Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League and The Flash.

Jeremy Irons also portrayed an alternate version of Alfred Pennyworth in Zack Snyder's Justice League.

Significant Roles

• Nephew George in The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971)
• Frank Tregear in The Pallisers (1974)
• Franz Liszt in Notorious Woman (1974)
• Alex Sanderson in Love for Lydia (1977)
• Edward Voysey in BBC Play of the Month (1979)
• Charles Henry Smithson/Mike in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
• Charles Ryder in Brideshead Rivisited (1981)
• Charles Swann in Un amour de Swann (1984)
• Harold in The Wild Duck (1984)
• Storyteller in Rabbit Ears: The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1985)
• Father Gabriel in The Mission (1986)
• Beverly Mantle/Elliot Mantle in Dead Ringers (1988)
• Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
• Sherlock Holmes in Saturday Night Live (1991)
• Franz Kafka in Kafka (1991)
• H.G. Wells in From Time to Time (1992)
• Odon Von Horvath in Performance (1992)
• Dr. Stephen Flemming in Damage (1992)
• René Galimard in M. Butterfly (1993)
• Esteban Trueba in The House of the Spirits (1993)
• Scar in The Lion King (1994)
• Simon Gruber in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
• Alex in Stealing Beauty (1996)
• Siegfrid Sassoon in The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century (1996)
• Humbert Humbert in Lolita (1997)
• Aramis in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
• Poseidon in Poseidon's Fury: Escape from the Lost City (1999)
• Profion in Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
• F. Scott Fitzgerald in Last Call (2002)
• Larry Kelly in Callas Forever (2002)
• Snape in Comic Relief 2003: The Big Hair Do (2003)
• Michael Gosselyn in Being Julia (2004)
• Antonio in The Merchant of Venice (2004)
• Tiberias in Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
• Pucci in Casanova (2005)
• Kingsley Stewart in INLAND EMPIRE (2006)
• Brom in Eragon (2006)
• Patrician in The Colour of Magic (2008)
• Randall Bragg in Appaloosa (2008)
• Avellaneda in The Pink Panther 2 (2008)
• Alfred Stieglitz in Georgia O'Keeffe (2009)
• Thraxx in The Magic 7 (2009)
• John Tuld in Margin Call (2011)
• Dr. Captain Jackson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011)
• Rodrigo Borgia in The Borgias (2011-2013)
• Henry IV in The Hollow Crown (2012)
• Macon Ravenwood in Beautiful Creatures (2013)
• Raimund Gregorius in Night Train to Lisbon (2013)

Quotes

• "He is quite a different Alfred than we have seen so far. Zack Snyder had very clear views about what he wanted. I would just say he's more hands-on perhaps than just a butler. But not a large role."
• "Oh he'll be quite different. He has an interesting history. He's a very competent man. He's the sort of man I think anyone would like to be married to. He can sort of do everything: change light bulbs, blow up bridges if he has to."
• "The next Batman has an amazing screenplay. It's a blockbuster written from the heart."
• "It was a month in Detroit, which is actually longer than you’d imagine. But big films move slowly. It’s like a huge oil tanker."
• "Zack Snyder, the director, wanted to create a completely different Alfred. So I felt I didn't have to carry any baggage from previous ones. It's sort of a reincarnation if you'd like. I had a feeling I was creating my own Alfred, more of a man who can actually do anything if he has to."
• "He is extraordinary, quite extraordinary, and Zack Snyder, the director, fantastic vision. I think the public have a great treat in store."
• "Deservedly so. I mean it took £800 million, so the kicking didn’t matter but it was sort of overstuffed… It was very muddled. I think the next one will be simpler. The script is certainly a lot smaller, it’s more linear."
• "I’m tied into The Batman at the minute, which is nice because it’s a bit of income… Not that I need a bit of income but it’s nice to keep ticking over."
• "Similar, but then, of course, Ben’s going to make a Batman film next summer. He promises me there’s going to be a bit more of Alfred in that. In the Justice League we have seven major lead characters and I’m the butler to one of them. It’s clear I will not be dominating that film."
• "Not at all. I was very pleased by the numbers. Zack seems to get a hard time from the press, which is strange. I don’t know if it has to do with the sort of secrecy that surrounds the making of it all. But the audience liked it, which in the end is all that matters."
• "I think he's waiting with baited breath to see what is going to happen. He's in the employ of Bruce Wayne and he doesn't always agree with him but I think he'll help where he can. And I'm not sure in Justice League we'll see that much of him because we have five superheroes to deal with and Alfred is just the batman of one of them. It'll be very interesting to see where he gets to, when we get to Ben's production of Batman this spring. I haven't read the script of it yet. I think all of us who are sort of normal human beings, which Alfred is, we watch the gods with amazement and some spite."
• "Yeah, Alfred is a very hands-on. What I based Alfred on really was a close neighbor of mine, used to be before he died, Paul Getty. I remember the first time I went to dinner with him. I reached gates and a very kind gentleman took my car and parked it. I walked in and another very kind gentleman took my coat. And then Paul showed us through the hall and another very kind gentleman gave me a glass of champagne and then a very kind gentleman served us dinner. I learned during the evening that every kind gentleman who had been taking care of me was actually an ex-SAS member who was there to protect Paul. I thought, yeah, that's Alfred really. He's there. He'll do anything. That's where he comes from. That's his mindset. He'll wash the dishes, but he'll also be a tail gunner."
• "I'm interested and I'd hold judgement until I read the script. We will see. Ben's a great consummate director and I'll be fascinated to see what he comes up with."