Richard Sharpe

Background:

“He's a fallen hero, a very gentle man under that exterior. He's lived in an environment always ravaged by war and had to be realistic. He wants to use the ring against the enemy instead of destroying it. He doesn't understand the complexities this piece of metal can have on human beings.” Sean Bean on Boromir

One of Britain’s most versatile actors, Sean Bean gained acclaimed for his brilliant performance as Boromir in the Peter Jackson’s conclusion to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, books written by J.R.R. Tolkein). He won a Screen Actors Guild, a National Board of Review and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in 2004. First noticed in Mike Figgis' Stormy (1988), Bean received praise for playing roles in such films as Patriot Games (1992), Golden Eye (1995), Anna Karenina (1997) and Ronin (1998).

On the small screen, Bean was widely known for portraying character Carver Doone in Lorna Doone (1990) and Robert Lovelace in the BBC adaptation of Clarissa (1991). He also delivered good performances as the heartthrob Paul, a compromised photographer in A Woman's Guide to Adultery (1993), the gamekeeper lover Mellors in Lady Chatterley (1993) and his most well known character of Richard Sharpe, the Napoleonic era British soldier in 14 series of television movies adapted from Bernard Cornwell's Peninsular War novels.

Off screen, Bean was once voted the second sexiest man in the UK. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from Sheffield-Hallam University in England in 1997. As for his private life, Bean was once married to childhood sweetheart Debra James, actress Melanie Hill and actress Abigail Cruttenden. He now remains single and enjoys raising his three daughters, Molly (mother Melanie Hill), Lorna (mother Melanie Hill) and Evie Natasha (mother Abigail Cruttenden).

Bean added to his resume such recent films as Don't Say a Word (2001), Tom & Thomas (2002), Equilibrium (2002), The Big Empty (2003), Henry VIII (2003,TV) Troy (2004), National Treasure (2004) and The Dark (2005). Fans will soon enjoy him in The Island (2005), Flightplan (2005), an untitled Niki Caro Project (2005) and Silent Hill (2006).


Football Enthusiast

Childhood and Family:

In Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, Shaun Mark Bean, who would later be famous as Sean Bean, was born on April 17, 1959. The first son of Brian Bean (runs his own business) and Rita Bean (secretary), Sean has a younger sister named Lorraine. He was a stubborn kid who developed his love for football early. He was also began drinker and smoker at an early age. As a teenager, Sean went to the Croft House club, but left the school at age 16. He then had different kinds of jobs like shoveling snow and selling cheese in a supermarket before working as a welder at the steel fabrication shop owned by his father.

Returning to school, Sean enrolled in the Rotherham College of Arts and Technology. Here, he discovered acting while attending a drama class and began performing in several plays at a local theater. In 1981, Sean won a scholarship to study acting more seriously at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). While at RADA, he was involved in a number of school plays like Fear and Miseries of the Third Reich, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Pajama Game, Three Sisters, The House of Atreus and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. He was garnered with a silver medal for his graduation performance as Pozzo in Waiting for Godot in 1983. Upon graduation, Sean began to etch out a three-pronged career in stage, television and screen.

Sean first married his childhood girlfriend, hairdresser Debra James, on April 11, 1981, but they later divorced. He then married actress Melanie Hill on February 27, 1990, at the Haringey Civic Centre in North London. From Sean’s second marriage, he has two daughters, Lorna (born in October 1987) and Molly (born in September 1991). After seven years together, however, the couple divorced in August 1997. Soon after the divorced, he married Abigail Cruttenden on November 22, 1997, at the Hendon Registry Office in London. On November 6, 1998, Sean’s third daughter Evie Natasha was born. Sean became single again after divorcing his third wife in 2000. During his off time, Sean is a football enthusiast and enjoys an occasional pint.


The Dark

Career:

Discovering acting while attending a drama class at a Fine Arts foundation course, Sean Bean appeared on stage after winning a scholarship to a prestigious academy in London. Upon graduation in 1983, he made his professional stage debut as Tybalt in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury. Bean also appeared as Hooker in Winter Flight (1984), had his television film debut as Scarred Man in Exploits at West Poley (1985), played Billy in Samson and Delilah (1985) and portrayed Ranuccio in his feature film debut, Derek Jarman's Caravaggio (1986).

Returning to his theatrical roots in 1985, Bean spent one season acting with the Young Writers Festival before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company. While working with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1986-1988, Bean played roles in such productions as “Romeo and Juliet" (played Romeo), "The Fair Maid of the West" (as Captain Spencer) and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (portrayed Starveling).

After two years on stage, Bean returned to the big screen with his good performance as Irish janitor Brendan in Mike Figgis' Stormy Monday (1988, opposite Sting, Melanie Griffith and Tommy Lee Jones). The following years saw him in more films like Troubles (1988, TV), Catherine Cookson's The Fifteen Streets (1989, TV), War Requiem (1989, rejoined director Jarman) and the madcap satire How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989, alongside Richard E. Grant).

In the early 1990s, Bean played evil Carver Doone in Lorna Doone (1990, TV), Vic in Small Zones (1990, TV), Anton van Heerden in Windprints (1990), Tadgh McCabe in The Field (1990, also starring Richard Harris), Gabriel Lewis in Tell Me That You Love Me (1991, TV), Steve in "My Kingdom for a Horse" (1991, TV) and Smith In the Border Country (1991).

Portraying Robert Lovelace, a tormented villain in the BBC adaptation of Clarissa (1991), Bean delivered a fine performance that gained notice and attention. In 1992, the film was aired in the USA on Masterpiece Theater, boosting Bean’s career. Bean was then seen in Fool's Gold: The Story of the Brink's-Mat Robbery (1992, TV). Bean was once again cast as a bad guy in his first Hollywood film, Patriot Game (1992, starring Harrison Ford). In the film adaptation of Tom Clancey's novel, he played Sean Miller, an Irish terrorist who pursues Ford.

Being known for playing wicked characters, Bean received a chance to change his image after he won the title character of Sharpe, a Napoleonic era British soldier, in a series of television movies adapted from Bernard Cornwell's Peninsular War novels. First starring as Richard Sharpe in Sharpe's Rifles (1993), Bean reprised his character in 13 more television movies. As a result, Bean was well remembered by both British and American audiences for his acclaimed performances in the films.

He continued to play such heartthrob characters as Mellor, the sexy gamekeeper-lover servicing Joely Richardson in Ken Russell's TV adaptation of D H Lawrence's famous novel, Lady Chatterley (1993), and Paul, the compromised photographer in A Woman's Guide to Adultery (1993,TV). In 1994, Bean acted in two wide screen movies, Shopping (1994) and Black Beauty (1994) and kept busy with his television works including Scarlett (1994) and Jacob (1994,TV).

While reprising the role of Richard Shape, Bean also cemented his position as a vile villain for his portrayal of Agent 006 Alec Trevelyan, the good-man-turned-bad-man who antagonizes Pierce Brosnan's Bond in Golden Eye (1995). He also played hard-drinking brewery employee Jimmy Muir in When Saturday Comes (1996) before becoming the handsome lover of Sophie Marceau in the remake of the tragic tale of Anna Karenina (1997). In 1998 and 1999, Bean provided his voice for The Nun's Priest in The Canterbury Tales (1998), played Dave Toombs in Airborne (1998), costarred with Robert De Niro and Jean Reno in the spy-thriller Ronin (1998), was cast as real-life British soldier Andy McNab in Bravo Two Zero (1999) and portrayed a man blamed of murdering his family in Extremely Dangerous (1999).

Delivering a strong performance as psychotic Jason Locke in the British gangster film Essex Boys was Bean’s opening film in the new millennium. He then was seen playing another bad character in suspense-thriller Don't Say a Word (2001). In the film, he portrayed Patrick Koster who kidnaps the daughter of a psychiatrist (played by Michael Douglas). Bean then teamed up with director Peter Jackson for the remake of J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, played Boromir). In the subsequent years, Bean starred as Paul Sheppard, the sympathetic and heartening foster father of a kid who has a fantasy friend in the children’s film Tom & Thomas (2002), played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and played the small, but pivotal role of top Cleric Partridge, opposite Christian Bale and Emily Watson, in the sci-fi flick Equilibrium (2002). Bean was also featured in the comedy film The Big Empty (2003, starring Jon Favreau), an independent film directed by Steve Anderson. He then teamed up with Ray Winstone and Helena Bonham Carter in the-made-for-TV movie Henry VIII (2003), portraying Robert Aske, the popular Yorkshire man who led a revolution against the King in opposition to his treatment of Catholics.

Bean again made a name for himself when he reprised the character of Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Due to his good performance, he was garnered with a Screen Actors Guild, the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Cast Ensemble in a Motion Picture in 2004.

Bean’s next major project was director Wolfgang Petersen's epic Troy (2004), in which he was cast as the Greek hero Odysseus, alongside Brad Pitt, Brian Cox and Peter O'Toole, before he lent his voice to Dark in the major TV animation Pride (2004). He then joined Nicolas Cage, George Washington and Diane Kruger in National Treasure (2004), playing British adventurer Ian Howe.

The green-eyed, dark blonde-haired actor recently starred opposite Maria Bello in the independent The Dark (2005), a film based on an adaptation of Simon Maginn’s psychological thriller novel Sheep. He will also continue to play roles in such sliver screen movies as The Island (2005, portrayed Merrick), Flight plan (2005, as Captain Rich), an untitled Niki Caro Project (2005, playing Kyle) and Silent Hill (2006, as Christopher).


Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King, 2004
• National Board of Review: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King, 2004
• Broadcast Film Critics Association: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King, 2004