Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an Irish actor. He portrayed Lestat de Lioncourt in the film adaptation of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned (2002), and Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). In 2007, he directed the film Battle in Seattle.
Early life and career
Townsend was born in Howth, County Dublin, the son of Lorna Hogan, an Irish model, and Peter Townsend, an English professional golfer. His younger brother, Dylan, is also an actor.
Stuart attended the Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin, and made his non-professional stage debut in its 1993 production of Colin Teevan's Tear Up The Black Sail. The following year he made his professional stage debut in True Lines, directed by John Crowley, which opened in Kilkenny, before moving to the Dublin Theatre Festival and on to the Bush Theatre in London. His early film roles were in Irish short films, including Godsuit and Summertime, before landing a role in the feature length film, Trojan Eddie, a 1996 Anglo-Irish co-production. In 1997 he starred in the British film, Shooting Fish.
With his portrayal of a seducer in the title role of About Adam, Townsend gained exposure in the United States. He briefly returned to the London stage in 2000, in the Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending, starring as Val Xavier, alongside Helen Mirren as Lady Torrance, before landing roles in several major films. He appeared in Queen of the Damned as the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as Dorian Gray. Townsend was hired to play the part of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen the day before principal photography began. According to Townsend: