My Best Friend's Wedding

Background:

British actor Rupert Everett is well associated with his role of George Downes on the successful romantic comedy “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997), which starred Julia Roberts. For his good acting, he collected an American Comedy Award, a Satellite Award, a Blockbuster Entertainment Award, a London Critics Circle Film Award and a Golden Globe nomination. Everett took home his next Golden Globe nomination for portraying Lord Goring in the motion picture version of “An Ideal Husband” (1999). First gaining attention as Guy Bennett in Julian Mitchell's play “Another Country” (1981, earned a London Critics' Circle Theatre Award) and the subsequent feature film adaptation (1984), Everett developed a promising film career in the mid 1980s with work in “Dance With a Stranger” (1985) and “Duet for One” (1986), but received little success with “Hearts of Fire” (1987). He primarily stayed under the radar during the early 1990s until he was cast in “Ready to Wear” and “The Madness of King George” (both 1994). After his victory in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997), Everett remain in the limelight with strong performances in such films as “Shakespeare in Love” (1999), “Inspector Gadget” (1999), “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (1999), “The Next Best Thing” (2000), “The Importance of Being Ernest” (2002), “Stage Beauty” (2004), “A Different Loyalty” (2004), “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking” (2004, TV), “Stardust” (2007), “St. Trinian's” (2007) and the 2009 sequel “St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.” As a voice actor, Everett was heard in “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” (2002), “Shrek 2” (2004), “Shrek the Third” (2007) and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005).

Off camera, Everett is openly gay. He resides in London, New York, Paris and Miami and speaks English, Italian and French.

Rebellious Youth

Childhood and Family:

Rupert James Hector Everett was born on May 29, 1959, in Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk, England, to British father Anthony Everett, a former army officer, and a Scottish mother named Sarah Everett. He has an older brother named Simon Anthony Cunningham Everett (born in 1956).

A rebel at a young age, Rupert was educated at the Catholic boarding schools Farleigh School in Hampshire and Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, where he studied under the guidance of Benedictine monks. At Ampleforth, he was trained classically on the piano and actively participated in drama. He and classmate Julian Wadham, a future playwright, excelled in playing female roles during school play auditions. By age 15, Rupert had decided to leave school to chase theater studies. He enrolled at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, but was expelled in his sophomore year because of insubordination. He then flew to Milan and briefly worked as a model before eventually landing an acting job at the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland.

An Ideal Husband

Career:

19 year old Rupert Everett made his stage debut at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre with a walk-on role in “Don Juan” (1978). His breakthrough stage role arrived several years later when he starred as Guy Bennett in the 1981 production of Julian Mitchell's “Another Country” at London's Greenwich Theatre. The performance won the newcomer a London Critics' Circle Theatre award for Most Promising New Actor of 1980. The following year, Everett starred in the Academy Award winning short “A Shocking Accident,” helmed by James Scott. He branched out to television with guest spots in “Strangers,” “Play for Today” and “The Agatha Christie Hour.”

After making his TV film debut in “Princess Daisy” (NBC, 1983), opposite Lindsay Wagner and Robert Urich, the handsome actor branched out to feature films with the lead role in the movie “Real Life” (1984), which was co-written and directed by Francis Megahy. He first gained recognition on the big screen when he recreated his stage role of Guy Bennett in the 1984 movie adaptation of “Another Country,” opposite Colin Firth as Tommy Judd. Directed by Marek Kanievska, the film premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and won Best Artistic Contribution. For his acting job, Everett received a BAFTA nomination for Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film.

Still in 1984, Everett portrayed George Garforth in the TV miniseries “The Far Pavilion” and Lancelot in the CBS TV film “Arthur the King” (1985). The latter film was directed by Clive Donner and starred Malcolm McDowell. Everett returned to features with the romantic role of David Blakeley, Miranda Richardson's lover, in the critically acclaimed biopic “Dance With a Stranger” (1985), directed by Mike Newell. It was followed by roles in Andrei Konchalovsky's “Duet for One” (1986), alongside his idol Julie Andrews, the Italian feature film adaptation of “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” (1987), for director Francesco Rosi, and the independent drama “The Right Hand Man” (1987), opposite Hugo Weaving. Everett, however, had to deal with a massive dud with “Hearts of Fire” (1987), which was basically a vehicle for Bob Dylan based on his success as a rock musician. Playing singer James Colt, Everett sang several songs on the film's soundtrack. Around the same time, the actor recorded and released the pop album “Generation of Loneliness,” managed by Simon Napier-Bell. The record, however, did not attract much attention.

After the setback, Everett moved to Paris in the late 1980s. During the same period, he came out of the closet as a homosexual, a risky decision that turned out to be a good career move for the actor. In 1990, he resurfaced in the drama film “The Comfort of Strangers,” where he, with Natasha Richardson, portrayed a British couple. An adaptation of the short novel of the same name by Ian McEwan, the film was helmed by Paul Schrader and scripted by Harold Pinter. He returned to the stage in 1991 when he made his American debut in a Los Angeles production of Noel Coward's “The Vortex.” The same year, he wrote the amusing novel “Hello Darling, Are You Working?”

Two years after supporting Steve Antin and Patricia Arquette in the American comedy “Inside Monkey Zetterland” (1992), Everett starred as Francesco Dellamorte in “Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore)” (1994), an Italian zombie movie directed by Michele Soavi. The film was released in the U.S. in 1996 where it received generally negative reviews from critics and a limited release in theaters. For his work in the film, Everett was handed the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor at the 1996 Fantasporto and the Best Actor Award at the 1997 Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema. He was put back in the limelight with his comic performances in Robert Altman's satirical comedy “Ready to Wear” (1994), from which he shared a National Broad of Review for Best Acting by an Ensemble. He then appeared in Nicholas Hytner's “The Madness of King George” (1994), where he portrayed the Prince of Wales.

1995 saw Everett release his second novel, “The Hairdressers of St. Tropez.” He also reappeared on stage when he starred in Tennessee Williams' “The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore” in 1995 and a Paris production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” in 1996.

It was in 1997 that Everett experienced a huge breakthrough thanks to his scene stealing portrayal of George Downes, Julia Roberts' gay editor, in P.J. Hogan's “My Best Friend's Wedding.” His performance was critically applauded and the actor was awarded an American Comedy for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, a Florida Film Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Satellite for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, a Blockbuster Entertainment for Favorite Supporting Actor - Comedy, and the London Critics Circle Film's ALFS Award for British Supporting Actor of the Year. He was also nominated for Golden Globe, BAFTA, Chlotrudis and Online Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actor and MTV Movie Awards in the categories of Best Comedic Performance and Best Breakthrough Performance.

Following his success on “My Best Friend's Wedding,” Everett had the small, but memorable role of Christopher Marlowe in John Madden's multiple Academy Award winner “Shakespeare in Love” (1999, starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes), costarred as the villainous Dr. Claw, opposite Matthew Broderick, in the moderately successful live action film “Inspector Gadget” (1999) and played King Oberon in the well received feature film adaptation of Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (1999), opposite Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer. Also in 1999, he appeared as Lord Goring in director Oliver Parker's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's “An Ideal Husband,” for which he picked up the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actor at the 1999 Seattle International Film Festival, a Golden Globe nomination Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, a European Film nomination for Best Actor, a Satellite nomination for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Chlotrudis nomination for Best Actor. Costars of the film included Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Julianne Moore and Jeremy Northam.

Entering the new millennium, Everett was cast as Madonna's best friend, Robert Whittaker, in “The Next Best Thing” (2000), where he shared a Razzie nomination for Worst Screen Couple. He also provided backup vocals for the song “American Pie,” which appeared on the film's soundtrack. After starring in the comedy “South Kensington” (2001), he was reunited with director Oliver Parker for “The Importance of Being Ernest” (2002). He then provided the voice of Sloan Blackburn in the American animated film “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” (2002) and played the boyfriend of a murdered pop star in “Unconditional Love” (2002), his next collaboration with director P.J. Hogan.

After starring as Ambassador Ronnie Childers in the NBC made for TV film “Mr. Ambassador” (2003), Everett was cast as King Charles I in the British movie “To Kill a King” (2003), helmed by Mike Barker. He then costarred as Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont in the French language TV miniseries “Les liaisons dangereuses” (2003), opposite Catherine Deneuve, and played King Charles II in Richard Eyre's adaptation of Jeffrey Hatcher's play “Stage Beauty” (2004), opposite Claire Danes and Billy Crudup. The latter role brought the actor London Critics Circle Film's ALFS Award nomination for British Supporting Actor of the Year. He also lent his voice to Prince Charming in the animated film sequel “Shrek 2,” starred as Charles de Poulignac in Fabien Onteniente's comedy “People,” costarred with Sharon Stone in the dramatic film “A Different Loyalty,” and had the title role in the BBC television film “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking,” for which he was nominated for a Satellite Award for Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television (all 2004).

Everett teamed up with Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson for the British drama “Separate Lies” in 2005, the directorial debut of actor/screenwriter Julian Fellowes, and voiced Mr. Fox in the popular film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005). He also appeared as Malcolm Holmes in two episodes of “Boston Legal.” The following years saw roles in Sergei Bondarchuk's adaptation of Mikhail Sholokhov's novel “Quiet Flows the Don” (2006), the fantasy film “Stardust” (2007, as Secundus), based on Neil Gaiman's 1998 novel of the same name, and “St. Trinian's” (2007). He received a National Movie nomination for Best Performance - Male for his work in the latter film. Everett's voice could also be heard in “Shrek the Third” (2007), where he reprised the voice role of Prince Charming.

Following a two year break, Everett revisited the big screen by reprising his role of Headmistress Camilla Fritton in the sequel “St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold” (2009). He then played the unhappy client Ferguson in the Jonathan Lynn directed “Wild Target” (2009), alongside Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint. “Wild Target” was introduced to the American Film Market on November 9, 2009, and will be released in theaters in 2010. Back to stage, Everett made his Broadway debut in a revival of Noel Coward's “Blithe Spirit” (also 2009).

Everett is set to star in the upcoming British comedy film “Hysteria” (2010), helmed by Tanya Wexler.

“One of the great things about getting older is that unemployment becomes more and more fun.” Rupert Everett

Awards:

• Seattle International Film Festival: Golden Space Needle Award, Best Actor, “An Ideal Husband,” 1999

• American Comedy: Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, “My Best Friend's Wedding,” 1998

• Blockbuster Entertainment: Favorite Supporting Actor - Comedy, “My Best Friend's Wedding,” 1998

• Florida Film Critics Circle (FFCC): Best Supporting Actor, “My Best Friend's Wedding,” 1998

• London Critics Circle Film: ALFS Award, British Supporting Actor of the Year, “My Best Friend's Wedding,” 1998

• Golden Satellite: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, “My Best Friend's Wedding,” 1998

• Golden Apple: Male Discovery of the Year, 1997

• Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema: Best Actor, “Dellamorte Dellamore,” 1997

• Fantasporto: International Fantasy Film Award, Best Actor, “Dellamorte Dellamore,” 1996

• National Board of Review (NBR): Best Acting by an Ensemble, “Prêt-à-Porter/Ready to Wear” 1994

• London Critics' Circle Theatre (Drama Theatre Awards): Most Promising New Actor of 1980, “Another Country,” 1981