<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Stuart Townsend (b. December 15, 1972) is an Irish actor born in Howth, County Dublin, Ireland to golfer Peter Townsend and former model Lorna Townsend. He is the first of five children. He has two much younger siblings, Dylan and Chloe born to both parents and half siblings Hugo and Ella born to his father and stepmother. Townsend lost his mother in 1994.

Townsend studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin where he appeared in a school production of Tear Up the Black Sail. He took on a side job as a boxer to support himself and made his professional stage debut in True Lines.

Townsend began his movie career appearing in short films like Godsuit and Summertime. He made his feature-length film debut in Trojan Eddie. He began to gain international notice when he starred in About Adam with Kate Hudson. He followed up with the role that made him memorable to genre fans, the Vampire Lestat in the film Queen of the Damned based on the Anne Rice novel.

In 2002, he starred alongside girlfriend Charlize Theron in Trapped and in 2003, appeared in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen playing Dorian Gray alongside Sean Connery. He then guest starred on the hit NBC comedy Will & Grace and lent his voice to the animated series Robot Chicken. Townsend made an uncredited appearance in the 2005 film Æon Flux. He also took on the role of Carl Kolchak in the ABC re-imagining of the series Night Stalker. The series proved unpopular with viewes and was canceled before completing a full season. In 2007, Townsend will appear in Chaos Theory.