The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Background:

Jamaican born director and producer Stephen Hopkins first garnered notice in America for helming “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (1989), from which he picked up the Fantasporto Critics' Award, and “Predator 2” (1990) before having a box office hit with the 1998 film adaptation of the television series “Lost in Space.” He began gaining success on television in the early 2000s with the Fox drama “24,” where he served as a co-executive producer and directed several episodes during its first season. He received his first two Emmy nominations and a Directors Guild of America nomination for his work on the show. Hopkins netted his next Emmy nomination for the USA network miniseries “Traffic” (2004), which he co-directed and produced. He eventually brought home the trophy for his direction of the HBO feature adaptation of Roger Lewis's book “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” (2004). The film also earned him a Golden Palm nomination at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and a Directors Guild of America nomination. Hopkins started in films as an assistant director on Russell Mulcahy's cult hit “Highlander” (1986) before making his directorial debut with the Aussie drama “Dangerous Game” (1987). Prior to that, he designed album covers, worked as a storyboard artist and set designer on Mulcahy's music videos in Australia and made music videos and commercials in New York.

Hopkins met actress Heather Graham on the set of “Lost in Space.” They subsequently became an item, but broke up in 1998. He then dated actress Naomi Watts from 1999 to 2001.

Art

Childhood and Family:

Stephen Hopkins was born in 1958 in Jamaica. He was raised in England and Australia. He studied art at the London College of Printing in London.

Lost in Space

Career:

Stephen Hopkins began his career as a designer of album covers. At age 25, he relocated to Australia where he developed a partnership with director Russell Mulcahy, who was then working as a music video director. Hopkins designed storyboards for Mulcahy and was a set designer on his videos. After a few years, Hopkins tried his luck in New York by directing music videos and commercials, but later moved back to Australia and was reunited with Mulcahy for “Highlander” (1986), where Hopkins served as an assistant director. A year later, Hopkins made his feature directorial debut with the Australian thriller “Dangerous Game” (1987), for which he also provided additional material. The film was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Achievement in Production Design and Best Achievement in Sound. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 1988, and released in the U.S. in March 1991.

After the promising debut, Hopkins headed to Hollywood to further pursue his film career. He immediately built a reputation as a competent genre director thanks to his work in “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (1989), the fifth film in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise. The film, starring Robert Englund and Lisa Wilcox, was negatively reviewed by critics but earned Hopkins the Critics' Award and an International Fantasy Film nomination for Best Film at the 1990 Fantasporto. Commercially, it grossed $8.1 million in its opening weekend and went on to collect $22.1 million in the domestic market. Hopkins then directed Danny Glover, Gary Busey, María Conchita, Alonso, Ruben Blades, Bill Paxton, Calvin Lockhart and Kevin Peter Hall in the science fiction film “Predator 2” (1990), a sequel to the 1987 movie “Predator.” The film received negative reviews, garnered an average return at the box office and Hopkins earned an International Fantasy Film nomination for Best Film at the 1991 Fantasporto.

Hopkins resurfaced with the action thriller “Judgment Night” (1993), starring Emilio Estévez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis Leary and Jeremy Piven. It grossed over $12 million in the U.S. He followed it up with the action flick “Blown Away” (1994), starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones, and the Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer vehicle “The Ghost and the Darkness” (1996), which won an Academy Award for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing. He entered the world of producing when he served as an executive producer on “Crossworlds,” a 1997 low budget movie directed and co-written by Krishna Rao.

Hopkins eventually scored a box office success with the science fiction movie “Lost in Space” (1998), based on the 1960’s CBS television series of the same name. Released on April 3, 1998, the film, which he also produced, opened at No. 1 at the box office and earned over $136 million worldwide. Despite its commercial success, the film received primarily negative reviews and was nominated for a 1999 Razzie for Worst Remake or Sequel. The cast included William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Lacey Chabert, Heather Graham, Matt Le Blanc and Gary Oldman.

In 1999, Hopkins contributed to “Tube Tales,” a collection of nine short films based on the real life experiences of London Underground passengers. He directed and wrote the segment “Horny” of the film. Hopkins made his television directing debut by helming a 1991 episode of HBO's “Tales from the Crypt” called “Abra Cadaver.” He later also directed the episodes “Beauty Rest” (1992) and “Stared in Horror” (1994).

Entering the new millennium, Hopkins produced and directed the thriller “Under Suspicion,” which was adapted from the 1981 French film “Garde à vue” and the 1970s British novel “Brainwash” by John Wainwright. The film, in which he teamed up with Gene Heckman and Morgan Freeman, was screened out of competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. It proved to be a commercial flop.

Hopkins returned to the small screen the following year on the Fox series “24,” created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and starring Kiefer Sutherland. He served as a co-executive producer during its first season that ran from November 6, 2001, to May 21, 2002, and jointly nabbed a 2002 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. He also directed 12 episodes. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and a Directors Guild of America nomination in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series - Night for his work in the pilot episode “Midnight - 1:00 A.M.”

In 2004, Hopkins produced and co-directed (with Eric Bross) the three part television miniseries “Traffic” (USA Network), which was based on the 1989 British miniseries “Traffik” and the Steven Soderbergh 2000 motion picture “Traffic.” Featuring a cast that included Cliff Curtis, Martin Donovan, Balthazar Getty, Elias Koteas, Mary McCormack, Ritchie Coster, Nelson Lee and Tony Musante, the American production was nominated for Emmys for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie, and Outstanding Miniseries. Still in 2004, Hopkins also directed the film “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” which was about British comic actor Peter Sellers and adapted from the book of the same name by Roger Lewis. Starring Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers, the biopic premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2004, where it received a Golden Palm nomination, and other film festivals before debuting on television on December 5, 2004. For his good directing, Hopkins was handed a 2005 Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special and a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television.

2005 saw Hopkins direct the TV series pilot “World of Trouble” and executive produce the reality TV series “Las Vegas Garden of Love.” He stayed on the small screen by serving as an executive producer on the reality TV show “Driving Force” (2006), Showtime's “Californication” (2007) and “The Unusuals” (2009). He also directed television’s “Maggie Hill” (2009), starring Christina Cole, and television episodes of USA Network's “In Plain Sight” (2009). Hopkins returned to features to direct Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, AnnaSophia Robb and Stephen Rea in the horror film “The Reaping” (2007), which generally received negative reviews although it entered the box office at No. 5.

Hopkins is working on his new film, “Thorne: Sleepyhead.” The British thriller will star Natascha McElhone, Aidan Gillen, Eddie Marsan and David Morrissey.

Awards:

• Emmy: Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special, “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” 2005

• Fantasporto: Critics' Award, “A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child,” 1990