 James Nesbitt was born on 15 January 1965 in Ballymena , County Antrim , Northern Ireland . His father , James " Jim " Nesbitt , was the headmaster of the primary school in <unk> , a hamlet near <unk> , while his mother , May Nesbitt , was a civil servant . Jim and May already had three daughters — Margaret , <unk> and Andrea . The family lived in the house adjoining the one @-@ room school where Nesbitt was one of 32 pupils taught by Jim ; the other pupils were all farmers ' children . Nesbitt grew up " completely " around women , and spent a lot of time alone , " kicking a ball against a wall " . He had ambitions to play football for Manchester United , or to become a teacher like his father . The family was Protestant , and <unk> was in " Paisley country " . The <unk> spent Sunday evenings singing hymns around the piano . Jim marched in the Ballymena Young <unk> flute band and Nesbitt joined him playing the flute . After the <unk> conflicts , they stopped marching with the band . The family 's residence in the countryside left them largely unaffected by The Troubles , although Nesbitt , his father , and one of his sisters narrowly escaped a car bomb explosion outside Ballymena County Hall in the early 1970s . 
