Trivia
- Gabriel was made a patron of Aisling Ghear, an Irish language theatre company in Belfast, in July 2008.
- Gabriel has appeared on Broadway twice, in A Moon for the Misbegotten (2000), earning him a nomination for both the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He won the Theatre World Award for the role. In 2005-2006, he also appeared in A Touch of the Poet.
- Gabriel has spoken out about the the architecture of new buildings going up in Dublin, calling them ill-suited to their surroundings and their instigators 'architectural vandals'.
- Gabriel spoke out in support of the Irish Hospice Foundation, saying people should have the right to die in dignified surroundings.
- Gabriel's Honorary Degrees:
Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin (2007).
National University of Ireland for his 'outstanding contribution to Irish and international film', Galway (2007). - At the 2008 Tony awards, Gabriel presented the Best Director Award to Anna Shapiro for August.
- In 2008, Gabriel appeared as King Arthur in the New York's Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of Camelot.
- Gabriel is 5'11" tall.
- Gabriel considered becoming a missionary when he was just a boy, and was educated by the Christian Brothers in Dublin, Ireland. However, after he he spent some time in a seminary he was thrown out for smoking. He also claimed in a November 1999 interview with the New York Post, that he had been molested by his Latin teacher while at the English seminary.
- Gabriel has an autobiography: Pictures in My Head.
- Gabriel appeared as the abusive husband in the 1986 music video for David & David's single "Ain't So Easy."
- Gabriel reads The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe on the CD Closed On Account of Rabies.
- Awards
Won
Jacob's Award for Best Actor in a TV Series - Drama, for Bracken (1979).
International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor for Gothic and Defence of the Realm (1987).
Maverick Tribute Award, Cinequest San Jose Film Festival (1999).
Theatre World Award for A Moon for the Misbegotten (1999 - 2000 season).
Nominations
Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Weapons of Mass Distraction (1998).
Blockbuster Entertainment (Favorite Actor - Horror) for Stigmata (2000).
Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for End of Days and Stigmata (2000).
IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Feature Film for Wah-Wah (2005).
Best Actor Emmy for In Treatment (2008).
Quotes
- (on the abuse he suffered at 11)
Gabriel: I was taken advantage of in a very vulnerable situation where I was being told the facts of life. Physical boundaries were crossed, let's say. (The inappropriate contact involved) touching and closeness rather than anything more overt than that. I would never have thought to tell my parents because, in the world of a child, I assumed that anything that happened to you was inevitable. What makes this inappropriate behavior so despicable is that the child does not have a choice. - Gabriel: Acting is the shy man's revenge.
- Gabriel: Would I have been better off as a teacher in Ireland or Spain? It's a very difficult question to answer. You take the road and you travel along it. I probably would do the same thing again.
- Gabriel: Not to oversimplify it, somebody once said a good rule of thumb in interpreting a character is to find the good in the bad people that you portray and the bad in the good.
- Gabriel: I'm not a very gregarious person. I can't bear attention being called to me in a public place, which is ridiculous in a business that pays you to be noticed.
- Gabriel: I would like to break out of this "dark, brooding" image, cause I'm actually not like that at all. In Ireland, brooding is a term we use for hens. A brooding hen is supposed to lay eggs. Everytime somebody says "He's dark and brooding" I think: "He's about to lay an egg."
- Gabriel: A completely disrespectful photographer was asked to stop taking photographs, and then said, 'I've got what I want. What are you going to do about it?' How would you feel if somebody walked up and started taking your photograph? I don't think you'd be very happy.
- Gabriel: It was either Voltaire or Charlie Sheen who said, 'We are born alone. We live alone. We die alone. And anything in between that can give us the illusion that we're not, we cling to.'
- Gabriel: I think there's a bit of the devil in everybody. There's a bit of a priest in everybody, too, but I enjoyed playing the devil more. He was more fun.
- Gabriel: How the hell can you compare one actor to another? It's ridiculous. You just can't.
