Contemporary Actors Archives - Page 33 of 49

Craig Cash

Craig Cash is best known for his perfmorance as dozy Dave in the wonderfuly “Royle Family” television series. e was born in 1960. began his show business career as a DJ in a Manchester night club.

Gerald Gilbert’s “Independent” interview with Craig Cash in 2011:

I’ve been trying to interview Craig Cash for years now, but the man behind The Royle Family has proved elusive. His writing partner, Caroline Aherne, has tended – reluctantly and for many of the wrong reasons – to hog the media limelight, but I’ve always been curious to meet Cash, a man I have long thought to be something of a comedy genius on the quiet. So quiet, in fact, that, in a trawl of newspaper cuttings, you’ll find less than a handful of interviews with him, and fewer still in which he talks about himself

“I don’t feel worthy,” the 51-year-old says, when we finally do get together in an otherwise empty viewing theatre in London’s Soho, where his new sitcom, The Café, is later to be shown to journalists. “I know I’m not Stephen Fry – you’re not going to get fantastic answers – so I tend not to do interviews.”

Stephen Fry, my arse, as Jim Royle would almost certainly have said in the circumstances. Cash may talk just like his lugubrious character Dave in The Royle Family, but the conversation is obviously more elevated than Dave’s dozy interest in whatever television programme the family happens to be watching. “I don’t actually see a lot of telly,” says Cash. “I watch Grand Designs and that Boardwalk Empire… it’s a bit slow, but who am I to say anything’s slow.” He watches almost no comedy, although he thought the first series of The Flight of the Conchords was “utterly brilliant”. Now he’s agreed to talk because he’s directing and producing a new sitcom co-written by his Royle Family colleague Ralf Little – even better news, Cash and Aherne hope to write a brand new comedy for the BBC.

Cash is still best known for The Royle Family, which he created with Aherne in 1997. Back then, the hit sitcoms – Men Behaving Badly, The Vicar of Dibley and One Foot in the Grave – all followed the same, traditional format: filmed in front of a studio audience, with a laughter track. The Royle Family had no laughter track, and the sort of realism not seen since the Sixties and shows such as Hancock and Till Death Do Us Part. What it also introduced to the British sitcom was a hyper-realistic setting where not a lot happened. Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Little, Aherne, Cash et al sat around on a sofa just talking.

Cash and Aherne met in the 1980s on the south Manchester pirate radio station KFM – until that station went legit in 1990 and they both got the heave-ho. “On the night-time shift it was me and Caroline and Jon Ronson, Terry Christian, Sarah Champion and Geoff Lloyd”, says Cash. “There were loads of us and we all got sacked on the same day. It was our first real job in the media, so it was a bit upsetting at the time.” It was Aherne who came to the rescue, asking Cash to help her develop an Irish nun character called Sister Mary Immaculate. “And then we did Mrs Merton…” he says.

Mrs Merton was Aherne’s mock elderly chat show host, most famous for asking Debbie McGee “So, what was it that first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?” The Mrs Merton Show was a clever conceit that often succeeded in getting more out of its guests than bona fide chat shows. Like all the best comedy partnerships, Cash and Aherne laugh at the same things, including their own families, which is where the idea for The Royle Family first came from. “Caroline said we should do a sitcom with just real people talking, because ‘if we find it funny, surely everybody else will’,” says Cash. “I kept saying at the time, ‘Let’s just do another Mrs Merton’because I’d got a mortgage by then.”

The BBC was nonplussed when the couple presented the Royles to them. “I remember having this read-through of the script and Kathy Burke was there – Kathy was originally going to be Cheryl [the greedy neighbour eventually played by Jessica Hynes]. Ricky and Sue were there. We sat in a semi-circle at Granada in front of executives, and they were climbing the walls because nothing was happening. I remember them saying, ‘You need a beginning, middle and end’ – all the conventional things…. We said, would those things make it any funnier? And, to her credit, Caroline dug her heels in and said, ‘If you don’t do this I’m not going to make another Mrs Merton’.”

The rest is television history, including several Baftas and a working relationship that remains as combustible as it is successful. “We both care about stuff,” says Cash. “We have fights on set – ask Ricky or Sue – we both want the same thing in the end, but it’s hard to see that at the time. It’s like any married couple rowing.”

Ten days after I met Cash, The Sun newspaper reported that he and Aherne, after producing Royle Family Christmas specials for the past three years, had not managed to get a script written in time for this Christmas. Via the BBC, Cash and Aherne put out a statement blaming other commitments and apologising to the show’s fans. To which all I can add is what Cash admitted to me about his and Aherne’s approach to scripts: “We do leave it late. It’s like doing homework, and we’d put it off and off.”

Their collaboration on The Royle Family, with Cash and Aherne also playing on-screen husband and wife, eventually took its toll, and the pair had a widely reported falling out in 2000. “She just decided, I think, that she’d had enough,” says Cash. “At the time, she was under an intense media spotlight for anything she did, and I think the pressure became too much. She got on a plane to Australia.”

The media interest centred on her drinking habits. “I was as pissed as Caroline, but women get put under an intense spotlight,” says Cash. “We were naive as well, I guess. Coming to London for dos and awards was a huge thrill for us and we were just overexcited. We’d get on the train at Manchester and be pissed by Macclesfield.”

Before her vanishing act, Aherne had been due to play a barmaid in Early Doors, a sort of British Cheers and Cash’s follow-up solo project to The Royle Family. The sitcom, Cash believes, was badly handled by the BBC when it was broadcast in 2003 and 2004, despite being loved by its viewers. “I had a big row with them over it because I didn’t feel they were pushing it,” he says. “They showed the first episode on the final night of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! They wanted a third series but I said ‘No, you’re not having one’, which they were a bit shocked about.”

Cash’s latest sitcom, The Café, is for Sky and finds Cash behind the scenes, as director and executive producer. Cash says he enjoys “a kind of big brother thing” with the show’s co-writer Ralf Little. “I think we auditioned Ralf when he was about 16 or 17 –and I’ve known him in a weird kind of a family way – in The Royle Family way – for a long time. “Ralf said, ‘I’ve written this thing with Michelle [Terry], my friend. Would you have a look at it? And I thought, ‘Do I have to? How am I going to tell him?’ I kept it in its brown envelope for a couple of months, then I read it one day and I was really pleasantly surprised.”

The Café is a sweet, warm sitcom set in a café in Weston-super-Mare – as such, it marks a big change for Cash. “All these years we’ve been writing and it’s always in bloody Manchester,” he says. “It’s work wherever you go, really, but it was a pleasure to get out of Manchester.”

Cash himself lives in a village on the border of Cheshire and Derbyshire, with his wife, Stephanie, and his two sons, Billy, 13, and 14-year-old Harry, both of whom have now grown out of being embarrassed by their dad’s association with Dave from The Royle Family. Stephanie used to work at KFM – “reading the news very badly. She used to listen to BBC local news and then write a version of it. But it was pirate radio, so fair play.”

The house is close enough to his roots in Stockport, where his father – a former joiner – lives, and Manchester, where Aherne now has a home. Next year is already looking busy: presumably, there will be a prompt start on The Royle Family Christmas special, as well as the planned new sitcom with Aherne (“We don’t know what”).

Whatever it is, it will, like The Café, no doubt, be imbued with the trademark Cash warmth. “The Café is no big deal, it’s just living with these people who work in the café,” he says. “The world’s grim enough as it is. Hopefully, this is a bit of escapism, and you don’t need a thesis in comedy or plots to watch it.”

The above interview from “The Independent” can also be accessed online here.

Keanu Reeves was born in 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. His wide range of films include “The River’s Edge” in 1986, “Parenthood”, “Point Break”, “My Own Private Idaho”, “Speed”, “The Matrix” and “Something’s Gotta Give”.

TCM

Few moviegoers would have guessed from his laconic and occasionally blissed-out performances in films like “River’s Edge” (1986) and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989) that in less than a decade, Keanu Reeves would be one of Hollywood’s most popular and bankable leading men. He had to first endure a long, awkward period, during which he struggled to find his footing in big-budget features like “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) and independent fare like “Little Buddha” (1993); in the eyes of most critics and pundits, he was ill-equipped for both. But his turn as a determined and resourceful police officer in 1994’s “Speed” proved him to be a capable action hero, which he underscored by playing Neo, the reluctant Messiah figure in the science fiction blockbuster “The Matrix” (1999) and its two sequels, as well as “Constantine” (2003). Perhaps sensing that his acting abilities remained in the crosshairs of many pundits, he strove to maintain a presence in quieter dramas and the occasional comedy, which received mixed results.

Born Keanu Charles Reeves in Beirut, Lebanon on Sept. 2, 1964, his early life was marked by turmoil and change. His parents, costume designer Patricia Taylor, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves – whose Hawaiian-Chinese-European heritage contributed to his son’s exotic looks and unusual first name, which translated as “cool breeze over the mountains” in Hawaiian – divorced two years after he was born. In fact, Reeves would not enjoy a close relationship with his father, as the elder Reeves worked as an unskilled laborer and earned his GED while imprisoned in Hawaii for selling cocaine at the Hilo airport. Reeves’ mother relocated her son and daughter Kim several times over the next few years; first to Australia and later to New York City and Toronto. She also married and divorced several times, which brought Reeves a half-sister from her mother’s marriage to rock promoter Robert Miller in 1976.

Reeves struggled with academics due to dyslexia, which contributed to a rambunctious attitude that frequently earned him expulsion from various schools. Ice hockey captured his attention during his school years, and for a time, he considered making it his profession. But his interest soon wandered towards acting, and by his mid-teens, he was appearing in local stage productions. By 17, he had dropped out of school for the last time, and made his television debut as a regular at a youth center in the teen-oriented sitcom “Hangin’ In” (CBC, 1981-87). Reeves bounced between odd jobs, television commercials and theater gigs – including Brad Fraser’s “Wolfboy,” a gay-themed drama with werewolf overtones – before finding regular work on Canadian TV and in features during the late 1980s. He covered all the angles of teen roles during this period, from youth in trouble in “One Step Away” (1985) to nice-guy boyfriends in “Dream to Believe” (1986). That same year, he had a small role as a hockey goalie opposite Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze in the sodden sports drama “Youngblood” (1986). The experience persuaded Reeves to pack up and move to Hollywood, which he did with just $3,000 in his pocket.

Once in Los Angeles, Reeves contacted his former stepfather, director Paul Aaron, who introduced him to agent Erwin Stoff. The latter took Reeves under his wing and helped to guide and mold his subsequent career, as well as co-produce many of his feature films. Stoff also persuaded Reeves to consider a professional name change, fearing that “Keanu” would read as too exotic to casting directors. For the TV-movie fantasy “Young Again” (1986), in which Reeves plays Robert Urich as a 17-year-old, he was billed as K.C. Reeves. The new moniker would disappear shortly thereafter.

Reeves’ first positive notices in Hollywood came with the grim crime drama “River’s Edge” (1986), in which he played the conflicted best friend of a young man (Daniel Roebuck) who has casually and brutally murdered his girlfriend. Though he was outshined by the film’s showier performances of Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover, he did fine work in a scene opposite a hysterical and gun-toting Joshua Miller that assured him more work as decent but occasionally troubled young men. Most of his projects for the next few years were forgettable TV movies and unseen features, though he was quite moving as a young man struggling to come to terms with his friend’s suicide in “Permanent Record” (1988). He was, however, woefully miscast as the Chevalier Dancey, youthful love interest to Uma Thurman and pawn in the games of John Malkovich and Glenn Close in the period romance-drama “Dangerous Liasons” (1988). Critics who had offered praise for the actor in “River’s Edge” were now noting a wooden side to his performances. This label would plague him for decades to come.

Reeves bounced back with an unexpected hit in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” a goofy time-travel comedy about two good-natured but clueless teens (Reeves and Alex Winter) who stumble through misadventures throughout history. A low-budget feature shot two years prior to its release (and held up due to the bankruptcy of distributor the De Laurentiis Group), the picture struck a chord with younger audiences and fans of broad comedy, who frequently singled out Reeves’ performance as one of the most authentic representations of empty-headed suburban teendom ever captured on film. Reeves became so inseparable from Ted in the minds of moviegoers that he essentially repeated the role for the next few years. He returned to the role for the inferior sequel, “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” (1991), which began production as “Bill and Ted Go to Hell” and lost much of its irreverent edge in post-production, and later, for a season of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures” (CBS/Fox Kids, 1990-93). He followed this with more dense young men in “Parenthood” (1989) and “I Love You to Death” (1990). Sensing that typecasting was setting in, he attempted to break free as a young radio dramatist in the comedy “Tune In Tomorrow” (1990), an inspired American adaptation of the Mario Vargas Llosa novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, and as a maverick FBI agent in the guilty pleasure that was the ludicrous “Point Break,” which co-starred his “Youngblood” castmate Patrick Swayze as a surfer-turned-bank robber. At the time of their releases, audiences stayed away from both projects, and critical vitriol regarding Reeves hit an all-time high with the latter project – though in later years, the picture achieved some degree of favor as high testosterone-fueled camp. And as far as scenery-chewing went, even Reeves took a backseat to his co-star and on-screen detective partner, Gary Busey, who took the role and ran with it – leaving even Reeves and Swayze in the dust when it came to turning in an unintentionally hilarious performance.

Undaunted, the confident Reeves pressed on with his attempt to redirect his career towards more respectable roles. He earned a moderate amount of critical acclaim as a privileged youth-turned-street hustler in “My Own Private Idaho” (1991), director Gus Van Sant’s acclaimed revision of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.” Though Reeves was overshadowed by the complex performance of top-billed River Phoenix, the film did convince some producers that there was more to the actor than just the “totally awesome” Ted S. Logan. Detractors, however, continued to declare that he was out of his league in adult roles, and pointed to his performance as lawyer-turned-vampire hunter Jonathan Harker in Francis Ford Coppola’s overblown “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992). Critics hammered Reeves for his dreadful English accent and hapless performance, and doubled their efforts to discount him when he tackled the villainous Don John in Kenneth Branagh’s bright and charming film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” (1993). More even-handed writers noted that none of the “Dracula” cast – including Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman – could deliver a believable performance in this particular incarnation of the Bram Stoker story due to its execrable script, and that Reeves was, in fact, not bad at all in “Ado.” But the drums of dismissal had been beating a steady tattoo for Reeves for so long now, that for many reviewers, it seemed unfashionable to consider him in any other manner. He was roundly panned for his sensual turn as the Buddha in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Little Buddha” (1993), and few moviegoers saw him in Van Sant’s ill-fated film version of Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” (1994). But public perception was about to change virtually overnight for the actor who had more than paid his dues as butts of jokes.

That same year, Reeves again shifted gears to play a no-nonsense police officer in “Speed.” The modestly budgeted thriller, which starred Dennis Hopper as a madman who hotwires a city bus to explode if it drops below a certain level of miles per hour, benefited hugely from former director of photography Jan De Bont’s energetic direction, as well as a star-making turn by Sandra Bullock as the young woman recruited by Reeves to pilot the bus while he attempts to disarm the bomb. The two leads shared enormous chemistry together, and the resulting mix of snappy dialogue and nail-biting suspense created a $300 million hit worldwide. Reeves in particular came off in a way he had not in past films, save perhaps “Point Break” – as the macho, believable leading man who saves the day and gets the girl. Female fans in particular fell for his newly buffed body and men flocked to get the “Speed” buzzed haircut.

Despite the astronomical success of the film which had singularly changed his image, the unpredictable Reeves refused to follow the regular patterns established by other actors who had found themselves suddenly thrust into superstardom. He turned down several high-profile action films, including “Speed 2: Cruise Control” (1997), which tanked due to his absence, and returned to Canada to tackle “Hamlet” on stage. Reviews were largely kind, but his subsequent movie efforts were stunningly lackluster and raised the specter of doubt about his recent box office potential. Reeves treaded water in dreadful action pictures like “Chain Reaction” (1996) and misbegotten “indie” efforts like “Feeling Minnesota” (1996) until 1997, when he was cast in “The Devil’s Advocate.” As an ambitious young lawyer whose entry into a top legal firm leads to the discovery that its chief (Al Pacino), is in fact Satan, Reeves acquitted himself well to a role that allowed him some moral ambiguity – to say nothing to standing up admirably to Pacino, who devoured whole scenes in the picture with relish. The picture was a sizable hit, and restored his leading man status.

A two-year hiatus, during which Reeves performed frequently with his alt-rock outfit Dogstar, preceded his role as Neo, a computer programmer who discovers that he is the chosen savior in a future struggle between humans and machines. An overwhelming blend of science fiction, Japanese anime, computer gaming, and action movie tropes, “The Matrix” (1999) was a worldwide blockbuster and eventual pop culture juggernaut thanks to its eye-popping visual effects and dense, interpretation-heavy script. And Reeves, who himself always seemed a little otherworldly, was the perfect choice to play the slightly befuddled everyman who finds himself at the center of a titanic war for the fate of mankind. He would return to the franchise several more times, including its two inferior sequels, “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003) and “The Matrix Revolutions” (2003), both of which were shot back-to-back, and several animated spin-offs and story permutations. Always one to march to the tune of his own drum, the extremely generous actor – who seemed to have little use for fame or money – gave up $50 million of his take from the “Matrix” sequels to the costume and special effects teams – whom he considered the real stars of the film – as well as buying each member of the Australian stuntmen crew a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Even in a town famous for giving, Reeves’ many financial overtures just made him an even more enigmatic figure.

The success of “The Matrix” was overshadowed in 1999 by the stillborn death of his daughter, Ava Archer Reeves, with actress Jennifer Syme. Tragedy would strike again two years later when Syme – who had never really recovered from the miscarriage of her nearly full-term baby, was killed in a car accident, in which she was sent through the windshield. Reeves remained largely silent about the incident, a precedent he set in the early 1990s when his sister Kim was diagnosed with leukemia. Because he was so hard to read in the first place, only close friends knew the level of grief Reeves must have gone through, losing both his daughter and girlfriend in such a short time, as well as dealing with his sister’s ongoing illness. Instead, Reeves remained exceptionally busy during this period in a wide variety of roles. Perhaps sensing that he could again be typecast, he bounced from breezy comedies like “The Replacements” (1999) and “Hardball” (2001) to sudsy romances like “Sweet November” (2001), which cast him as a self-obsessed businessman who discovers his capacity for love after meeting the terminally ill Charlize Theron. Reeves also stepped far afield from his screen persona on two occasions; first as an abusive husband who meets a grisly fate in Sam Raimi’s underrated supernatural thriller “The Gift” (2000), and later as a serial killer stalking Marisa Tomei in “The Watcher” (2000). Unfortunately, both of these films failed to find a substantial audience in theaters. It seemed audiences wanted the ass-kicking, yet Zen-like Reeves or nothing.

Reeves finally struck gold with a non-genre picture in “Something’s Gotta Give” (2005), a good-natured comedy in which he played a younger doctor who becomes smitten with Diane Keaton, much to the consternation of Jack Nicholson. The film performed admirably at the box office, and preceded his next big screen adventure in “Constantine” (2005), an adaptation of the popular graphic novel which cast him as a world-weary private investigator who deals with occult-related cases. Though quite different in appearance to Constantine in the comic book (who is portrayed as a blond Englishman), Reeves appeased fans of the series enough to make it another blockbuster. That same year, Reeves announced that he had left his band Dogstar for good, and was permanently hanging up his musical ambitions.

Due to over a decade of popular demand, Reeves reunited with Bullock for “The Lake House” (2006), a thoughtful science fiction romance based on the South Korean film “Il Mare” (2000), about correspondents who discover that they are living in the same house, though decades apart. Though the plot left many critics befuddled, audiences enjoyed the revived chemistry between the two actors and made it a substantial hit. He then returned to science fiction for “A Scanner Darkly” (2006), Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel about a dystopian future riddled with intense police surveillance and an epidemic of drug addiction. Linklater originally balked at casting Reeves, thinking that he would resist doing another science fiction film, but the actor joined the project on the basis of the Dick source material and Linklater’s decision to shoot the film using rotoscope animation. Though a non-entity on the box office charts, “Darkly” had its critical supporters.

In 2008, Reeves returned after another brief hiatus to again play against type as a corrupt L.A. cop whose investigative methods put him in the line of fire from his superiors and other double-dealing cops. The film, penned by noted crime novelist James Ellroy, failed to impress critics, but it enjoyed a solid opening weekend at the box office. That same year, Reeves announced another return to science fiction: he was cast as Klaatu, the alien visitor who attempts to bring peace to mankind in a remake of Robert Wise’s classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951).

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Overview:

Jamie Bamber was born in 1973 in Hammersmith. He is currently starring on television in “Law & Order UK”. He has also starred on tv in “Battlestar Gallactica”. His films include “Ghost Rig”.

Christopher Eccleston was born in Salford in 1964. In 1991 he played Derek Bentley in “Let Him Have It”. Other film appearances include “Shallow Grave”, “Jude” and “Elizabeth”. In 1996 he starred on television with Daniel Craig, Mark Strong and Gina McKee in “Our Friends in the North” and of course as “Dr Who”.

TCM Overview:

The off-beat, yet oddly handsome, Christopher Eccleston first came to prominence as the mentally-challenged teenage accused murderer Derek Bentley in the based-on-fact “Let Him Have It” (1991) before going on to play an assortment of intense, deeply conflicted characters. He really achieved big screen prominence with his expert portrayals of the dour, almost psychotic accountant in the snarky thriller “Shallow Grave” (1994) and the titular stonemason in “Jude” (1996), directed by Michael Winterbottom, as well as the plotting Duke of Norfolk in the Oscar-nominated Best Picture “Elizabeth” (1998).

A product of the Manchester area, the rangy Eccleston was raised on a council estate and concentrated on playing sports while growing up. At age 16, he worked as a manual laborer and later in a warehouse. On a lark, he enrolled in a drama class at Salford Technical College where he landed a romantic lead in a play. Although he was miscast, the experience fueled his desire to perform and to the surprise of many, Eccleston landed a spot at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. When he graduated, he faced a long stretch of unemployment during which he held done a variety of odd jobs, and, as he told one interviewer, “the rejection fired a determination in me.” Eventually he was cast in the small role of Pablo Gonzales in “A Streetcar Named Desire” in his first professional stage appearance at the Bristol Old Vic in 1988. Eventually he landed parts at the National Theatre in productions of “Bent” and “Abingdon Square” before portraying Bentley in “Let Him Have It”. The latter was a cause celebre in England for years, as many felt Bentley (who had the mental capacity of an 11-year-old) was wrongly put to death for his role in the murder of a police officer. Eccleston earned praise for his skillful, moving turn as the youth.

What followed for the actor were a string of film roles that played on his unusual looks (he once described himself as a “fallen gargoyle”) and his intense demeanor. Before co-starring with Ewen McGregor and Kerry Fox in “Shallow Grave”, Eccleston had spent a season playing a young policeman in “Cracker” (ITV, 1993-94), written by Jimmy McGovern. Although he grew weary of the grind of series work, the actor welcomed the challenge of playing his dramatic exit from the series, stabbed and left to die while communicating via radio. Eccleston also played the leads in two McGovern-scripted TV dramas, the autobiographical “Hearts and Minds” (1995) and the based-on-fact “Hillsborough” (1996). In 1996, he also co-starred in the nine-part “Our Friends in the North”, which traced the relationship of four pals over thirty years (from the mid-60s to the mid-90s).

Back on the big screen, Eccleston turned in an intriguing performance as an Hassidic Jew with sexual designs on his sister-in-law in “A Price Above Rubies” (1998) and then demonstrated his range portraying a transplant recipient in the McGovern-scripted “Heart” (1999). He was particularly effective as a mobster in the remake of “Gone in Sixty Seconds” (2000), but perhaps had his best screen role in years in “The Invisible Circus” (2001). He was well-cast as Wolf, a political radical in the 1960s who romances a free-spirited American (Cameron Diaz) who eight years later is forced to confront his past by the woman’s now-grown younger sister (Jordana Brewster).

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Domhnall Gleeson was born in Dublin in 1983. His father is the reknowned actor Brendan Gleeson. Domhnall has acted with the famed Druid Theatre in Galway. He starred on Broadway in Martin McDonagh’s “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”. On film he has starred in “Studs”, the remake of “True Grit” and played Bill Weasley in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”

.TCM Overview:

Once you get past the intimidating-looking name (hint: it rhymes with tonal) and his impressive pedigree (his father is well-known Irish actor Brendan Gleeson), it’s easy to see why the multi-talented Domhnall Gleeson has become so successful. Though he initially resisted becoming an actor, early appearances in two U.K. miniseries, “Rebel Heart” (BBC, 2001) and “The Last Furlong” (RTE, 2005), eventually gave way to roles in plays such as David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” and Martin McDonagh’s “The Lieutenant of Inishmore.” Projects like his 2009 self-written directorial debut, the short film “What Will Survive Us,” and his stint as a writer and performer on the Irish sketch-comedy series “Your Bad Self” (RTE, 2010) fueled Gleeson’s creativity, while his role as Bill Weasley in the epic “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” (2010) and “Part 2” (2011), along with memorable performances in “Never Let Me Go” (2010) and “True Grit” (2010), provided international exposure. After a strong 2012 that found him in both “Shadow Dancer” and “Anna Karenina,” it seemed like the once-reluctant Domhnall Gleeson finally became comfortable with being an actor.

Born in Dublin in the spring of 1983, Gleeson grew up watching his father, Brendan, leave behind a successful teaching career to pursue his love of acting. His initial protests of following in his footsteps died away when a particularly nervy speech, delivered while accepting an award on behalf of his father, landed him an agent. After studying media arts at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Gleeson made his acting debut in 2001’s “Rebel Heart,” a BBC miniseries about Ireland’s struggle for independence. He balanced the occasional film and TV appearance with long stretches on stage in both London’s West End and New York’s Broadway, and in 2006 earned a Tony nomination for his lead role as Davey in the violently political “The Lieutenant of Inishmore.”

But every high has a low and Gleeson was determined to create his own opportunities when none were being offered. In 2009 he wrote and directed the short film “What Will Survive of Us,” before joining “Your Bad Self” in 2010 as a writer and lead actor. His hard work paid off that year when he appeared in a trio of high-profile films: first as the eldest Weasley brother in the opening half of the Harry Potter franchise’s final installment; then as a restless clone in the adaptation of “Never Let Me Go;” and finally as an unlucky gunslinger in the Coen Brothers’ critically acclaimed western, “True Grit.” After reprising his role in the 2011 finale to the Harry Potter series, Gleeson re-united with two of his “Never Let Me Go” co-stars in 2012: Andrea Riseborough and Keira Knightley. In “Shadow Dancer” he portrayed an IRA member who’s suspicious his that sister (Riseborough) has been flipped; and in the Russian epic “Anna Karenina,” starring Knightley as the title aristocrat, he played the anxious landowner, Konstantin Levin. He next starred opposite Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy in the Richard Curtis time-travel romantic comedy-drama “About Time” (2013). This mainstream film was followed by a quirkier role opposite Michael Fassbender (wearing a giant papier-mache cartoon head) in “Frank” (2014), a Sundance favorite inspired by the life of Chris Sievey, a British post-punk musician who created a cartoon alter ego named Frank Sidebottom.

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Ruth Gemmell was born in 1967 in Durham. She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts. Currently starring in the hit World War Two drama n UTV, “Homefires”.

“Wikipedia” entry:

Ruth Gemmell was born in Darlington, County Durham, England. She has three brothers.^[1] She attended an all-girls’ school in Darlington called Polam Hall.^[1] Her parents divorced when she was a child and she moved with her mother to Darlington from Barnard Castle. Later she moved to London, to live with her father, to pursue her acting dream. She states; “I moved to London because I assumed you had to go to drama school there…I didn’t know any better. Having not lived with my dad before I thought it was an ideal opportunity, which is crazy now!”^[2]

She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Gemmell has played a variety of roles mainly in theatres plus TV dramas. She played the leading female role in the 1997 film Fever Pitch starring opposite Colin Firth^[3] and had another leading role in the comedy/drama January 2nd (2006).

In 2004 she starred in Tracy Beaker’s Movie of Me as the mother of the title character, who abandoned her when she was a baby, leading her to spend life in a children’s home.

From January 2009 she became a recurring character in EastEnders as Debra Dean, the mother of a teenage girl who, identically to her role in Tracy Beaker’s Movie of Me, abandoned her daughter when she was an infant.

In August 2009, she starred as Rebecca Sands in two episodes of The Bill.^[4]

Ruth has appeared three times in the BBC’s police drama Waking the Dead, playing two different characters. Her first appearance was in 2002 in the episode Special Relationships as DI Jess Worral, a former lover of DSI Boyd. She next appeared in the episode Sins of seventh season in 2008 as Linda Cummings, an exceptionally intelligent serial killer. Gemmell reprised the role of Cummings in Endgame, the fourth episode of the eighth season of the show. The storyline had Cummings manipulating Boyd and revealed that Cummings’ accomplice was responsible for the drugs overdose that killed Boyd’s son Luke. The role reprisal of Cummings is a first in the show’s history.

Gemmell’s ex-husband Ray Stevenson has also appeared in the show as consultant child abductor in the episode Fugue State.

Ruth starred in Episode 8 of Jimmy McGovern‘s BBC drama Moving On playing the role of Joanne, in November 2010.^[5]

In November 2011, Ruth played Lady Shonagon in the adaptation for BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour of “The Pillow Book”, by Robert Forrest. She appeared as Jen, the wife of an adulterous civil servant, in Channel 4 drama Utopia, in early 2013.

The above “Wikipedia” entry can also be accessed online here.

Anjelina Jolie was born in 1975 in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of noted film actor Jon Voight. In 1999 she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Girl Interrupted”. Among her other films are “Lara Craft, Tomb Raider” and “Mr & Mrs Smith”. She is married to actor Brad Pitt.

TCM overview:

From Hollywood wild child to Academy Award winner to U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, actress Angelina Jolie underwent a series of metamorphoses over the course of her much-storied life and career. Both strikingly beautiful and exceedingly talented, Jolie – who was the daughter of Jon Voight – earned her first acclaim in the television movie “Gia” (HBO, 1998). She quickly developed a reputation for her outrageous off-camera antics, leading to a tabloid fascination that blossomed with her high-profile marriage to Billy Bob Thornton. After winning the Oscar for “Girl, Interrupted” (1999) and starring in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001), Jolie transformed herself into a celebrity humanitarian, traveling to war-torn parts of the world like Cambodia and Darfur. Around that time, she adopted an orphaned child from Cambodia, setting a precedent for other high-profile adoptions from Ethiopia and Vietnam. All throughout, Jolie continued to star in a wide variety of films like “The Good Shepherd” (2006), “A Mighty Heart” (2007), “Changeling” (2008), “Wanted” (2008) and “Salt” (2010). Despite critical debacles like “The Tourist” (2010), Jolie maintained her status as one of Hollywood’s most bankable actresses.

The daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie (Voight) was born on Jun. 4, 1975 in Los Angeles. Like her older brother by two years, director James Haven (Voight), Jolie seemed destined for a career in the arts. At the age of 11, she began studying at the famed Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York City. Even before commencing her formal training, Jolie made her screen debut as a tyke in a bit part in the Hal Ashby-directed comedy “Lookin’ to Get Out” (1982). While reviewers savaged the movie – which was co-scripted and co-produced by her father – its littlest thespian fortunately emerged unscathed. The experience briefly turned young Angelina off of show business – she even briefly considered going into funeral directing for a time – but because it was in her blood, she eventually bounced back.

With two extremely photogenic parents, it came as no surprise that Jolie inherited gorgeous good looks, with her most striking being her lush lips which made her a standout from all other young girls. Her comeliness allowed her to segue back into show business, first as a professional model, and later, as an actress in music videos. In addition to appearing in five student films directed by her older brother, Jolie became a member of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre Company, where she honed her craft alongside such veteran players as Holly Hunter, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. Jolie made her return to the screen playing a heroic human/machine hybrid in the above-average direct-to-video sci-fi actioner, “Cyborg II: Glass Shadows” (1993), but the entry went virtually unnoticed by critics. Luckily, her flashy role as Kate (a.k.a. ‘Acid Burn’) in the cyber-thriller “Hackers” (1995) garnered her more attention and better notices. Paired with rising young British actor Jonny Lee Miller, Jolie played a teen computer whiz battling an evil genius. “Hackers” fizzled at the box office, but the romantic leads sizzled – both onscreen and off. Jolie and Miller’s chemistry eventually culminated in their wedding in 1996. Though the two would divorce just three years later, Jolie and Miller would remain close friends even after their break-up.

More film work readily followed for Jolie, initially in small-scale character-driven indies. In an indifferently received adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel “Foxfire” (1996), Jolie played a mysterious outsider named Legs Sadovsky – described in Variety as “sort of a female James Dean” – who helps some other teenaged girls stand up for their rights. In Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna’s romantic comedy-drama “Love Is All There Is” (1996), Jolie displayed a humorous and innocent light as half of a pair of star-crossed lovers divided by their families’ feud. That same year, the actress appeared in the high-minded suspense drama “Without Evidence,” playing a drug-addicted teen, and “Mojave Moon,” opposite Danny Aiello. Next came “Playing God” (1997), in which Jolie capably essayed a woman torn between her gangster boyfriend (Timothy Hutton) and a discredited doctor (David Duchovny) in his employ. While the films remained largely unseen by most moviegoers, Jolie received strong notices for each of these projects.

Unlike many feature stars, Jolie showed no compunction about working on the small screen. Case in point: during the late 1990s, the actress appeared in a handful of exceptional made-for-TV productions that effectively allowed her to strut her stuff on her own terms. In 1997, Jolie received top notices for her co-starring turn alongside Annabeth Gish and Dana Delaney as Texas pioneers in the 1997 CBS historical miniseries, “True Women.” Jolie then brought a fiery passion to her portrayal of Cornelia Wallace, the politician’s first wife, in the biographical miniseries “George Wallace” (TNT, 1997). But it was her dazzling turn as another real-life figure – the late supermodel Gia Carangi – that catapulted Jolie into the public consciousness. Jolie’s brave, sensitive performance as the drug-addicted, AIDS-stricken title character in HBO’s excellent biopic “Gia” (1998) brought the beauty widespread critical acclaim. For her efforts, Jolie was twice Emmy-nominated in the supporting category for “George Wallace,” which she lost to co-star Mare Winningham, and in the leading category for “Gia,” which she ended up losing to Ellen Barkin. Fortunately, Jolie received more-than-adequate consolation for her Emmy losses by picking up two back-to-back Golden Globe Awards for both performances.

After this spate of acclaimed television appearances, Jolie found her way back into in films, landing roles that similarly showcased her acting strengths. In 1998, Jolie received special notice for her work in the comedy-drama “Playing By Heart” (1998), as Joan, an outgoing club kid smitten with the sullen Keenan (Ryan Phillippe). Vivid and engaging, Jolie easily held her own among an ensemble cast featuring such luminaries as Gena Rowlands and Sean Connery. The following year, the actress joined John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton in Mike Newell’s Big Apple-set comedy about air traffic controllers, “Pushing Tin” (1999). Jolie later got her feet wet in the increasingly crowded crime-drama pond playing a tough rookie cop assisting a quadriplegic detective (Denzel Washington) in “The Bone Collector” (1999), a flawed, but well-acted serial killer thriller directed by Philip Noyce. Jolie finally rounded out the year by landing the much sought after co-starring role of the disturbed Lisa Rowe in “Girl, Interrupted.” Based on author Susanna Kaysen’s best-selling memoir of her own two-year stay in a psychiatric hospital, Jolie’s showy turn as the sociopathic inmate netted Jolie a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

The actress continued portraying tough young women on the big screen. In the flashy but unfulfilling car heist thriller “Gone in 60 Seconds” (2000), Jolie crackled in scenes even opposite notorious scene-stealing star, Nicolas Cage. Jolie’s next project was as the flesh-and-blood embodiment of the titular adventuress in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001). Based on the wildly popular “Tomb Raider” video game franchise, Lara Croft launched an Indiana Jones-style adventure series which failed to impress critics, but racked up a healthy box office take. The film also marked Jolie’s first adult collaboration with her father, Jon Voight, who played her character’s father in the film.

Back on the career front, Jolie seemed a bit unfocused in her next two features. Starring opposite Antonio Banderas in the dismal noir-wannabe “Original Sin” (2001), Jolie came off less than committed, despite some steamy erotic sequences. Her follow-up, the dramatic vehicle “Life or Something Like It” (2002), in which she played a superficial, platinum blonde newscaster forced to examine her existence more closely, also died quickly. J

The actress returned to familiar territory for her comeback screen vehicle, the sequel “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” (2003), a lackluster follow-up to a lackluster first outing. Reflecting their off-screen internecine tensions, Voight, did not reprise his role in this second follow-up. “Cradle of Life” was followed by a turn in the too-righteous political/romantic drama “Beyond Borders” (2003). After this came a dangerous foray into Ashley Judd territory with a starring role in the routine thriller “Taking Lives” (2004), in which Jolie played an FBI profiler caught up in dangerous and erotic intrigue. Signing up for another purely commercial vehicle, the actress adopted another rich accent as she cheekily played the eye patch-sporting Captain Frankie Cook, the leader of an all-female amphibious attack squadron, in the retro action-adventure “Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow” (2004). Cast opposite Jude Law and fellow Oscar winner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jolie joined the CGI-laden action-adventure battling giant robots in an Art Deco environment. Jolie then lent her voice to the finny femme fatale, Lola, in DreamWorks’ CGI-animated underwater underworld opus “A Shark’s Tale” (2004). Finally, Jolie closed out the year with a bizarrely seductive turn as Alexander’s mother, Olympias, who raises her son to believe in his impressive destiny, in Oliver Stone’s historical epic, “Alexander the Great,” which bombed at the box office.

Jolie’s profile as both a movie star and public figure rose to even more epic proportions when she co-starred with the equally lovely actor Brad Pitt in the Doug Liman-helmed actionfest “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005). In it, the actors played a bored married couple who are actually rival assassins, each hired to kill the other.

Taking a page from the playbook of the late Audrey Hepburn, Jolie began using her celebrity status to bring attention to such humanitarian causes as the plight of violence-torn nations – something she began doing around the time she made “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” As their relationship gradually emerged in the public eye, Pitt began to accompany Jolie on her missions of mercy to third world nations and grow ever more attached to her son, Maddox. Away from the screen, Jolie expressed a dedication and commitment to increasing awareness and aid to counties devastated by internal and external conflicts, disease and third world conditions. In 2001, after the actress made several trips to the war-torn nations of Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Pakistan, Jolie had been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It was during one of these trips that in 2005, she adopted an infant daughter from an Ethiopian orphanage whom she named Zahara. Later that year, surprising the world at large, Pitt petitioned to adopt the two children as his own. A year later, on May 27, 2006, Jolie and Pitt welcomed their biological firstborn child into the world, daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. Clearly serious about starting a family, in March 2007, Jolie and Pitt made headlines once again by adopting a fourth child, a three-year-old boy from Vietnam whom they named Pax. And no one was surprised when the couple gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.

Returning to the big screen later that summer, Jolie next starred as Marianne Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, in the gripping drama “A Mighty Heart” (2007). Though Jolie’s casting initially sparked a furor of controversy among minority groups, as Marianne Pearl was of Afro-Cuban/Dutch ancestry, much of the complaints dissipated upon the film’s release. Hailed by many as quite possibly the boldest performance of her career, Jolie’s portrayal of Marianne Pearl was rooted in dignity and reflected a tragic truthfulness free of exploitative sentimentality. Unfortunately, the serious film was released during the summer box office season, rendering it lost amidst all the big-budget special effect movies. Also that year, Jolie became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, then received the International Rescue Committee’s annual Freedom Award for her contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom.

Back on the big screen, Jolie starred in the high-action comic book thriller, “Wanted” (2008), playing a supersensory assassin who mentors an office-bound wimp (James McAvoy), turning him into a highly skilled member of a centuries-old order of hit men. Following a leading voice role as Tigress in the blockbuster animated family comedy, “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), Jolie returned to Oscar-caliber form with “Changeling” (2008), a period thriller inspired by true events directed by Clint Eastwood. Jolie played a distressed mother taking on the Los Angeles Police Department in 1928 when her son mysteriously reappears after having gone missing. Sure that the boy is not her son and in search of answers, she fights a corrupt bureaucracy that tries to publicly declare her unfit and delusional. Jolie’s strong performance earned her nominations at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards for Best Actress.

Jolie returned to blockbuster prominence as the star of “Salt” (2010), a fast-paced spy thriller in which she played a dedicated CIA agent forced to go on the run after she is accused of being a Russian mole. A box-office hit during a busy summer, “Salt” was notable for being originally written for a male lead. She next starred in another espionage thriller, “The Tourist” (2010), playing a mysterious British woman who pulls an unwitting American (Johnny Depp) vacationing in Italy into a whirlwind of intrigue and danger. Though attractively filmed, “The Tourist” was blasted by most critics for its slow plot and lack of chemistry between the leads. Regardless, the movie earned unexpected Golden Globe nominations for both Jolie and Depp. After once again voicing Tigress in “Kung Fu Panda 2” (2011), she made her directorial debut with “In the Land of Blood and Honey” (2011), a love story between a Serbian soldier (Gora Kostic) and a Bosnian prisoner (Zana Marjanovic) that played out against the backdrop of the Bosnian War. Also in 2011, Jolie was recognized for her decade of service as the U.N.’s Goodwill Ambassador, while the following year she and Pitt announced their official engagement in April.

Andrew Garfield was born in California in 1983 and raised in the the U.K. HIs films include “Lion for Lambs” in 2007 with Robert Redford, “The Other Boylen Girl” and “The Social Network”. Won praise for his performance in television’s “Red Riding Trilogy” as journalist Eddie Dunford in 2009.

TCM Overview:

Andrew Garfield rose from relative obscurity to the Hollywood forefront after he was picked to play Peter Parker for a reboot of the blockbuster “Spider-Man” franchise. The theater-trained actor captivated British audiences, playing an ex-convict who served time for a juvenile crime in the made-for-TV movie “Boy A” (Channel 4, 2007), and in the dystopian drama “Never Let Me Go” (2010), opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan. Garfield gave strong supporting performances alongside such legendary actors as Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in “Lions for Lambs” (2007), and honed his craft under the direction of visionary filmmakers David Fincher and Terry Gilliam. Garfield proved to be Hollywood’s best-kept secret when he was announced as Tobey Maguire’s heir to the Spidey suit for a 2010 film. The coveted role came with considerable pressure and scrutiny, yet Garfield handled his task with the conviction and talent of a more seasoned actor.

Andrew Russell Garfield was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 20, 1983. At the age of four, his family moved to England, where the future star was brought up in the town of Epsom, Surrey. Garfield attended the City of London Freemen’s School in Ashtead, and later trained at the city’s Central School of Speech and Drama. Much like his contemporaries, he began his career on stage, performing at the Royal Exchange Theater in Manchester and garnering accolades such as a MEN Theater Award in 2004 for his role in “Kes,” as well as being named outstanding newcomer at the 2006 Evening Standard Theater Awards. Garfield made his onscreen debut in the short film “Mumbo Jumbo” (2005), a comedy about a suburban kidnapping gone awry, before landing minor roles in various British programs such as “Sugar Rush” (Channel 4, 2005- ) and the sci-fi hit, “Doctor Who” (BBC, 2005- ). Garfield made a leap to a starring role in “Boy A,” where he played a young ex-con who was released from prison after serving for a murder he committed as a child. The role earned him a best actor BAFTA in 2008.

Garfield quickly graduated to the big leagues when he was cast in the political drama “Lions for Lambs” (2007), as an American college student opposite Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. The film’s heavyweight star power was not enough to carry it commercially and it received mixed reviews, yet it also launched relative newcomer Garfield’s career to new heights. That same year, Variety named him one of Hollywood’s “10 Actors to Watch.” He briefly returned to British television, appearing in the acclaimed “Red Riding” miniseries (Channel 4, 2009), before co-starring in Gilliam’s epic fantasy “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (2009). Garfield played a sleight-of-hand expert and the assistant to a sideshow ringleader (Christopher Plummer). Buzz for the film was punctuated by Heath Ledger’s untimely death mid-way through production, and the very public casting of three actors – Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law – who were brought in to fill his role. The highly publicized film received lukewarm reception stateside, but Garfield’s talent and screen presence thrust him closer and closer to the spotlight.

In 2010, Garfield co-starred opposite fellow British breakouts Knightley and Mulligan in director Mark Romanek’s stylized thriller “Never Let Me Go.” The film followed three boarding school friends who reunite years later, only to discover a grim truth: they are clones, born and raised for the sole purpose of providing organs for transplants. That same year, he portrayed Eduardo Saverin, one of the co-founders of Facebook, in “The Social Network,” based on Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. The film also starred a who’s-who of young Hollywood talents, including Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg and Rashida Jones. Amidst widespread praise of both the film and its many well-acted performances, Garfield earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

Garfield hit the career jackpot in July 2010 after he was chosen to portray Peter Parker in a new “Spider-Man” film franchise. Several young actors were reportedly considered for the iconic role, including Zac Efron, Logan Lerman and Jamie Bell. An international press conference held in Cancun, Mexico revealed Garfield as the new Peter Parker, taking over the role from Tobey Maguire, who had starred in the first three films between 2002 and 2007. Clearing up any doubts as to whether the newcomer could take on the highly coveted role, the film’s director Mark Webb said Garfield had “a rare combination of intelligence, wit and humanity,” which he promised audien online here.ces would love. The fourth installment of the “Spider-Man” series, which focused on the character’s origins, was scheduled for a July 2012 release.

TCM overview can also be accessed here.

Nick Berry was born in 1963 in Woodford. He first came to fame for his performance as ‘Wicksey’ in “Eastenders” from 1985 until 1990. In 1992 he began a six year run in the very popular ITV series “Heartbeat”. His most recent series was “In Deep” which ran from 2001 until 2003. His films include “Forever Young” in 1983 and “Paparazzo” in 1995.

“MailOnline” article:

When Nick Berry gets stopped in the street, the questions are usually the same. ‘It’s, “Didn’t you used to be on EastEnders?”, or, “Are you that bloke from Heartbeat?”‘ he smiles. ‘People aren’t always sure.’

The answer, in both cases, is yes, and although it may seem a long time ago now, between the mid-Eighties and late Nineties Berry was barely off our screens.

After springing to fame as Simon Wicks in EastEnders in 1985, Berry left in 1990 and decamped to the Yorkshire Dales for a six year stint as Heartbeat’s Sergeant Nick Rowan, before taking on the role of harbour master Mike Nicholls in Harbour Light.

Stay-at-home dad: Nick Berry left acting to focus on his family

There was even a brief pop career too: in 1986 Berry released a single, Every Loser Wins, which became the second biggest-selling record in the UK that year.

And then – nothing. Save for a stint in the early Noughties filming police drama In Deep alongside Stephen Tompkinson, Berry disappeared from view, turning his back on acting aged 39 to become a stay-at-home father to his two sons Louis, now 16, and 13-year-old Finley.

Today, nearly ten years on, not only are there no regrets, but Berry insists he has no desire to throw his hat back in the ring. ‘I chose to be a stay-at-home dad and have loved it. I always said that when the boys were teenagers I could go back, but the longer you don’t do something the harder it is to do it, and I haven’t really missed it. While I’d never say never, I’m genuinely happy as I am.’

We’re only meeting today because In Deep has been released on DVD.

Filmed in 2002, the series was effectively Berry’s swan song, and he admits to being taken aback by its resurfacing now.

‘I was in my garden tending my peas when I got a call saying, “We’re going to bring it out again” and I thought, “That seems an awfully long time ago.”‘

Those with long memories will recall that Berry was a genuine screen heart-throb in his time, besieged at the BBC studios where EastEnders was filmed by hoards of screaming women.

It was fun for a time, he admits, but marriage in 1994 to former Levi jeans model Rachel Robertson, now 39, and fatherhood changed his perspective.

‘The job was great,’ he says. ‘You’re driven everywhere, fed every five minutes and told what to do and where to go. What I struggled with was that the boys were very young and I felt like I was away filming all the time. I’d been blessed with these little people and yet I wasn’t really there. I realised I wanted to be at home.’

Of course, cynics may point out that Berry didn’t exactly bow out at the top of his game – Harbour Lights struggled to attract viewers – but by then he had the money to do so.

‘I was rewarded amazingly well for what I did,’ he admits. ‘It was that Eighties/Nineties thing when no one thought it was going to end and people were throwing money around. I was very lucky.’

At one point, he was rumoured to have been offered a £2 million golden-handcuffs deal by EastEnders executives when he resigned in the late Eighties, and he’s amassed an estimated £5 million from his time in the spotlight – certainly enough to fund a rambling house in Epping, Essex, and a beach house in Hove where he boasts Norman Cook and Zoe Ball as neighbours.

‘We all say hello, it’s pretty friendly,’ he says. ‘In the summer, we’re all out playing with our kids on the beach. It’s very chilled-out.’

Despite his spectacular screen success, east London-born Berry says he wasn’t a natural actor. ‘I was never that comfortable in the spotlight. Some of the egos you can do without. A lot of actors take themselves so seriously but, by and large, you’re getting paid to show off.’

Berry is too discreet to identify any culprits, although one must assume that, given his formative years in the soap, he must count some of his former EastEnders castmates among their number.

Although he has a drink from time to time with former cast mates Sid Owen, who played Ricky, and Todd Carty, who played Mark Fowler, he admits that ‘You can’t keep up with everyone.’

Shunning the spotlight certainly seems to suit him: at 48, he is trim and tanned – a product, he says, of long hours in the garden.

‘I’ve basically turned into my dad. I’ve got a shed and a vegetable patch, and I’m pleased to report my peas are doing very well. I’m at my happiest there.’

He and Rachel celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary this year and have been together for nearly two decades. Berry clearly adores his wife, to whom he refers as his ‘soul mate’.

The two of them are business partners too, having set up a production company several years ago, though Berry jokes that it’s ‘not terribly productive’ at the moment. I

n time, however, he says he might be persuaded to work behind the camera, if he finds a project that suits them both. ‘To be honest, I was luckier than I ever thought I would be,’ he says. ‘So, while everything in the garden’s rosy, I’ll carry on growing my peas.’

In Deep is out now on DVD

The above “MailOnline” article can also be accessed online here.

Collection of Contemporary Actors

Craig Cash

Keanu Reeves

Jamie Bamber

Christopher Eccleston

Domhnall Gleeson

Ruth Gemmell

Anjelina Jolie

Andrew Garfield

Nick Berry

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