An alcoholic, Mullan's father became increasingly tyrannical and abusive; he died from lung cancer when Mullan was For a brief period, Mullan was a member of a street gang while at secondary school, [ 5 ] [ 6 ] and worked as a bouncer in a number of south-side pubs.
Mullan went on to the University of Glasgow to study economic history and drama, where he began acting on stage. Mullan continued stage acting after graduation. Mullan has appeared as supporting or guest actor in numerous cult movies, including Session 9 , [ 10 ] Young Adam , [ 10 ] Children of Men , [ 10 ] the final two Harry Potter films β , [ 10 ] and War Horse He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his work in the series.
From to , he starred in the BBC Two sitcom Mum , [ 10 ] and from to , Mullan appeared in the first two seasons of the Netflix series Ozark. Also in , he starred in the first season of the Netflix series Cursed. Mullan is an art house movie director.
In , he returned to directing and screenwriting with the controversial film The Magdalene Sisters , [ 10 ] based on life in an Irish Magdalene asylum. Mullan married Ann Swan, an actress and scriptwriter, in ; they divorced in He has four children β three with Swan, including one son with autism , and one with former girlfriend, activist Robina Qureshi. A self-described Marxist , [ 5 ] Mullan continues to support socialist causes and was a leading figure in the left-wing theatre movement that blossomed in Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher and John Major Conservative governments in the s and early to mids.
These included stints with the and Wildcat Theatre companies. Mullan took part in a occupation of the Glasgow offices of the UK Immigration Service , protesting against the UKIS's "dawn raid" tactics when deporting failed asylum seekers. They told BBC director general Mark Thompson: "Like millions of others, we are absolutely appalled at the decision to refuse to broadcast the appeal. We will never work for the BBC again unless this disgraceful decision is reversed.
