Postlethwaite was initially a teacher before enrolling in drama school
at 24. Refusing to change his (he changed his agent instead) he built
a solid reputation in repertory before moving into TV. Unknown until
the late 1980s, Postlethwaite gradually moved to prominence by playing
villains, his first big break came in Terence Davies' Distant
Voices, Still Lives (1988), he then burst from anonymity in 1994 by winning
an Academy Award nomination for his moving performance as the wrong
fully convicted Giuseppe Conlon in In Name of the Father (1993). Also memorable
as Keyser Soze's deadpan go-between, Kobayashi, in The Usual Suspects (1995), and bestial Obadiah Hateswell in ITVs costume action series Sharpe. He
showed a gentler side to his character when cast as Yorkshire bandleader Danny in the upbeat Brassed Off (1996). He played the surly, self-important editor of The Gammy Bird, a Newfoundland newspaper in The Shipping News (2001). On tv, Postlethwaite was a pivotal character in the BBC's five-part legal drama, Criminal Justice (2008).
