Townsend was born in
Howth,
County Dublin, the son of Lorna Hogan, an Irish model, and
Peter Townsend, an English
professional golfer. His younger brother, Dylan, is also an actor. Stuart attended the
Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin, and made his non-professional stage debut in its 1993 production of
Colin Teevan's
Tear Up The Black Sail. The following year he made his professional stage debut in
True Lines, directed by
John Crowley, which opened in
Kilkenny, before moving to the
Dublin Theatre Festival and on to the
Bush Theatre in London. His early film roles were in Irish short films, including
Godsuit and
Summertime, before landing a role in the
feature length film,
Trojan Eddie, a 1996
Anglo-Irish co-production. In 1997 he starred in the British film,
Shooting Fish. With his portrayal of a seducer in the title role of
About Adam, Townsend gained exposure in the United States. He briefly returned to the London stage in 2000, in the
Tennessee Williams play
Orpheus Descending, starring as Val Xavier, alongside
Helen Mirren as Lady Torrance, before landing roles in several major films. He appeared in
Queen of the Damned as the vampire
Lestat de Lioncourt, and in
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as
Dorian Gray. Townsend was hired to play the part of
Aragorn in
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, but was replaced by
Viggo Mortensen the day before
principal photography began. According to Townsend: In 2005, he starred alongside
Gabrielle Union in
Night Stalker, the remake of the 1974
ABC TV series
Kolchak: The Night Stalker. He portrayed Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter looking into his wife's murder.
Night Stalker was abruptly cancelled by ABC after six episodes due to bad viewing figures, with some critics reportedly saying he was too young compared to
Darren McGavin in the original series. The same year, Townsend had a guest starring role on NBC's
Will & Grace as Karen Walker's
pansexual pastry chef who seduces her, Will Truman, and then her maid, Rosario. He also made an uncredited cameo in
Æon Flux (2005). Townsend starred alongside
Ryan Reynolds in
Chaos Theory (2007). The same year, he made his directorial debut with
Battle in Seattle, a portrayal of the
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 which was protested by environmentalists, indigenous rights organizations, labor unions and
anti-globalisation protesters. The film's cast included
Charlize Theron,
Ray Liotta and
Woody Harrelson, but enjoyed only limited release and no
blockbuster support. Townsend was set to play
Fandral in
Kenneth Branagh's
Thor, but was replaced in January 2010, due to unspecified creative differences. He appeared in the ABC thriller,
Betrayal, the second season of
Salem, and a 2017 episode of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2021, Townsend starred in the films
The Martini Shot and
Grace and Grit. == Personal life ==