Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009 premiere
Wednesday October 14th, ODEON Luxe Leicester Square 22-24 Leicester Square, West End, London WC2H 7LQ, United Kingdom
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George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney spent most of his youth in Ohio and Kentucky, and graduated from Augusta High School. He was very active in sports such as basketball and baseball, and tried out for the Cincinnati Reds, but was not offered a contract.
After his cousin, Miguel Ferrer, got him a small role in a feature film, Clooney began to pursue acting. His first major role was on the sitcom E/R (1984) as Ace. More roles soon followed, including George Burnett, the handsome handyman on The Facts of Life (1979); Booker Brooks, a supervisor on Roseanne (1988); and Detective James Falconer on Sisters (1991). Clooney had his breakthrough when he was cast as Dr. Doug Ross on the award-winning drama series ER (1994), opposite Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle and Julianna Margulies.
While filming "ER" (1994), Clooney starred in a number of high profile film roles, such as Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and One Fine Day (1996), opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1997, Clooney took on the role of Batman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997). The film was a moderate success in the box office, but was slammed by critics, notably for the nipple-laden Batsuit. Clooney went on to star in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998), Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998), and David O. Russell's Three Kings (1999).
In 1999, Clooney left "ER" (1994) (though he would return for the season finale) and appeared in a number of films, including O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Perfect Storm (2000) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). Collaborating once again with Steven Soderbergh, Ocean's Eleven (2001) received critical acclaim, earned more than $450 million at the box office, and spawned two sequels: Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).
In 2002, Clooney made his directorial debut with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), an adaptation of TV producer Chuck Barris' autobiography. This was the first film under the banner of Section Eight Productions, a production company he founded with Steven Soderbergh. The company also produced many acclaimed films, including Far from Heaven (2002), Syriana (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006) and Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005). Clooney won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Syriana (2005), and was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005).
In 2006, Section Eight Productions was shut down so that Soderbergh could concentrate on directing, and Clooney founded a new production company, Smokehouse Productions, with his friend and longtime business partner, Grant Heslov.
Clooney went on to produce and star in Michael Clayton (2007) (which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor), directed and starred in Leatherheads (2008), and took leading roles in Burn After Reading (2008), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), and Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (2009). Clooney received critical acclaim for his performance in Up in the Air (2009) and was nominated for several awards, including a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award. He didn't win that year, but took home both Best Actor awards (as well as countless nominations) for his role as a father who finds out his wife was unfaithful as she lays in a coma in Alexander Payne's The Descendants (2011). Through his career, Clooney has been heralded for his political activism and humanitarian work. He has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since 2008, has been an advocate for the Darfur conflict, and organized the Hope for Haiti telethon, to raise money for the victims of the 2010 earthquake. In March 2012, Clooney was arrested for civil disobedience while protesting at the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C.
Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam, from 1989 until 1993. After their divorce, he swore he would never marry again. Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman bet him $10,000 that he would have children by the age of 40, and sent him a check shortly after his birthday. Clooney returned the funds and bet double or nothing he wouldn't have children by the age of 50. Although he has remained a consummate bachelor, Clooney has had many highly publicized relationships, including with former WWE wrestler Stacy Keibler. In 2014, he married lawyer and activist Amal Clooney, with whom he has two children, twins.- Director
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Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an event that he described as the most crucial event of his brothers and his growing up. During childhood, Anderson also began writing plays and making super-8 movies. He was educated at Westchester High School and then St. John's, a private prep school in Houston, Texas, which was later to prove an inspiration for the film Rushmore (1998).
Anderson attended the University of Texas in Austin, where he majored in philosophy. It was there that he met Owen Wilson. They became friends and began making short films, some of which aired on a local cable-access station. One of their shorts was Bottle Rocket (1993), which starred Owen and his brother Luke Wilson. The short was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was successfully received, so much so that they received funding to make a feature-length version. Bottle Rocket (1996) was not a commercial hit, but it gained a cult audience and high-profile fans, which included Martin Scorsese.
Success followed with films such as Rushmore (1998), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and an animated feature, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). The latter two films earned Anderson Oscar nominations.- Actor
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Bill Murray is an American actor, comedian, and writer. The fifth of nine children, he was born William James Murray in Wilmette, Illinois, to Lucille (Collins), a mailroom clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II, who sold lumber. He is of Irish descent. Among his siblings are actors Brian Doyle-Murray, Joel Murray, and John Murray. He and most of his siblings worked as caddies, which paid his tuition to Loyola Academy, a Jesuit school. He played sports and did some acting while in that school, but in his words, mostly "screwed off." He enrolled at Regis College in Denver to study pre-med but dropped out after being arrested for marijuana possession. He then joined the National Lampoon Radio Hour with fellow members Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, and John Belushi. However, while those three became the original members of Saturday Night Live (1975), he joined Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (1975), which premiered that same year. After that show failed, he later got the opportunity to join Saturday Night Live (1975), for which he earned his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series. He later went on to star in comedy films, including Meatballs (1979), Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981), Tootsie (1982), Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989), Scrooged (1988), What About Bob? (1991), and Groundhog Day (1993). He also co-directed Quick Change (1990). Murray garnered additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in Lost in Translation (2003), which earned him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in Ghostbusters, Rushmore (1998), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), St. Vincent (2014), and the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), for which he later won his second Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie.- Actor
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Jarvis Cocker was born on 19 September 1963 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Children of Men (2006). He was previously married to Camille Bidault-Waddington.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Jason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore, and has gone on to appear in seven other Anderson films: The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021) and Asteroid City (2023). His other film roles include Spun (2003), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Marie Antoinette (2006), and Klaus (2019). Schwartzman starred in the television series Bored to Death (2009-11) and appeared in the fourth season of the FX anthology series Fargo (2020). He was an executive producer on the Amazon Prime show Mozart in the Jungle (2014-18), a series he also acted in. Schwartzman has released three albums through his solo project Coconut Records, having previously been drummer in the rock band Phantom Planet.- Producer
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Wallace Wolodarsky is known for The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and Coldblooded (1995). He has been married to Maya Forbes since 2004. They have two children.- Actor
- Art Department
- Director
Eric Chase Anderson was born on 18 September 1972 in Houston, Texas, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).- Elisabetta Canalis was born on 12 September 1978 in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. She is an actress, known for Virgin Territory (2007), Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005) and Fratelli Benvenuti (2010). She has been married to Brian Perri since 14 September 2014. They have one child.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Music Department
Myleene Klass was born on 6 April 1978 in Norfolk, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Igor (2008), My Family (2000) and Killing Clovis Dardentor. She was previously married to Graham Quinn.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Cindy Crawford was born on 20 February 1966 in DeKalb, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Fair Game (1995), 54 (1998) and Cougar Town (2009). She has been married to Rande Gerber since 29 May 1998. They have two children. She was previously married to Richard Gere.- Liccy Dahl was born on 12 December 1938 in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, UK. She is a producer, known for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Matilda (1996) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She was previously married to Roald Dahl and Charles Reginald Hugh Crosland.
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born medical doctor, of Gujarati Indian descent, and his mother, Anna Lyna Mary (Goodman), was an English actress. Ben began to act in stage plays during the 1960s. He soon became a successful stage actor, and also began to have roles in films and television. His birth name was Krishna Bhanji, but he changed his name to "Ben Kingsley" soon after gaining fame as a stage actor, fearing that a foreign name could hamper his acting career.
Kingsley first earned international fame for his performance in the drama movie Gandhi (1982). His performance as Mohandas K. Gandhi earned him international fame. He won many awards - including an Academy Award for Best Actor. He also won Golden Globe, BAFTA and London Film Critics' Circle Awards. After acting in Gandhi (1982), Ben was recognized as one of the finest British actors.
After his international fame for appearing in Gandhi (1982), Kingsley appeared in many other famous movies. His success as an actor continued. His performance as Itzhak Stern in the drama movie Schindler's List (1993) earned him a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actor. Schindler's List (1993) won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. During the late 1990s, Kingsley acted in many successful movies. He played Sweeney Todd in the television movie The Tale of Sweeney Todd (1997), for which he was nominated for the Screen Actors' Guild Award. His other notable role was as Otto Frank in the television movie Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), for which he won the Screen Actors' Guild Award.
In 2002, Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's New Years Honours for his services to drama. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment. That same year, he also received the Fellowship Award at the Asian Awards in London, England.- Actress
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Born in Bahia, Brazil, Daniela Lavender is part of a close knit 30-strong family, at the age of eight she began training in ballet, jazz, contemporary dance and later studied Flamenco dancing under Roberto Amaral and Yolanda Arroyo in Los Angeles. She then moved into journalism and received a degree from PUC University, Drama followed at Dirceu de Mattos school in Rio de Janeiro, studied English for a year and then traveled to London. She auditioned for the London International School of Performing Arts, playing 'Queen Anne' from Shakespeare's Richard III, and passed the audition in spite of the language barrier. In 2003 Lavender appeared in the independent film "Emotional Backgammon" and was awarded "Best Actress" at the Denver Film Festival. From there she went on to appear in "Ali G Indahouse" and the BBC series "Longitude", "EastEnders" and "Casualty". Then in 2009 Lavender toured with the British Shakespeare company production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", playing Hippolyta and Titania. 2011 saw Lavender star as "Maria" in a one woman show "A Woman Alone" written by Dario Fo. Then in 2013 Lavender Pictures her co-owned film company started the process of developing a slate of scripts including "Taj" "Zorra" and "Jutland". This spring Lavender will been seen in the role of "Juliana Santos" in "A Birder's Guide to Everything" which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2013 and was awarded the Heineken first runner up audience award, then later in 2014 Lavender will also been seen as "Mata" in Isabel Coixet's new film "Learning to Drive" and "Clara" in "Zipper" produced by Darren Aronofsky.- Writer
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- Actor
Comedian, talk show host, game show host, film critic, radio DJ and awards show compere, Jonathan Ross is the most successful British broadcaster of his generation. After attending the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London and gaining a Modern European History degree, he worked as a researcher on Channel Four in the 1980s, becoming a presenter for the first time in January 1987 on the channel's series The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1987). Ross made an immediate impression, largely because he didn't base his presentational style on conventional, comforting and polite British broadcasters such as Frank Bough, Michael Parkinson, Russell Harty, Alan Whicker and the BBC's main talk show host of the time, Terry Wogan; his inspiration was the more fast-witted and irreverent style of American talk show hosts, in particular David Letterman.
Although The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1987) had a short life, it established him as a major draw for Channel Four and introduced viewers to his trademark irreverent humour and his distinctive speech impediment, which has been the source of plenty of jokes over the years, including a few by Ross himself.
The 1990s were a period of growing success for Jonathan Ross. In 1999 he was chosen by the BBC to replace Barry Norman as the host of Film '72 (1971), their long-running film series on BBC One. The same year he left Virgin Radio to start his popular Radio 2 show, broadcast on Saturdays. In 2001 he landed his own chat show on BBC One, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001).
Further evidence of his status came in 2005, when he was chosen by the BBC to host the corporation's coverage of the Live 8 (2005) rock concerts. Two years later, he was the obvious choice to host the similar Live Earth (2007) for the BBC.
He has been the winner of numerous awards, with Sony judges praising him for his "speed of thought, natural wit, and ability to transform even the most mundane of thoughts into entertaining broadcasting". BBC Director-General Mark Thompson has called him an "outstanding talent", and BBC One Controller Peter Fincham called him a "uniquely talented broadcaster at the very top of his game". He was awarded the OBE for services to broadcasting in 2005.
Ross has not been without his critics. Some have accused him of being the spearhead for a general decline in British television standards since the 1980s, epitomised by his regular use of foul language and blatant sexual references during his late night BBC talk show. He has been at the centre of a number of controversies due to his irreverent style, prompting cautions from The Broadcasting Standards Commission and the BBC's board of governors. Ofcom, the communications regulator, called him "deliberately provocative". John Beyer, director of TV watchdog Mediawatch, has called his language "disgraceful and unacceptable". In 2006, Andrew Neil likened Ross' style to football hooliganism.
Once the bad boy of Channel Four, Jonathan Ross hadn't moderated his style but he became the BBC's most valued broadcaster, with a reputed salary of £6 million a year. In October 2008, Ross caused a major controversy when he left obscene messages with Russell Brand on the answerphone of veteran actor Andrew Sachs while guesting on Brand's Radio 2 show. He was suspended from the BBC for three months and also reprimanded by the BBC Trust over his explicit comments to actress Gwyneth Paltrow on his talk show earlier in the year. In 2009, it was announced that Ross was leaving the BBC in 2010 and in July 2010, the same month his last BBC programme went out, it was announced he had signed a deal to begin a new talk show on ITV1 in 2011.- Producer
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Jane Goldman was born on 11 June 1970 in England, UK. She is a producer and writer, known for Kick-Ass (2010), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Stardust (2007). She has been married to Jonathan Ross since August 1988. They have three children.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Two-time BAFTA-nominated director Dexter Fletcher is an English actor-turned-filmmaker whose movies and TV work include the Academy Award-winning Elton John biopic Rocketman. Fletcher started his career in front of the camera at the age of 6; three years later he played "Baby Face" in Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone. At 16 Fletcher became the youngest regular member of London's Royal Shakespeare Company, at 23 he was the breakout star of the hit British show Press Gang, and in four decades as an actor his screen and stage co-stars have included Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Robert De Niro, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, and Liam Neeson, among others. The esteemed directors Fletcher has worked for include David Lynch, Mike Leigh, Michael Winterbottom, Ken Russell, Derek Jarman, and Guy Ritchie.
Fletcher made his debut as a filmmaker with the felons-and-fatherhood drama Wild Bill (2011), which won him two Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards and earned a BAFTA nom for Outstanding Debut; the film currently has a rare 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. His follow-up, Sunshine on Leith (2013), was an adaptation of a stage work based on music by the Scottish band the Proclaimers. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2016 Fletcher directed Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman in Eddie the Eagle, about Olympic ski-jumper Michael "Eddie" Edwards, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Later that year, Fletcher was asked to take over directing duties on Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which told the story of late rocker Freddie Mercury and the band Queen. Fletcher had helped develop that film, and, while uncredited, he helmed the final weeks of shooting and oversaw post-production. The film grossed over $900 million worldwide and won four Oscars, including Best Editing and Best Actor for Rami Malek's portrayal of Mercury.
Fletcher's fourth film, Rocketman (2019) - a dynamic, vibrant biopic about the life of rock legend Elton John, who provided full rights to his music - reunited Fletcher with Taron Egerton. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned four BAFTA nominations, and won John and songwriter Bernie Taupin the Best Original Song Oscar for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" (the only song longtime collaborators John and Taupin won an award for together). Egerton was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor-Musical or Comedy for his performance as John.
In April 2022 Fletcher executive produced the highly-anticipated Paramount+ miniseries The Offer, about The Godfather's journey to the screen, and directed the first two episodes.
Fletcher next directed the romantic adventure comedy Ghosted, starring Ana de Armas and Chris Evans, about a CIA assassin wanting a life outside of her dangerous job and the everyday guy who falls for her without knowing her profession - which involves saving the world. The film premiered on Apple TV+ on April 21. Ghosted reunited Fletcher with cinematographer Salvatore Totino, who worked on episodes of The Offer.
Fletcher will return to acting in director Vanessa Caswill's adaptation of the bestselling novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. The Netflix film is due in 2023.
Fletcher currently resides in London with his wife, acclaimed opera director and film producer (The Offer, Ghosted) Dalia Ibelhauptaité.- Writer
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Stephen Poliakoff was born on 1 December 1952 in Holland Park, Kensington, London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for Close My Eyes (1991), Perfect Strangers (2001) and Shooting the Past (1999). He has been married to Sandy Welch since 1983. They have two children.- Actress
- Director
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Romola Garai was born on 6th August 1982. She is an English actress-writer-director who has worked extensively on film, television and theatre. As an actress she is known for her performances in films such as Atonement (2007), Angel (2007), I Capture the Castle (2003) and (Suffragette). On television her work includes her BAFTA nominated performance in The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), The Hour (2012), Born to Kill (2017) and The Miniaturist (2017). As a director her work includes the Sundance Best International Short Film nominated Scrubber. her debut feature, the horror film Amulet, will premiere in the Midnight Madness section at Sundance 2020.- Actress
- Writer
Sophie Dahl began her working life as a teenage fashion model and actress, but books and words were her first love. In 2003 she wrote the illustrated novella and Sunday Times bestseller, 'The Man With The Dancing Eyes' (Bloomsbury) and in 2007, published her first novel, 'Playing With The Grownups' (Bloomsbury/Nan A. Talese).
A devoted home-cook, Dahl wrote the Sunday Times bestseller 'Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights' (HarperCollins) in 2009, before writing and presenting 'The Delicious Miss Dahl', a prime time series for BBC2 which aired in Spring 2010. In 2011 she wrote and presented a BBC2 social history documentary about the Victorian domestic advisor Isabella Beeton, shortly after her own second cookbook, 'From Season To Season' (HarperCollins) was published.
Dahl served as a contributing editor at British Vogue for ten years. She has written non-fiction essays for US Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, The New York Times, The Guardian and The Sunday Times and is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveller.
She has been a judge for the Orange Prize for fiction, and The Roald Dahl Funny Prize.
Her first children's book, Madame Badobedah was published by Walker Books in 2019. It was a bestseller.
Dahl lives in the country with her husband, two daughters, rescue dog, cats, and tortoise, and she is currently working on her sixth book.- Music Artist
- Actor
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Jamie Cullum was born on 20 August 1979 in Rochford, Essex, England, UK. He is a music artist and actor, known for Gran Torino (2008), Meet the Robinsons (2007) and Going in Style (2017). He has been married to Sophie Dahl since 9 January 2010. They have two children.- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, his quiet shyness betrayed an early passion for acting. First enrolled at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art, his focus invariably turned from painting to acting.
Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960, John made his stage debut in "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger" followed by "The Dwarfs." Elsewhere, he continued to build upon his 60's theatrical career with theatre roles in "Chips with Everything" at the Vaudeville, the title role in "Hamp" at the Edinburgh Festival, "Inadmissible Evidence" at Wyndham's and "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" at the Garrick. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the "angry young man" British drama Young and Willing (1962), followed by small roles in Appuntamento in Riviera (1962), A Man for All Seasons (1966) and The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967).
A somber, freckled, ravaged-looking gent, Hurt found his more compelling early work in offbeat theatrical characterizations with notable roles such as Malcolm in "Macbeth" (1967), Octavius in "Man and Superman" (1969), Peter in "Ride a Cock Horse" (1972), Mike in '"The Caretaker" (1972) and Ben in "The Dumb Waiter" (1973). At the same time he gained more prominence in a spray of film and support roles such as a junior officer in Before Winter Comes (1968), the title highwayman in Sinful Davey (1969), a morose little brother in In Search of Gregory (1969), a dim, murderous truck driver in 10 Rillington Place (1971), a skirt-chasing, penguin-studying biologist in Cry of the Penguins (1971), the unappetizing son of a baron in The Pied Piper (1972) and a repeat of his title stage role as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974).
Hurt shot to international stardom, however, on TV where he was allowed to display his true, fearless range. He reaped widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark television play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Hurt's bold, unabashed approach on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the BAFTA (British TV Award). This triumph led to the equally fascinating success as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic television masterpiece I, Claudius (1976), followed by another compelling interpretation as murderous student Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1979).
A resurgence occurred on film as a result. Among other unsurpassed portraits on his unique pallet, the chameleon in him displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and as a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978) earning Oscar nominations for both. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). With this new rush of fame came a few misguided ventures as well that were generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with Ryan O'Neal in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. For the most part, the craggy-faced actor continued to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Shooting Dogs (2005).
Latter parts of memorable interpretations included Dr. Iannis in Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), the recurring role of the benign wand-maker Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), the tyrannical dictator Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta (2005) and the voice of The Dragon in Merlin (2008). Among Hurt's final film appearances were as a terminally ill screenwriter in That Good Night (2017) and a lesser role in the mystery thriller Damascus Cover (2017). Hurt's voice was also tapped into animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. He also returned to the theatre performing in such shows as "The Seagull", "A Month in the Country" (1994), "Afterplay" (2002) and "Krapp's Last Tape", the latter for which he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.
A recovered alcoholic who married four times, Hurt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen in 2004, and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. That same year (2015) he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In July of 2016, he was forced to bow out of the father role of Billy Rice in a then-upcoming London stage production of "The Entertainer" opposite Kenneth Branagh due to ill health that he described as an "intestinal ailment". Hurt died several months later at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England on January 15, 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.- Producer
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Anwen Rees-Myers is known for In Love with Alma Cogan (2012), ChickLit (2016) and Minder (1979). She was previously married to John Hurt.- Actor
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David Morrissey started acting at Everyman's Youth Theatre in Liverpool, where he was born and raised. He made an auspicious debut in One Summer (1983), a series about two Liverpool runaways. Following a degree at RADA, he worked with the theatre company Cheek By Jowl. He has also worked at theatre such as the Manchester Royal Exchange and the National Theatre. He is married to novelist Esther Freud, the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and daughter of artist Lucian Freud.- Actress
- Writer
Esther Freud was born on 2 May 1963 in London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Doctor Who (1963), Mr Mac and Me and Hideous Kinky (1998). She has been married to David Morrissey since 15 August 2006. They have three children.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Toby Young was born on 17 October 1963 in Buckinghamshire, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008), Rabbit Fever (2006) and Abroad (2010). He has been married to Caroline Bondy since 21 July 2001. They have four children.- Actress
- Producer
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Born in London, England and raised in European cities such as Paris and Geneva, Maryam d'Abo has rewarded audiences with her beauty and presence for over twenty years. Maryam first appeared in Xtro (1982), a gory horror film that is considered a cult entry in the genre. She appeared consistently throughout the mid-1980s in a variety of films, including two mini-series based on novels of author Sidney Sheldon: Master of the Game (1984) and If Tomorrow Comes (1986). She accepted "Laughter in the Dark" based on the Vladimir Nabokov novel. Her co-stars were Maximilian Schell and Mick Jagger. She thought it would be her big break, since it was a very challenging role, and she was in every scene. But financing fell through, and the film was never completed. The stress made her lose weight, and she appeared more mature. Which turned out to be just the right look for a classical cellist in her next film. Thus, her real big break came in the form of the James Bond film, The Living Daylights (1987). Maryam played Bond girl "Kara Milovy", opposite Timothy Dalton's "James Bond". The film gave her career a real jolt, and she found herself in leading roles throughout the early 1990s, in a variety of films. She based herself in both England and the USA, appearing in Shootfighter: Fight to the Death (1993) and the European horror movie Immortal Sins (1991). She played her hand in the erotic thriller genre, appearing in Tomcat: Dangerous Desires (1993), Tropical Heat (1993) and an episode of Red Shoe Diaries (1992), featured on the video [error]. She starred in more films throughout the mid-1990s, opposite the late Margaux Hemingway in Double Obsession (1992), a remake: The Browning Version (1994), a romantic comedy called Solitaire for 2 (1994), and thrillers such as Timelock (1996) and An American Affair (1997).
In 2002, Maryam drew on her experiences as a Bond Girl to write, produce and host Bond Girls Are Forever (2002), examining the culture and connotations of being a Bond girl, and the subsequent effects on a film career. This interesting documentary shed new light on the topic of James Bond films, and appeared on British and American television, whilst gaining a DVD release. Maryam strayed away from commercial features, opting to appear in a variety of television dramas, including: a TV mini series of Doctor Zhivago (2002) and Helen of Troy (2003). More recently, she appeared in San Antonio (2004), Evil Remains (2004), a movie filmed in France L'enfer (2005) and a direct-to-video sequel, The Prince & Me II: The Royal Wedding (2006). Maryam has displayed talent in a variety of genres, she continues to make guest appearances for her fans, and is likely to appear in more films. She also works on films with her husband director Hugh Hudson, whom she married in 2003. This striking blonde actress, a former Bond girl, holds her own up with the best of them.- Actor
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- Soundtrack
Harry John Newman Treadaway (born 10 September 1984) is an English actor known for his performance as Victor Frankenstein on the horror-drama series Penny Dreadful.
Born at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in Exeter, Devon, Treadaway was brought up in Sandford, Devon. His father is an architect and his mother is a primary school teacher; he has two brothers, older brother Sam (an artist) and slightly older twin Luke. Treadaway and his twin brother Luke attended Queen Elizabeth's Community College in Crediton, Devon, where they played in the twice Devon Cup winning Rugby Union team.
Inspired by a love of Eddie Vedder and with support from their secondary school drama teacher Phil Gasson, the twins formed a band called Lizardsun with Matt Conyngham and Seth Campbell. They also both joined the National Youth Theatre.
His professional debut was Brothers of the Head, a feature film about conjoined twin brothers in a punk rock band. Harry played Tom Howe, the band's rhythm guitarist and songwriter, and his brother Luke played Barry Howe, the lead singer. During rehearsals and throughout the shoot, Harry and Luke were connected to each other for fifteen hours a day, wearing sewn-together wetsuits or a harness. They also slept in one bed to simulate the conjoined nature of their characters. The Treadaways performed all tracks featured in the film themselves live on stage, as well as recording nine tracks for the sound-track album.
Treadaway took time out from his course at LAMDA to work on Brothers of the Head, and graduated in 2006.
Treadaway took on other professional commitments while still at drama school including Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder for ITV television, and a reading of a new play, Myrna Molloy for Operating Theatre Company in 2006.
Since graduating, he has taken on work such as Recovery for Tiger Aspect (playing the son of characters played by David Tennant and Sarah Parish) and as Mark Brogan on the Channel 4 series Cape Wrath (known as Meadowlands in America). In Control Harry plays Joy Division drummer Stephen Morris. In 2008 he appears in the Channel 4 drama The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall and a short film by Sam Taylor-Wood.
He has acted in horror film The Disappeared, directed by Johnny Kevorkian, and science fiction-fantasy film City of Ember.
He made his stage debut in Over There, a new play by Mark Ravenhill alongside his twin brother Luke Treadaway at the Royal Court Theatre in 2009.
Treadaway is also credited as a songwriter, after writing the piece Sink or Swim which he and Luke performed both on film and on the soundtrack of Brothers of the Head. Also he performed his song "Raise This Up" in "Brothers of the Head" as a solo performance during the scene in which Tom Howe's girlfriend breaks his heart.
In 2011, he appeared in The Last Furlong, filmed in Ireland. He starts as the title character James Furlong.
He played Victor Frankenstein in the Showtime TV series Penny Dreadful, starting in May 2014.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Mariella Frostrup was born on 12 November 1962 in Oslo, Norway. She is an actress and writer, known for Johnny English Reborn (2011), Coupling (2000) and Sitting Ducks (2003). She has been married to Jason McCue since April 2003. They have two children. She was previously married to Richard Jobson.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Thandiwe Newton was born in London. She is the daughter of Zimbabwean mother Nyasha, a health-care worker from the Shona tribe, and British father Nick Newton, who worked as a lab technician. She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to the UK, where she lived in Cornwall (in southwest Britain) until she was 11 and enrolled in London's Art Educational School to study modern dance until a back injury forced her to quit dancing. This led to her auditioning for films. Her first role was in John Duigan's Flirting (1991). She then moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue acting. When her British accent limited the amount of work she was getting, she returned to Britain, studied at Cambridge University, and earned a degree in anthropology. Between semesters she continued acting and became noticed in in- demand for future film roles.- Actress
Nico Parker was born on 9 December 2004. She is an actress, known for Dumbo (2019), The Last of Us (2023) and Reminiscence (2021).- Actor
- Producer
- Animation Department
Jason Isaacs was born in Liverpool. He studied law at Bristol University but fell in love with the theatre and directed, produced and appeared in dozens of productions there, at the National Student Theatre Festival and at the Edinburgh Festival. He graduated in 1985 but then attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and began working in 1988.
Jason's notable roles include Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, Mr. Darling/Captain Hook in Peter Pan (2003), and many soldiers: Col. William Tavington in Roland Emmerich's The Patriot (2000), Captain Steele in Ridley Scott's Blackhawk Down, Major Briggs in Paul Greengrass's Green Zone, Captain Waggoner in Fury, Captain Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery, Field Marshall Zhukov in Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin and Rear-Admiral Godfrey in John Madden's Operation Mincemeat. He was Hap in the cult series The OA, Maurice in the WW2 film Good (2008) and Jay in the multi-award winning MASS. He has made many TV series in Britain and the US and has won or been nominated for a Golden Globe, International Emmy, BAFTA, Critics Choice, Peabody, Satellite and many other awards.
On stage he was Louis Ironson in the original productions of Angels in America parts 1 and 2 for the Royal National Theatre and has performed at the Royal Court, Almeida and West End Theatres.
Jason is married to documentary filmmaker Emma Hewitt, who he met at drama school and with whom he has two children.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Gurinder Chadha was born in Kenya, and grew up in Southall, London, England. She began her career as a news reporter with BBC Radio, directed several award winning documentaries for the BBC, and began an alliance with the British Film Institute (BFI) and Channel Four. In 2001, Chadha set up her own production company: Bend It Films.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Composer and conductor Alexandre Desplat, Oscar winner and seven-time Academy Award nominated, for his prolific filmography and his collaborations with Stephen Frears, Terrence Malick, Ang Lee, Kathryn Bigelow, Jacques Audiard, Wes Anderson, Roman Polanski, George Clooney or Matteo Garrone is one of the most worthy heirs of the French masters of film music.
Brought up in a cultural and musical mix thanks to his Greek mother and his French father who studied and got married in California, he grew up listening to French symphonists, Ravel or Debussy , world music and jazz.
He studied piano and trumpet before choosing the flute as the main instrument. As a free auditor in Claude Ballif's analysis class at the CNSM, he enriches his classical musical education by studying Brazilian and African music. He will record later with Carlinhos Brown or Ray Lema.
Passionate about film music, it's as much his musical sensitivity as his intimate approach to cinematographic language that will allow his privileged relationship with filmmakers. Inspired by the scores of Maurice Jarre, Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota or Georges Delerue, it is after hearing the score of John Williams for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) that he decides to compose exclusively for the big screen.
During the recording of his first feature film he meets violinist Dominique Lemonnier. This is the beginning of an exceptional artistic exchange as she becomes her favorite soloist, artistic director and wife. With his strong sense of interpretation, his creative spirit and his singular violin playing, Solré inspired Alexandre's compositions, influencing his music in depth, initiating a new way of writing for the strings in the cinema.
Collaborator of Jacques Audiard since his first film, he creates for his works strong and singular compositions and he won in 2005 for The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) the Silver Bear of the Berlinale, and his first Caesar. He works in France with Philippe de Broca and Francis Girod but Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) of Peter Webber, his 50th score for the film, he gets a first Golden Globe nomination and BAFTA and began his rise in Hollywood. Leading American career and European collaborations and remaining faithful to his directors, he composes among others Syriana (2005)'s scores of Stephen Gaghan, Birth (2004) of Jonathan Glazer, Coco Before Chanel (2009) by Anne Fontaine, Army of Crime (2009) by Robert Guédiguian, The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch (2008) by Jérôme Salle, Intimate Enemies (2007) or Hostage (2005) by Florent-Emilio Siri.
Prizes and collaborations with the greatest directors follow one another. In 2007, he received his first Oscar nomination for Stephen Frears's The Queen (2006) and won his first European Film Award. The same year, he won the Golden Globe, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and the World Soundtrack Award for John Curran's score The Painted Veil (2006), performed by pianist Láng Lang. He composed in 2008 for Lust, Caution (2007) by Ang Lee and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) by David Fincher which will earn him a second Oscar nomination and a fourth Golden Globes and BAFTA nomination.
With his score for The Ghost Writer (2010) by Roman Polanski, he won in 2010 a second César and a second European Film Award. The same year he wrote the music of The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) by Chris Weitz, whose album was a platinum record, and Tom Hooper's The King's Speech (2010) for which he won the BAFTA, the Grammy Award, and was nominated for the fourth time at the Oscars and for the fifth time at the Golden Globes.
In 2010-2011 he wrote the music of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) which became the third greatest success of all time. He composed in 2011 nine partitions, The Tree of Life (2011) of Terrence Malick, Carnage (2011) by Roman Polanski, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) by George Clooney , which earned him another Oscar nomination, The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011) by Daniel Auteuil and The Ides of March (2011) by George Clooney.
In 2012 he worked with Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Matteo Garrone for Reality (2012), Gilles Bourdos for Renoir (2012), Jérôme Salle for Zulu (2013), George Clooney for Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and Jacques Audiard for Rust and Bone (2012) for which he won a third Cesar. For his score of Argo (2012) of Ben Affleck, Oscar for Best Picture, it is named for the sixth time BAFTA, and for the fifth time at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
He signed in 2013 the partition The Monuments Men (2014) from George Clooney, Venus in Fur (2013) of Roman Polanski, and was appointed to the BAFTAs and the Oscars for Philomena (2013) of Stephen Frears.
In 2014 he composed the music Godzilla (2014) of Gareth Edwards, and receives exceptional fact, two Oscar nominations for The Imitation Game (2014) of Morten Tyldum and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by George Clooney, for which he won a BAFTA, Grammy and Oscar.
Member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, he became in 2014 the first composer President of the jury of the Venice Film Festival. Crowning long years of collaboration, he directed the London Symphony Orchestra in December 2014 for a concert of his works at the Barbican Theater in London.
In 2018, Alexandre Desplat received a second Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for The Shape of Water (2017) of Guillermo del Toro.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
An actress who always attracts audiences' attention, Jennifer Tilly is by turns funny, sexy, compassionate, compelling and often all at once. She has been playing unforgettable characters ever since she started her career as an actress.
Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer Ellen Chan in Harbor City, Los Angeles, to Harry Chan, a used car salesman, who was of Chinese origin, and Patricia (née Tilly), a schoolteacher and stage actress. Her sister is actress Meg Tilly. They were raised on rural Texada Island, British Columbia, by her mother and stepfather, John Ward.
Jennifer successfully cultivated another fan base with the revitalization of the "Child's Play" horror comedy franchise. For Ronny Yu's Bride of Chucky (1998), the filmmakers turned to Jennifer to create the character who would spark the series in a new direction. She met the challenge and established a new horror icon in Tiffany. In Rogue Pictures' Seed of Chucky (2004), written and directed by series creator Don Mancini, Jennifer again took the popular series to the next level; starring as Tiffany and as herself, the deadly doll's favorite actress, who soon becomes an unwitting hostess in more ways than one.
Jennifer's pitch-perfect voiceover work as Tiffany is not the only instance of her being able to incarnate a character from the vocal chords out. Families know her distinctive cadences from the Disney hits Home on the Range (2004), directed by Will Finn and John Sanford; The Haunted Mansion (2003) (in which Jennifer acted from the neck up only), directed by Rob Minkoff; and the Pixar blockbuster Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voicing Mike's love interest Celia), directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich. She began her acting career as a teenager, putting herself through the theater program at Stephens College in Missouri by winning writing competitions. She then headed to Los Angeles, California. While she continued to act on the stage (earning a Dramalogue Award for her performance in "Vanities"), movies and television immediately came calling for the actress with the unique voice and visage.
In 2001, she starred in the Broadway revival of "The Women" with Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Johnson, which was later taped for, and broadcast on, PBS. In 2008, she appeared with Miranda Richardson in the critically acclaimed production of Wallace Shawn's play "Grasses of a Thousand Colors" at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Other plays include "Tartuffe" (LAAT) "Boy's Life" (LAAT) "Baby with the Bathwater" (LAPT) and others too numerous to mention. In 2005, Jennifer met her boyfriend, professional poker player Phil Laak (also known as the Unabomber). That summer at the World Series of Poker, she bested a field of 601 to take down the Ladies Event and win a coveted gold bracelet. She followed this up by winning the WPT Ladies Invitational, making her one of a small but elite group holding both a WSOP bracelet, and a WPT title. In summer 2010, she also won the Bellagio Cup 5k tournament.- Phil Laak was born in 1972 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor, known for Runner Runner (2013), The Grand (2007) and Setup (2011).
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Dalia Ibelhauptaite was born on 4 May 1967 in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, USSR [now Lithuania]. She is a producer and director, known for Ghosted (2023), Rocketman (2019) and Let the Good Times Roll (1999). She has been married to Dexter Fletcher since 1997.- Producer
Jason McCue is known for Northstar and Black (2008).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
The old Etonian, after National Service in the British Army, wanted to get into films but found the doors were closed to him, so he worked on commercials for about 20 years. David Putnam gave him a chance to direct Chariots of Fire which was a hit, and he never looked back.
He met his second wife, actress Maryam d'Abo, when she came to see him about wanting to play the leading role of Jane in his film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). They reconnected 15 years later at a dinner party. They wed four years later in 2003.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Peter Andre was born on 27 February 1973 in Harrow, London, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) and Keith Lemon: The Film (2012). He has been married to Emily MacDonagh since 11 July 2015. They have three children. He was previously married to Katie Price.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Amanda Eliasch is known for The Gun, the Cake and the Butterfly (2013), @asst (2018) and The Matthew Aaron Show Podcast (2011). She was previously married to Johan Eliasch.