horror film "The Hitcher"