Editing Stephen Rea (section)

== Early life and education ==
Rea was born in [[Belfast]] in 1946.<ref name =bafta/> His father was a bus driver and his mother a housewife.<ref name="Auld">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/stephen-rea-interview-i-never-wanted-to-be-a-polite-actor/ |title=Stephen Rea: 'I never wanted to be a polite actor' |author=Auld, Tim |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=25 March 2016 |access-date=22 August 2016 |archive-date=2 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802005154/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/stephen-rea-interview-i-never-wanted-to-be-a-polite-actor/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His family was [[Protestant]] but sympathetic to [[Irish nationalism]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Stephen Rea: 'I can't imagine teams of loyalists rolling up to watch it' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/stephen-rea-i-can-t-imagine-teams-of-loyalists-rolling-up-to-watch-it-1.2522706 |access-date=16 November 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> 

He studied [[English studies|English]] at the [[Queen's University Belfast]] and drama at the [[Abbey Theatre School]] in [[Dublin]].<ref name="Auld"/>