James Purefoy

James Purefoy
Purefoy as Mark Antonyin RomeBorn June 3, 1964(1964-06-03) (age 44)
Taunton, Somerset

James Brian Mark Purefoy[1] (born June 3, 1964) is an English actor.

1 Biography.
- 1.1 Early life and work
2 Career
3 Filmography
4 References
5 External links

Biography.

Early life and work

Purefoy was born in Taunton, Somerset. He was a boarder at Sherborne School which he left with only one O-level. Later he went to night school and got 11 more, then took his A-levels.[2] He then studied acting at the British drama school the Central School of Speech and Drama, while selling, with difficulty, copies of the Socialist Worker in his spare time.[2]

Career

Purefoy's early professional roles included Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in Leatherhead, Walter in Mary Morgan at the Riverside Studios and Alan Strang in Equus on tour.

The RSC and other stage work

Purefoy subsequently joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1988 and appeared in The Constant Couple, Macbeth, The Tempest, The Man Who Came to Dinner (Gene Saks, Barbican) and King Lear as Edgar.

Elsewhere, he has also appeared as Laertes in Hamlet at the Bristol Old Vic (1991) Brian in William Gaminara's Back Up the Hearse and Let them Sniff the Flowers at the Hampstead Theatre (1992), Roland Maule in Noel Coward's Present Laughter at the Globe Theatre (1993), Biff in Death of a Salesman, alongside Ken Stott and Jude Law, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (1994), Tony in The Servant at the Birmingham Rep (1995). He returned to the RSC for Simon Callow's stage adaptation of the film classic, Les enfants du paradis at the Barbican. He also played Hugh de Morville in Paul Corcoran's Four Nights in Knaresborough at the Tricycle Theatre, (1999) and Loveless in Trevor Nunn's production of The Relapse at the National Theatre in 2001.

Film and television

His appearances in films and television have predominated. He played James McCarthy, a young man accused of murdering his father, in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," in Granada's The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. One of his notable roles was as Nicholas Jenkins in the eight-part miniseries A Dance to the Music of Time for Channel 4 in 1997. He played Edward, the Black Prince in the film A Knight's Tale.

He has played major roles in several television costume dramas, including Sharpe's Sword, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Prince and the Pauper, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Blackbeard: Terror at Sea, Beau Brummell: This Charming Man and Rome.

Rome

He plays Mark Antony in the HBO/BBC original television series, Rome. His full frontal nudity in episode four of the series caused a sensation among the show's viewers. When his Wikipedia entry was brought up in an interview with Alastair McKay, published in the January 2007 issue of Out magazine, Purefoy said, "I won't say whose it was, but there was a penis in the series that may have been slightly enhanced. But it wasn't mine. Mine's all mine, I'm afraid."[3]

The Saint

Producer William J. MacDonald announced that James Purefoy will play Simon Templar in a new TV series of The Saint. The new series is scheduled to start shooting in Berlin and Australia in April of 2008.[4]

Lost roles

Purefoy was attached to star in the 2005 film V for Vendetta, but was replaced by Hugo Weaving. (Both Purefoy and Weaving starred in the 1998 gay British comedy, Bedrooms and Hallways.) It was later revealed that Hugo Weaving had been originally first choice for the film, but was involved in the Australian film Eucalyptus. Later, production of Eucalyptus had been halted, freeing up Weaving, and Purefoy had willingly left V for Vendetta because the Guy Fawkes mask made him extremely uncomfortable.[5]

Purefoy was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for Goldeneye,[6] but ultimately lost the role to Pierce Brosnan. Throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as agent 007 in future James Bond films. Rumors and speculation suggested that Purefoy's departing of V for Vendetta was due to an opportunity to play James Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale.[7] However, this news was confirmed to be false when Daniel Craig was announced as the new James Bond. In the commentary track of the A Knight's Tale special edition DVD, director Brian Helgeland stated his opinion that Purefoy would be the perfect choice to play the "next" James Bond, well before Purefoy was being considered for the Casino Royale role.

In March 2007, Celtic Films indicated on their website that they have a series of Flashman TV films in development, based on the popular fictional series of novels of the same name by George Macdonald Fraser. Picture Palace Productions announced they were developing Flashman at the Charge, (the fourth novel in the series of twelve), for TV[1] in conjunction with Celtic Films and that the script was prepared by George Macdonald Fraser himself. Both companies took an extensive role in developing Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe (TV series). Purefoy was rumoured to have provisionally accepted an offer made to play the titular role of Harry Flashman.

Personal life

Purefoy has a son, Joseph (born in 1997), with actress Holly Aird, from whom he separated in 2002. He dated Gwyneth Paltrow for a brief time in 2002 and has also dated Coyote Ugly star Piper Perabo and Cold Feet star Fay Ripley, with whom he spent 11 years.[8]

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes 1992 Angels Victor 1995 Feast of JulyJedd Wainwright Sharpe's SwordCaptain Jack the Lord Spears 1997 Jilting Joe Joe 1998 Bedrooms and HallwaysBrendan 1999 Mansfield ParkTom Bertram Women Talking Dirty Daniel 2000 LighthouseRichard Spader Maybe BabyCarl Phipps The Wedding Tackle Hal Don QuixoteSansón Carrasco 2001 Tomorrow Andrew Spender A Knight's TaleSir Thomas Colville/Edward, the Black Prince of Wales2002 Resident EvilSpence Parks 2003 Photo Finish James Lena: The Bride of Ice Dr. Harper 2004 George and the DragonGeorge BlessedCraig Howard Vanity FairRawdon Crawley 2005-2007 RomeMark Antony 2005 Blackbeard: Terror at Sea2006 Goose on the Loose Kenneth Donnelly Beau Brummell: This Charming Man Beau Brummell2007 Doctor Who, audio drama Son of the Dragon Dracula2008 Solomon Kane Solomon Kanepost-production