On stage, he has played the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth, and starred in Strindberg's Miss Julie, Ibsen's A Doll's House, as well as the Greek tragedy Antigone.

The family lived in a small terraced house on Blodwell Street before moving to Little Hulton when Eccleston was seven months old.

He completed a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech,[9] then went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

At the age of 25, he made his professional stage debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Underemployed as an actor for some years after graduating from college, he took a variety of odd jobs: at a supermarket, on building sites, and as an artist's model.

[11] Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It, and for a guest appearance in the Inspector Morse episode "Second Time Around", both 1991.

[13] During this period Eccleston built on his early successes, appearing in a wide variety of films and working with high profile directors including David Cronenberg in eXistenZ (1999), Michael Winterbottom in Jude (1996) and 24 Hour Party People (2002), and collaborated again with Danny Boyle on 28 Days Later (2002).

He also appeared in a variety of television roles, mostly British dramas, including Hearts and Minds (1995) for Channel 4, Clocking Off (2000) and Flesh and Blood (2002) for the BBC, a modern version of Othello (2001), and the religious fantasy epic The Second Coming (2003) for ITV, in which he played Steve Baxter, the son of God.

He made guest appearances in the comedy-drama Linda Green (2001) and the macabre sketch show The League of Gentlemen (2002).

[16] Eccleston has been twice nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards, both during this period, the first in 1997 when he lost to Nigel Hawthorne in The Fragile Heart.

[20] Eccleston later stated that he had left the show because he "didn't enjoy the environment or the culture that the cast and crew had to work in", but that he was proud of having played the role.

[21] He subsequently said: "My relationship with my three immediate superiors – the showrunner, the producer and co-producer – broke down irreparably during the first block of filming, and it never recovered.

"[22] Eccleston said that The Daily Telegraph's quote was partially falsified, stating that he "didn't find [the job], physically, too tiring.

[31] On 9 August, 2020, it was announced that Eccleston would reprise his role of the Ninth Doctor in audio dramas for Big Finish Productions,[32] across four boxsets to be released between May 2021 and February 2022.

[37] In December 2005, Eccleston travelled to Indonesia's Aceh province for the BBC Breakfast news programme, examining how survivors of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami were rebuilding their lives.

[41] Eccleston appeared on the BBC Four World Cinema Award show in February 2008, arguing the merits of five international hits such as The Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth with Jonathan Ross and Archie Panjabi.

[47] On 31 December 2011, Eccleston played the role of Pod Clock in an adaptation of Mary Norton's children's novel The Borrowers on BBC One.

In the same month, he starred as Creon in an adaptation of Antigone at the Royal National Theatre; his performance in the play was called "charismatic" and "intense".

[51] From 2014 to 2017, Eccleston starred as Reverend Matt Jamison on the HBO drama series The Leftovers and earned consistent acclaim for his performance across all three seasons.

[54] Later in 2015, Eccleston starred as Leonard "Nipper" Read in Legend, a film about the Kray twins, opposite Tom Hardy.

[58] Also in 2018, Eccleston starred in two films; opposite Tom Wilkinson as crime boss Harvey in Dead in a Week or Your Money Back[59] and as a Nazi officer Heinz in Where Hands Touch.

[60] That same year he appeared in King Lear as Oswald and in the television mini-series Come Home, the latter of which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor.

[4][71] In September 2007, as part of a £9.5 million building project, Salford's Pendleton College named its new 260-seat auditorium the Eccleston Theatre.

[79] Eccleston has criticised the Conservative Party and expressed concern at opportunities for actors from his background to achieve his level of success in the future.

"[80] Eccleston endorsed Labour Party incumbent Andy Burnham in the 2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election.