Cast and Characters (Braveheart) Braveheart (1995)
Principal Cast
William Wallace — Mel Gibson (in Braveheart)
The Scottish commoner whose father and brother died at Longshanks's "talks of truce" trapb4 b6 and who returns from Argyle's tutelage hoping to farm and raise children.b12 Gibson plays Wallace as charm before grievance — the scenes with Murron in the rain,b11 the stone-throwing fake-out with Hamish,b9 the secret weddingb13 — and only after the throat-cutting does the body work begin.b15 b16 Gibson was thirty-eight at the start of principal photography, eight to ten years older than the historical Wallace at Stirling, but he plays Wallace as a man late-arrived to his cause rather than a young rebel. He also directed the film. See Mel Gibson.
Princess Isabelle — Sophie Marceau (in Braveheart)
The French-born daughter-in-law to Edward I, dispatched from London with a truce offer and "this chest of gold" in beat 28b28 b29 and revealed as the conduit by which Wallace's chosen approach reaches the English court itself. The historical Isabella was nine years old in 1305 and never met Wallace; the romance is invented (see Isabella as Film Fiction). Marceau plays Isabelle as a young woman whose marriage has emptied her into a court she does not love, and who decides — visibly, in the parley scene — to throw her loyalty across the lines. See Sophie Marceau.
Edward I "Longshanks" — Patrick McGoohan (in Braveheart)
The English king who claims the Scottish throne,b2 grants prima nocte to settle Scotland by breeding,b8 throws Phillip out a window when York falls,b28 and dies mute in his bed as Isabelle whispers that the child in her belly is not of his line.b38 McGoohan, sixty-six at the time of release, plays Longshanks with the dry cruelty of a man who has run out of impulses to suppress. The Scottish nationalist film periodicals have called the performance the most patient screen villain of the 1990s. See Patrick McGoohan.
Murron MacClannough — Catherine McCormack (in Braveheart)
Wallace's secret wife.b13 Murron's killing in the village square (beat 15) is the Inciting Incident the entire post-equilibrium film is structured around;b15 her name is not spoken aloud on screen until beat 29, when Wallace finally tells Isabelle.b29 McCormack was twenty-three at filming; this was her first major film role. See Catherine McCormack.
Hamish Campbell — Brendan Gleeson (in Braveheart)
Wallace's lifelong friend. The stone-throwing test in beat 9 reframes the "wits make a man" inheritance from Malcolm at the level of a village joke;b9 Hamish's accusation in beat 36 ("you're doing it for Murron, to be a hero 'cause you think she sees you") is the film's only direct challenge to Wallace's chosen approach.b36 Gleeson, an Irish actor in his late thirties, was largely unknown internationally before Braveheart; the film began the run that produced In Bruges (2008) and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). See Brendan Gleeson.
Robert the Bruce — Angus Macfadyen (in Braveheart)
The Earl of Bruce, contender for the Scottish crown, son of the leper father.b20 The Bruce arc is the post-midpoint shadow plot: he privately commits to Wallace at Edinburgh,b27 lifts his visor at Falkirk in English armor,b32 screams "You lied!" at his father at the noble-brokered trap,b37 and at the Wind-Down nine years later turns to the Scottish line and shouts "You have bled with Wallace! Now bleed with me!"b40 Macfadyen, born in Glasgow, was twenty-eight at filming. See Angus Macfadyen.
Argyle Wallace — Brian Cox (in Braveheart)
William's uncle and guardian after Malcolm's death.b7 Argyle promises to teach William first the head and then the sword; the line — "we'll fight them, but first I'll teach you to use this" — is the seed Argyle's training and Wallace's later refusal of laudanum will pay off.b7 b38 Cox is on screen for less than four minutes total. See Brian Cox.
Prince Edward of Wales — Peter Hanly
The son and heir to Longshanks.b8 The film leans into the homophobic-stereotype framing of Edward II that critics have flagged, with Phillip — Edward's high counselor — thrown from the throne-room window when news of York arrives.b28 The historical Edward II was eleven years old at the time of the film's events.
Robert the Bruce's father — Ian Bannen
The leper father who articulates the noble realpolitik the film is measuring against: "It is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble."b20 The opposing approach gets its explicit articulation in his quarantine chamber, and the visual indictment seals when he dies of leprosy still arguing that "you and you alone can rule Scotland"b31 (see Bruce's Two-Father Problem).
Supporting Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| James Cosmo | Campbell, Hamish's father |
| David O'Hara | Stephen, the Irish ally |
| Sean Lawlor | Malcolm Wallace, William's father |
| James Robinson | Young William |
| Andrew Weir | Young Hamish |
| Sean McGinley | MacClannough, Murron's father |
| Brian McCardie | Mornay |
| John Kavanagh | Craig |
| Stephen Billington | Phillip |
| Tommy Flanagan | Morrison |
| Mhairi Calvey | Young Murron |
Casting put unknowns next to a star director
Gibson had star wattage on his side and used it to bring in actors largely unknown to American audiences. Catherine McCormack, Angus Macfadyen, Sophie Marceau (a French film star, but new to Hollywood), Peter Hanly, Brendan Gleeson, and David O'Hara were all near the start of careers. The strategy followed The Untouchables-era logic of building around one face the audience already trusts and letting the rest of the world feel inhabited. (wikipedia, imdb)