Jamie Dornan

Dornan was born on 1 May 1982 in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the suburbs of Belfast. His mother, Lorna, died of pancreatic cancer when Dornan was 16. His father Jim Dornan, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who had also considered becoming an actor, died from complications related to COVID-19 on 15 March 2021. He has echoed his father's support throughout his career, stating: "[...] Some people go their whole lives without being told, 'You've made your parents proud'. My dad would tell me every day." Dornan has two older sisters: Liesa, who works for Disney in London, and Jessica, a fashion designer based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. He is a first cousin, twice removed, of actress Greer Garson. His grandparents on both sides of his family were Methodist lay preachers. He attended and boarded at Methodist College Belfast, where he played rugby and participated in the drama department. In school, he appeared in a Christmas pantomime portraying Widow Twankey which earned him his first drama prize. He also played Baby Face in Bugsy Malone and the milkman in Blood Brothers during school productions. He was a member of Belfast's youth amateur drama group, Holywood Players and participated in the Ballymoney Drama Festival with this group on several occasions. He played rugby as a winger for the Belfast Harlequins and also for Ulster Rugby under-21 team. He later claimed that he could have played professionally if not for a foot and mouth viral infection that broke out during his time on the under-21 team. He attended Teesside University but dropped out and moved to London in 2002 to train as an actor, but never applied to drama school. He worked in a pub in Knightsbridge for six months until he embarked on his modelling career.