David O'Hara

David Patrick O'Hara was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Martha (née Scott) and Patrick O'Hara, a construction worker, and he was raised in the Pollok area of Glasgow within a large Catholic family of Irish descent; his paternal great‑grandfather was Irish. After leaving school he entered a Youth Opportunities Programme at a community theatre based at the Glasgow Arts Centre, touring local schools under director Robin Peoples. He moved to London at age 17 to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama but left after two terms because of insufficient funds, returned to Scotland and secured a role in Bill Forsyth’s *Comfort and Joy* (1984), then went back to Central to complete his final term. He understudied Ralph Fiennes in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and performed as Tybalt in “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by Declan Donnellan for the New Shakespeare Company at the Open Air Theatre in London’s Regent’s Park, followed by a European tour. Additional stage work includes “The Comedy of Errors” at Edinburgh’s Pleasance Theatre, “Aff the Other Man” at the Haymarket, a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford and the Barbican in “Fashion,” and appearances in Jonathan Miller’s productions of “Taming of the Shrew,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Cymbeline,” and “Bite of the Night” (directed by Danny Boyle). His breakthrough film role was as Stephen, the Irish fighter who allies with William Wallace (Mel Gibson) in *Braveheart* (1995). In 1996 he co‑starred opposite Helen Mirren as a slightly independent policeman in Granada Television’s *Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement*, which aired on PBS’s “Masterpiece Theatre” in 1997. That year he also appeared in Alan J. Pakula’s *The Devil’s Own* (1997), played the romantic foil to Janeane Garofalo in *The MatchMaker* (1997), portrayed a biker in the Scottish film *The Slab Boys* (1997), and took the role of Bill Sykes in *Oliver Twist* (1997).