Tommy Flanagan was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland where he made his stage debut at the Raindog Theatre Company and appeared in such productions as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and MacBeth. Flanagan soon landed the role of Scottish rebel 'Morrison' in the Mel Gibson epic Braveheart (1995) and went on to work with an array of top directors in films such as Phillip Noyce's The Saint (1997), John Woo's Face/Off (1997), and David Fincher's The Game (1997).