Jeremy John Irons born 19 September 1948 is an English actor and activist After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre productions including the Shakespeare plays The Winters Tale Macbeth Much Ado About Nothing The Taming of the Shrew and Richard II In 1984 he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppards The Real Thing receiving the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play Ironss breakout role came in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited 1981 and is frequently ranked among the greatest British television dramas as well as greatest literary adaptations It would earn him a Golden Globe Award nomination His first major film role came in the romantic drama The French Lieutenants Woman 1981 for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor After starring in dramas such as Moonlighting 1982 Betrayal 1983 and The Mission 1986 he was praised for portraying twin gynaecologists in David Cronenbergs psychological thriller Dead Ringers 1988 Irons has won multiple awards including the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the accused attempted murderer Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune 1990 Irons had roles in Steven Soderberghs mystery thriller Kafka 1991 the period drama The House of the Spirits 1993 the romantic drama M Butterfly 1993 voiced Scar in Disneys The Lion King 1994 played Simon Gruber in the action film Die Hard with a Vengeance 1995 Humbert Humbert in Lolita 1997 and Aramis in The Man in the Iron Mask 1998 He starred in the action adventure Dungeons Dragons 2000 played Antonio in The Merchant of Venice 2004 appeared in Being Julia 2004 the historical drama Kingdom of Heaven 2005 the fantasyadventure Eragon 2006 the Western Appaloosa 2008 and the indie drama Margin Call 2011 In 2016 he appeared in Assassins Creed and portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice Justice League 2017 and Zack Snyders Justice League 2021 On television Irons appeared in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I receiving a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor From 2011 to 2013 he starred as Pope Alexander VI in the Showtime historical series The Borgias In 2019 he appeared as Adrian Veidt Ozymandias in HBOs Watchmen He is one of the few actors who have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in the US winning an Oscar for film an Emmy for television and a Tony Award for theatre In October 2011 he was nominated the Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations