<P> Although he had pursued amateur theatrics, Lewis was 32 when he committed to acting, joining Robert Carlyle's newly formed Raindog Theatre . His career received a boost when he was befriended by actor - director Peter Mullan, whom he met at a socialist lecture . </P> <P> Mullan hired Lewis for a role in the short Close which began filming in 1991 but took some three years to complete . By that time, both actors had appeared in Shallow Grave (1994). Lewis went on to act in Mullan's subsequent shorts Good Day for the Bad Guys (1995) and the award - winning Fridge (1996). </P> <P> Lewis joined director Kenneth Loach's unofficial stock company lending support to his two mentors in separate films: with Carlyle, he co-starred in Carla's Song (1996), while he played a recovering alcoholic alongside Mullan in My Name Is Joe (1998). In between, Mullan cast him as the over-righteous, somewhat dimwitted elder sibling Thomas in Orphans (1998), an examination of a dysfunctional family . He went on to co-star with Max Beesley in The Match (1999; released on video in USA in 2001) before landing his international breakthrough part as the father of a young boy who wants to become a ballet dancer in Billy Elliot (2000). Lewis delivered a multi-layered turn as a man coping with grief over the death of his wife, a violent strike that threatens his livelihood and the struggles of raising two sons . The actor rounded out his banner year teaming with Irish actor Sean McGinley in What Where, a 12 - minute short film of Samuel Beckett's play, and supporting Michael Caine as a boxing coach who may or may not have been involved in a murder in Shiner (screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival). </P> <P> In 2008, Lewis starred in the film Ecstasy based on The Undefeated from Irvine Welsh's best - selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance . </P>

Who played billy elliot's dad in the film
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