Jeremy NorthamBirth Place: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK Date of Birth: December 1, 1961 Heritage: British Famous for: His role in 'The Net' (1995) Contact Jeremy Northam | 
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The Net Backgrounds: “All the great novels, all the great films, all the great dramas are fictions that actually tell us the truth about us or about human nature or about human situations without being tied into the minutia of documentary events. Otherwise, we might as well just make documentaries.” Jeremy Northam Tall and slim with dark good looks and a rich voice, British import Jeremy Northam was already launched as a television performer and had extensive stage exposure in his native country, most notably for playing the title role in the National Theatre production of “Hamlet” (1989) and his award-winning portrayal in the West End production of “The Voysey Inheritance” (1990), when he first came to the attention of the American audience with a villainous role, opposite Sandra Bullock, in the cyber thriller The Net (1995). After receiving critical praise in Douglas MacGrath's 1996 adaptation of the Austen novel, Emma, Northam further proved he was a first-class actor with high profile, critically-hailed performances in three films in 1999: the Sundance favorite Happy, Texas, as Steve Zahn's gay lover, the Oliver Parker-helmed An Ideal Husband, as a married politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, and David Mamet's adaptation of Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy, where he played a lawyer. For his efforts, he was handed a London Critics Circle Film Award, an Evening Standard British Film Award and an Edinburgh International Film Festival Award. More recently, Northam was noted for his roles as British actor-composer Ivor Novello in Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001), where he jointly nabbed a SAG Award, a Satellite Award, an Online Film Critics Society Award, a Florida Film Critics Circle Award and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, and Morgan Sullivan in Cypher (2002), from which he netted a Fantasporto-International Fantasy Film Award and a Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival Award. Other film credits include Mimic (1997), The Tribe (1998, TV), Enigma (2001), Possession (2002), Martin & Lewis (2202, TV), Singing Detective (2003), Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius (2004), Guy X (2005), The Payback (2006) and the upcoming The Invasion (2007). As for his private life, Northam is married to Elizabeth Louise Moro.
Childhood and Family: Jeremy Philip Northam was born on December 1, 1961, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, to John Northam (died in 2005), an Ibsen specialist and Cambridge University professor, and Rachel Northam (died in 2000), a potter. At age 11, his family relocated to Bristol and he spent his formative years there with his three older siblings, Christopher, Tim and Kate. Jeremy, known by close friends and family as Jer, attended Bristol Grammar School and upon his graduation, furthered his studies at London University where he majored in English. He quit school as soon as he recognized acting was his true calling and trained formally at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Jeremy was married to Elizabeth Louise Moro in April 2005. Through his brothers and sister, he has ten nieces and nephews. In addition to his flat in Marylebone, Jeremy has a home three miles from the coast of Norfolk, in which he loves to cook fish.
Career: Cambridge-born Jeremy Northam received his first exposure in the theatrical world when he took a backstage job at a local playhouse while growing up in Bristol. The son of a professor, he later left college to start his drama studies at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and following a stint as singing waiter, received his first TV role as Mr. Benson in the TV film remake Suspicion (1987), starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Curtin. This was followed by supporting roles in another British TV version of the WW I drama “Journey's End” (1988) and in the TV miniseries “Piece of Cake” (1987). Also in 1988, he joined the cast of the British espionage series “Wish Me Luck” in the regular role of Colin Beale, a gig he held until 1990. Meanwhile, as an understudy, Northam unexpectedly landed the titular role in the 1989 National Theatre production of “Hamlet,” a role left by Daniel Day-Lewis, who suffered a nervous breakdown before the show began. Northam's portrayal garnered the actor rave reviews and he scored additional success the following year with his excellent interpretation of Edward Voysey in the West End production of “The Voysey Inheritance.” The role brought the actor a 1990 Laurence Olivier Theatre for Most Promising Newcomer. A supporting role in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of “The Gift of the Gorgon,” starring married couple Judi Dench and Michael Williams, followed in 1992. Jeremy also worked in small screen roles and was seen as Rufus Fletcher in the 1992 TV drama A Fatal Inversion, before having his first significant feature role, as Hindley Earnshaw, in the mismatched remake of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1992), which gained a mocking critical response from English critics and was submitted to TV in America (broadcast on TNT in 1994). After costarring with Alan Cumming in the stage play “La Bete” (1993) and appearing in RSC’s production of “Love's Labour's Lost” and “The Country Wife” (both 1994), Northam experienced his big breakthrough when American director Irwin Winkler cast him in a lead role, opposite Sandra Bullock, in the action/thriller film The Net (1995). He gave a strong performance as a suave seductive villain named Jack Devlin, a presentation that subsequently propelled his name in America. Later that same year, he had another wicked role. This time, Jeremy portrayed Beacus Penrose (who beds and leaves the illustrious lady played by Emma Thompson) in the biopic Carrington. However, he left behind the villain typecast to star as real-life hebephrenic composer Peter Warlock in 1995's Voices/Voices From a Locked Room. Northam furthered showed his versatility the next year when he played the significant part of the gallant Mr. Knightley in Douglas MacGrath's adaptation of Emma (1996), based on the novel by Jane Austen of the same name. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow as the titular character, he earned a Chlotrudis nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Next, Northam starred as Mira Sorvino's husband in the big-budget thriller Mimic (1997), found himself appearing with Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997) and portrayed the husband of Parker Posey in the romantic comedy The Misadventures of Margaret (1998). While his on-screen roles gave little challenge to the actor, he made an excellent comeback to British TV as a property developer in the BBC drama The Tribe (1998). His return to the London stage the following year in “Certain Young Men” offered the actor an additional victory. 1999 also proved to be a banner year for Northam, who delivered celebrated performances in three films. He was paired with Steve Zahn in the comedy/crime Happy, Texas, which had its premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, and then played Sir Robert Chiltern, a haunted married politician, in Oliver Parker's An Ideal Husband, opposite Cate Blanchett. In David Mamet's remake of The Winslow Boy, he stood out as the attorney who agrees to represent the title character who was accused of stealing. He won a 2000 London Critics Circle Film for Best Actor for his work in the three movies and an Evening Standard British Film for the latter two. He also picked up a 1999 Edinburgh International Film Festival award for Best British Performance in The Winslow Boy. The same year, he also appeared as a mobster in Sidney Lumet's remake of Gloria (1999), opposite Sharon Stone. Northam costarred as a prince from Italy in the Cannes-premiered The Golden Bowl (2000), the Merchant-Ivory adaptation of Henry James' novel, and was cast as a government operative analyzing a possible spy ring in the Sundance-screened Enigma (2001), which starred Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet, before delivering a bright turn as British actor-composer Ivor Novello in the Robert Altman directed period mystery Gosford Park (2001), from which he shared such honors as a Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, a Satellite for Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble, as well as an Online Film Critics Society, a Florida Film Critics Circle and a Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble Cast. After a supporting turn as 19th-century poet Randolph Henry Ash in Neil LaBute's adaptation of Possession (2002), which reunited him with Paltrow, he once again charmed critics with his role of Morgan Sullivan in the film Cypher (2002), opposite Lucy Liu. He brought home a Fantasporto-International Fantasy Film and a Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival for Best Actor for his work in the movie. Still in 2002, he also had a much-talked about performance as Dean Martin in the CBS biopic Martin & Lewis, opposite Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis. 2003 to 2005 saw roles in films like the Mel Gibson produced adaptation of Singing Detective (2003), alongside Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright Penn and Gibson, the Michale Caine-Tilda Swinton vehicle The Statement (2003), as a French army officer named Roux, the biopic Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius (2004), starring Jim Caviezel as the golf legend, Guy X (2005), which starred Jason Biggs and Natascha McElhon, and the comedy A Cock and Bull Story (2005). In 2006, he starred as a real-estate tycoon in the drama/thriller The Payback. In April 2007, Northam revisited TV series after about 18 years absence by joining the cast of “The Tudors” (2007), a drama about the historic period and marriages of King Henry VIII. The show stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as King Henry VIII, Sam Neill as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and Henry Cavill as Charles Brandon. Northam also has a supporting role in the upcoming action film The Invasion (2007), directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
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