His film work includes: Trainspotting (1996), The Full Monty (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), There's Only One Jimmy Grimble (2000), ​The Beach (2000), The 51st State (2001), Eragon (2006), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015).

[5][6] Carlyle left North Kelvinside Secondary School at the age of 16 without any qualifications and worked for his father as a painter and decorator.

Carlyle's first high-profile role came as serial killer Albie Kinsella in an October 1994 episode of Cracker opposite Robbie Coltrane and Christopher Eccleston.

[9] Carlyle claimed that his main inspiration for the role was Robert De Niro's Academy Award-nominated performance as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.

In 1996 and 1997, he appeared in the two highest-profile roles of his career to date: as the sociopathic Francis Begbie in Trainspotting and Gaz, the leader of a group of amateur male strippers, in The Full Monty.

He also played the lead role as a marine engineer attempting to save London from total devastation in the disaster film Flood.

[17] In 2008, Carlyle appeared in 24: Redemption, a television movie based on the TV series 24, starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland.

[19] In 2019, he portrayed Ogilvy in a three-part television adaptation of The War of the Worlds for the BBC,[20] and made an uncredited appearance as John Lennon in the film Yesterday.

Known for his commitment to authenticity in roles, Carlyle has often altered his lifestyle and physical appearance to gain a better understanding of a character; much akin to method acting.

Before playing a homeless character in Antonia Bird's Safe, for example, he went to live in the Waterloo area of London where the film was set.