Kevin McKidd

Many audiences first became familiar with Kevin McKidd from the moment he began his career with his debut role in the international sleeper hit "Trainspotting" (1996) in 1996. Born in Elgin, Scotland, McKidd was shy as a child with no particular interest in the sports that were a popular pastime amongst his peers, but he discovered his own unique talent when he began performing in school plays. He found work during his student years at a distillery and as an apprentice coppersmith, and despite his thespian leaning, initially enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study engineering. However before long, McKidd concluded that his best option was to follow his artistic talent, and he transferred to Queen Margaret College to study drama, where he joined the student theater company the Bedlam Theatre and the improv troupe the Improverts. By the time he graduated in 1995, he had already auditioned for "Trainspotting," impressing director Danny Boyle who later compared his introduction to the friendly McKidd to meeting a member of the Beach Boys. Boyle cast McKidd in the sunny role of Tommy in "Trainspotting," which put the young actor on the map. Worked steadily from that moment on, appearing in the indie drama "Small Faces" (1996) that same year, reuning with "Trainspotting" co-star Jonny Lee Miller for the period drama "Behind the Lines" (1997), and co-starring with Patrick Stewart in "Dad Savage" (1998). In 1999, McKidd worked with auteur director Mike Leigh with a role in "Topsy-Turvy" (1999), an art house hit about composing duo Rodgers and Hammerstein and the original production of the operetta "The Mikado." He married Jane Parker that same year. In 2002, McKidd worked with Neil Marshall on the underground hit "Dog Soldiers" (2002). He would memorably appear in the Cole Porter biopic "De-Lovely" (2004), as well as in Ridley Scott's Crusade epic "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005) before taking the starring role on the prestige period drama "Rome" (HBO, 2005-07). In 2008, McKidd appeared with Patrick Dempsey in the romantic comedy "Made of Honor" (2008) before joining him for a longer term project as a new cast member on the popular medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005-). McKidd would instantly become an integral member of the cast, playing Dr. Owen Hunt, but he nonetheless continued to act in films as well, memorably appearing with Uma Thurman and Sean Bean in the young adult fantasy "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" (2010) and joining several other native Scottish actors in the voice cast of the Scotland-set Pixar movie "Brave" (2012). In 2016, McKidd and Parker were divorced, but he garnered praise the following year for his performance opposite Alicia Vikander in the acclaimed period drama "Tulip Fever" (2017). In 2018, McKidd was remarried to Arielle Goldrath.