Colin Morgan

"He has the ability to do magic but he can't control it, it just happens. He believes he will be quite safe in that environment, that he will able to use his powers in a free way."

- Colin Morgan describing his character, Merlin Colin Morgan is a Northern Irish actor who portrays the title character of the BBC television series Merlin. Merlin is Morgan's first major TV acting role. His previous credits include the Doctor Who episode Midnight as Jethro, and an episode of The Catherine Tate Show. Morgan's other appearances include his role as Cathal O'Regan in the 2010 drama "Parked" and his role as Calum in the 2011 drama "Island " (AKA: "The Sea Change) ".

After studying at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education in 2004, he attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, from which he graduated in 2007. He was still in the drama school when he was cast by director Rufus Norris to make his professional debut in the title role of the stage adaptation of DBC Pierre's Booker Prize winner "Vernon God Little" at the Young Vic in 2007. Colin Morgan has credited this role as his first big break. Other theatrical roles include Esteban, Jimmy and Carlos in the plays All About My Mother, A Prayer for My Daughter (play) and Our Private Life respectively.

Awards
Colin Morgan has been nominated for five different awards for his perfomance as Merlin. Those include:


 * Won the "Outstanding Newcomer" title in the 2008 Variety Club Showbiz Awards.


 * Nominated for the "Outstanding Actor" title for dramas in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Monte Carlo TV Festival awards.


 * Won the "Best Actor" title in the 2012 Virgin Media TV Awards.

Trivia

 * Colin Morgan is lactose intolerant and a vegetarian.
 * Colin Morgan shares the same birthday as co-star, Holliday Grainger.
 * His favourite actor is Sean Penn
 * He is a good swimmer.
 * He has an older brother named Neil living in Boston.
 * His mother is a nurse and his father a decorator and painter.
 * Colin Morgan likes cooking Thai food, biscuits, cereals, herbal tea, and peanut butter.
 * He also likes anime, escapism, roller coasters, yoga, the natural world, farmers' markets and New Age.
 * He dislikes crowds, regular tea and ice cream.
 * Before auditioning for the role of Merlin, Colin got the script for Prince Arthur by mistake. He only had five minutes before auditioning to read over his part of Merlin.
 * Not a big Internet user.
 * Interested in the real legend of Merlin and Arthur.
 * Is 3 years younger than co-stars Bradley James and Katie McGrath and is 6 years younger than Angel Coulby.
 * Is good friends with his co-star Bradley James.
 * Is currently the youngest member of the main cast but will be the second youngest if new cast member, Alexander Vlahos joins the principle cast as a main.
 * His favourite TV shows are Heroes, Doctor Who and Fringe.
 * His favourite animated movie is Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle.
 * His favourite bands are Death Cab for Cutie and Bloc Party.
 * His favourite writers/books are Terry Pratchett, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and the Life of Pi.
 * His favourite colour is green.
 * In 2002, at age 16, Colin Morgan auditioned for You're a Star.
 * He is an accomplished Bodhrán player.
 * He loves Tim Burton.
 * He is allergic to tomatoes.
 * His favourite episode of Merlin is The Last Dragonlord.

Quotes

 * "If I ever saw magic on television I would say: 'I want that. That's what I want from Santa Claus'. So the cupboard in my bedroom was full of boxes of magic tricks, cups and balls, cards and foam rabbits, all sorts of stuff."-about him interested in magic as a kid and still now.


 * "When they told me I'd been cast I was ridiculously delighted. I ran around my flat screaming,"- when he found out he got the part of Merlin.


 * "My dad always says be nice to the people on the way up because you'll need them on the way down."


 * "I was planning on travelling but all of my friends were auditioning for something so I thought I'd do it for the experience."-on almost quitting acting.


 * "People often ask me what inspired me to become an actor, and the truth is I can't answer that. For me, it was always more like a natural instinct. Every part, every performance I have ever taken has just been about feeding that desire to Act".


 * "I was turned down but it's not the end of the world. I'm going to try and make it on stage one day."- on auditioning for 'You're a Star'.
 * "It's come to its highest point - it's grown and grown each year, it has become darker, it has become stronger, characters have grown up, the audience has grown up with and... we want to end on its strongest point. I think we've achieved that" - on the end of Merlin