Tommy Flanagan is a long-standing part of the industry as one of Hollywood’s biggest, and most badass character-playing actors. Tommy is easily identifiable by his facial scars. Real Facial Scars This article will explain how Tommy Flanagan got them.
Flanagan made the tragedy of Flanagan’s face into an opportunity that few can even imagine. Flanagan’s face scars are what give him that tough, bad guy look he loves to portray. Flanagan is an actor who has been in more than 30 movies and 20+ TV series.
You might not be aware that Tommy’s nickname on Sons of Anarchy, “Chibs”, refers to the real-life story of how he acquired those scars. This article reveals the whole story about those scars and other Tommy Flanagan facts.
Tommy, a man who never intended to take acting as his livelihood, made himself a successful and well-known person in Hollywood. Follow the article to learn more about Tommy Flanagan, from his career to his personal life.
Face Scars and Facts Related to Career, Personal Life and More
Continue reading to find out more about Tommy, including the stories and other facts that you may not know.
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#Story Behind Tommy Flanagan’s Face Scars
Those who have seen 1995’s Braveheart, will agree that Flanagan’s scars on his face made him more memorable and effective. Flanagan is living proof that a star in Hollywood doesn’t have to be flawless.Source: Pinterest
Most of us, including Hollywood, love Tommy Flanagan’s facial scars. They give him that tough and evil look. But have you ever wondered how those scars came about? Although the story is quite grim, Tommy managed to make a remarkable turnaround in his life. This is how the story ends:
Flanagan was born in an unremarkable neighborhood in Easterhouse, Glasgow. He worked as a DJ in a local nightclub during his youth. Flanagan was robbed by an armed group as he was leaving the nightclub. He put up a fight, but Flanagan was unable to deal with the sheer number of attackers. The attackers then stabbed Flanagan in the face, slashed his ears from ear to and left him with a lot of blood.
Tommy Flanagan survived the attack, but was left with a scar that would become his most prominent feature. The Glasgow Smile was born from this scar. Flanagan didn’t let this traumatic experience stop him from trying out for success in an industry known for its attractive looks.
Although most people can’t imagine Tommy’s recovery from the accident, Tommy is an excellent example of the phrase “A scar is strength… The sign of a survivor or conqueror”. All of us should be mindful of this for any challenges we face in life.
#Career Facts
After we have covered his story about facial scars, let us now look at some interesting career facts about Tommy Flanagan.Source: Wikimedia
1. Tommy Flanagan never intended to be an actor.
You read it correctly. Tommy Flanagan never planned to enter the showbiz business. Let’s do a quick flashback.
Flanagan was born in a poor neighborhood and served as an altar boy at the local church. Flanagan went on to learn DJing, and as he grew up, he began working at a local club. Tommy was enjoying life until the tragic incident with the knife attack.
Hollywood lost one of its most powerful and evilst actors, however, as the old saying goes, “life has other plans”. Flanagan, who had never dreamed of turning acting jobs into a career, saw his ordeal unfold in a larger scheme of things.
2. Robert Carlyle persuaded Tommy To Try Acting
Many of Flanagan’s friends thought that Flanagan’s distinctive smile could land him a role in movies and TV. Robert Carlyle, a friend and fellow actor convinced Flanagan to start acting.Source: wallsdesk.com
3. Flanagan began his career with a theater company.
Flanagan, who had been a DJ in a club and was fully recovered from the attack, started in a local theater company in Glasgow in the early 1990s. He worked there for almost three years. Following Carlyle’s advice, he joined the Raindog Theatre Company. He made his stage debut in productions like’One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest‘ and’Macbeth‘.
4. Flanagan’s First Acting Debut
Flanagan was an actor for two decades before landing the role of Chibstelford on one of FX’s most popular shows, Sons of Anarchy. Do you know his first TV roles?
Flanagan’s acting debut was made in 1992 on BBC’s Screen One anthology series. He played an uncredited role in just one episode. His first major roles were in a 1993 episode on the long-running Scottish detective show Taggart. He was recognized for portraying Tam McLeod.
5. Braveheart was Flanagan’s Breakout Hollywood Movie (1995).
Flanagan was part of a few Scottish TV film projects, including Tis the Season To Be Jolly and Jolly: A Life. But his most notable role came in Hollywood’s epic war drama Braveheart.Source: Pinterest
Mel Gibson directed the film and he played Morrison. Flannagan has had many opportunities since then and has gone on to appear in many Hollywood, British and Scottish movies, including prominent roles in Gladiator and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Alien vs. Predator and Sin City.
Check out the end of the article for a complete list.
Personal Life Facts
Now it’s time for some personal life facts. Let’s now look at Tommy Flanagan’s fascinating personal facts.
1. Flannagan grew up in an impoverished neighborhood
Tommy describes Flanagan’s childhood as “a place where 25 million people squeeze together, with tons and dirty, snotty and malnourished kids running on concrete of poverty”, and he spent his entire childhood in poverty-stricken neighborhoods and undeveloped suburbs of Glasgow, Easterhouse.
Easterhouse is one of the most depressed areas in Western Europe and is frequently ranked as one of the worst places in the United Kingdom. This is due to the fact that the area was home to some of the most dangerous criminals and gangsters in the UK a few decades ago.
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2. Flannagan’s biggest fan is someone very close and dear to him
In an interview, Tommy Flanagan said that Elizabeth Flanagan was his greatest fan. In an interview, he said that he loved his mother most and wanted to do good for his family.Source: tvovermind.com
Tommy bought a house for his mother in Glasgow’s most prestigious neighborhoods a few years ago with this in mind. Tommy expressed his gratitude by stating,
“It was the greatest thing in the world to be able do such a thing. It’s not hard to see what I’ve accomplished since I began acting. It’s all because of God.
3. Andrew, Tommy’s brother, is also a film actor.
Although many people may not be aware of this, Tommy’s younger brother Andrew is also an actor from Scotland and lives in Glasgow, Scotland. Tommy is the third of five children born to Elizabeth Flanagan and David Flanagan. There is not much information about the other siblings except Andrew.
Andrew has had many roles in movies such as Being Humans (1994), The Near Room (95), Movern Callar (2002) and Valhalla Rising (2009). However, his ‘rise to fame’ in Scotland was in the early 2000s when he played Connor Doyle on the two-season TV series Tinsel Town.
4. Flanagan Has Married Thrice
In 1998, Tommy Flanagan married Rachel Flanagan. They were both casting managers who he met on a film set. Their marriage ended in 2001 after three years.
According to internet sources, Tommy married Jane Ford in 2007. Jane was an American girl who was involved in the music industry at the time. The marriage didn’t last long as Tommy divorced Jane Ford in 2010 after three years.Source: answersafrica.com
Tommy divorced Jane and married Dina Livingston. The couple has a 9 year-old daughter, Aunjanue Elizabeth Flanagan.
5. Tommy Flanagan had an eye surgery
It’s hard to believe, but RIGHT? The refractive lens exchange procedure was performed on the actor from Scotland. It is one of very few alternatives to LASIK.
Tommy Flanagan revealed in an interview with The Lab Magazine, that he had been blind once and had undergone surgery to replace his eyes’ lenses. Flanagan spoke out about his blindness, explaining that it was due to hyperopia (or farsightedness).
Flanagan was asked if he had LASIK surgery to remove glasses. He said that he didn’t know but suggested LASIK as well as other eye surgeries that allow people to see clearly without glasses.
6. Flanagan’s Dream Ranch
Flanagan also spoke out about his dream of owning a ranch. Tommy told the reporter that building a large and beautiful home was something he had always wanted to do and that it is a priority in his life.
The interview was recorded in the same year Tommy and Dina welcomed their baby girl into the world. It has been six years since the interview and no updates have been given to the ranch by the Scottish star. Although his dream remains a reality, it almost seems that his priority has shifted to his little girl. This is great, but not to the point.
#Some Other Random Facts about Tommy Flanagan
1. Flanagan is featured as an active participant on the official music video for Rotting In Vain from Korn.
2. Connie Nielsen, Gladiator co-star and actor from Scotland, shares the same birth date as the Scottish actor.
3. Tommy Flanagan’s two permanent scars across his cheeks make him famous for the Glasgow grin.
4. Tommy began his acting career following the knife incident.
5. Flanagan was supportive of the idea for the Scottish partition. Flanagan voted for the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. The poll results showed that 55% of respondents voted against the bill.
Tommy Flanagan Appeared in
| Movie Title | Role Played | Year |
| Braveheart | Morrison | 1995 |
| The Saint | Scarface | 1997 |
| Face/Off | Leo | 1997 |
| The Game | Solicitor/Taxi driver | 1997 |
| Plunkett & Macleane | Eddie | 1999 |
| Ratcatcher | Da | 1999 |
| Gladiator | Cicero | 2000 |
| Sunset Strip | Duncan | 2000 |
| Hidden | McCracken | 2000 |
| Totally Sinatra | Michelangelo | 2001 |
| Dead Dogs Lay | Michael | 2001 |
| All About the Benjamins | Williamson | 2002 |
| Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle | Irish Henchman | 2003 |
| Trauma | Tommy | 2004 |
| Alien vs. Predator | Mark Verheiden | 2004 |
| Sin City | Brian | 2005 |
| The Last Drop | Pvt. Dennis Baker | 2006 |
| A Stranger Calls | The Stranger | 2006 |
| Smokin’ Aces | Lazlo Soot | 2006 |
| Hero Wanted | Derek | 2008 |
| Luster | Les | 2010 |
| Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball | Lazlo Soot | 2010 |
| Swifty & Veg | Swift | 2010 |
| Officer Down | Father Reddy | 2012 |
| Winter | Woods Weston | 2015 |
| Running Wild | Jon Kilpatrick | 2016 |
| Sand Castle | SGM McGregor | 2016 |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Tullk Ulzyn | 2017 |
| Papillon | Masked Breton | 2017 |
| The Ballad Of Lefty Brown | Tom Harrah | 2017 |
| Legal Action | Mr. Gates | 2018 |
| Killers Anonymous | Markus | 2019 |
| The Rising Hawk | Tugar | 2019 |
| The Wave | Aeolus | 2019 |
Tommy Flanagan Is A Part of
| Title | Role Played | Year | Featured In/For |
| Screen One | 1992 | Episode: “Black and Blue” | |
| It’s the Season to Be Jolly | Prisoner | 1993 | Television film |
| Taggart | Tam McLeod | 1993 | Episode: “Instrument Of Justice” |
| Jolly: The Life | Grotto man | 1995 | Television film |
| C. Nesbitt | Sean | 1996 | Episode: “Lottery” |
| A Mug’s Game | Paul | 1996 | |
| Bad Boys | Harry | 1996 | Episode: “The Bonny Bonny Banks”. |
| Rebus | Thomas Telford | 2000 | Episode: “The Hanging Garden”. |
| Attila | Bleda | 2001 | TV miniseries |
| Sons of Anarchy | Filip “Chibs” Telford | 2008-2014 | 90 Episodes |
| 24 | Gabriel Schector | 2009 | Episode: “Day 7: 8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.” |
| Tell Me | Ron Marshall | 2010 | Episode: “Headlock” |
| Detroit 1-8-7 | Albert Stram | 2011 | 2 episodes |
| Law & Order – Special Victims Unit | Murphy | 2012 | Episode: “Home Invasions” |
| Peaky Blinders | Arthur Shelby Sr. | 2013 | Episode: ‘Episode 5’ |
| Revenge | Malcolm Black | 2015 | 3 Episodes |
| Gotham | Tom “The Knife”. | 2015 | 1 episode of “Rise of the Villains – The Son of Gotham” |
| Motivation | Jack Stoker | 2016 | 4 Episodes |
| Wu Assassins | Alec McCullough | 2019 | Principal role |
| Mayans M.C. | Filip “Chibs” Telford | 2019 | Special guest star (season 2) Episode: “Kukulkan” |
| Westworld | Martin Conells/ Dolores Abernathy | 2020 | 3 Episodes |
Wrapping up
We have reached the end of this article. We hope that you found all the information you needed about Tommy Flanagan and his facial scars, as well as other less-known facts.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs
In his youth, Flanagan was a DJ in a local nightclub. Flanagan was robbed by an armed group as he was leaving the nightclub. The attackers attacked Flanagan’s face, leaving him with the scar now known as the Glasgow Smile.
The estimated net worth for the Scottish actor, who was born in a poor neighborhood and has appeared in many movies, is $3 million.
Tommy, the third of five children born to Elizabeth Flanagan and David Flanagan is the youngest. He also has an older brother, Andrew Flanagan, who is also a Scottish actor, and lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Glasgow smile refers to the practice of cutting the victim’s face along the sides of the mouth until the ears. The infamous practice was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
Tommy Flanagan was married three times. His first marriage ended in 2001 with Rachel Flanagan. His second marriage to Jane Ford lasted for three years before they divorced. Their marriage was terminated in 2010. He married Dina Livingston in 2010.
