'Shaun Mark Bean' (born
17 April 1959) is an
British film and
stage actor. Bean has also acted in a number of television productions as well as performing voice work for
computer games and television adverts. As an actor, he adopted the
Celtic spelling "Sean" of his first name.
He is best known for his role as
Boromir in ''
The Lord of the Rings'' and as
James Bond's
adversary Alec Trevelyan in ''
Goldeneye''. His portrayal as
Richard Sharpe in the
television series ''
Sharpe'' has also earned him high acclaim in the
United Kingdom.
[1]
Early life
Sean Mark Bean was born to Brian and Rita Bean in
Handsworth district of
Sheffield,
South Yorkshire,
England.
[2] Bean's father owned a steel plating business, which he had set up with a colleague. The business employed a total of 50 people. Bean's mother worked as a secretary. He has a younger sister named Lorraine. Despite becoming relatively wealthy (his father owned a
Rolls Royce Silver Shadow), the family never moved away from the council estate, because they preferred to remain close to friends and family.
[3]
As a child, Bean smashed a glass door due to an argument over scissors. A piece of the glass embedded in his leg and left a large scar and briefly impeded his walking.
2 In 1975, Bean left Brook Comprehensive school with two
O Levels in Art and English.
[4] Bean's childhood accident prevented him from pursuing his love of football professionally (although he would later carry out this fantasy in film). After a job selling cheese at a supermarket and another clearing snow for the council, Bean started working for his father's firm with a day release at
Rotherham College of Arts and Technology doing a welding course. While at Rotherham, after stumbling on an arts class, Bean decided to pursue his interest in art. After attending courses at two other colleges, one for half a day and the other for less than a week, he returned to Rotherham College, where he came across a drama course that he subsequently signed up for. After some college plays and one at Rotherham Civic Theatre, he applied and auditioned for a scholarship to the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), which he won.
2
Career
Early career
He graduated from RADA in 1983 having won the Silver Medal for his performance in ''
Waiting for Godot''.
[5] He made his professional acting début in 1983 at the
Watermill Theatre in
Newbury,
Berkshire as
Tybalt in ''
Romeo and Juliet''.
2 His early work involved a mixture of stage and screen work. His first national exposure came in an advert for non-alcoholic lager.
[6] Between 1986 and 1988 he toured the country with the
Royal Shakespeare Company doing productions of ''Romeo And Juliet'', ''
Fair Maid of the West'', and ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He appeared in his first film in 1986 when he played Ranuccio Thomasoni in
Derek Jarman's film ''
Caravaggio'' he then reunited with the director on ''
War Requiem'' in 1988 which also starred
Lord Laurence Olivier.
During the late 80s and early 90s he became an established actor on British television.
[7] He had notable performances in the
BBC productions ''
Clarissa'' and ''
Lady Chatterley''. His role in the latter became infamous for the sex scenes between him and
Joely Richardson.
[8] However it was the character Richard Sharpe that he would become most associated with.In 1990 Bean co-starred with
Richard Harris in Jim Sheridan's adaption of the John. B. Keane play, ''
The Field''.
Sharpe
Bean was the first choice to play Sharpe, but was unavailable, so the part went to
Paul McGann. Two days into filming, however, McGann was injured in a football match, and while the producers initially tried to work around his injury, eventually he was replaced with Bean, who was by then available.
[9] The 14-episode ''Sharpe'' television series was based on
Bernard Cornwell's novels about the
Napoleonic Wars and started with ''Sharpe's Rifles''. The series followed the fortunes of Richard Sharpe as he rose from sergeant to lieutenant colonel by the time of the
Battle of Waterloo. It ran from 1993 to 1997 with 3 episodes produced each year. This established him as a household name in the UK. After several years of rumours, another one-off episode, called ''
Sharpe's Challenge'', was aired in April 2006.
[10] Bean also played the role of
Lord Richard Fenton in the TV Miniseries ''
Scarlett'' based on the sequel to
Margaret Mitchell's ''
Gone with the Wind''.
Cracking Hollywood
His first notable Hollywood appearance was as an
Irish republican terrorist in the 1992 film adaptation of ''
Patriot Games''.
This would be the first of several villains that he would portray.
[11] He became
Alec Trevelyan (
MI6's 006), the major villain of the 1995
James Bond film ''
GoldenEye'', minor antagonist Spence in ''
Ronin'' (1998), a wife-beating ex-con in ''
Essex Boys'' (2000), the malevolent kidnapper-jewel thief in ''
Don't Say a Word'' (2001) and the greedy treasure hunter in ''
National Treasure (2004).
In 1996 he finally achieved his childhood dream of playing for Sheffield United, albeit as Jimmy Muir in the film ''
When Saturday Comes''. Although the film was not critically acclaimed, Sean Bean got credit for a good performance.
[12]
His perhaps most widely seen role was as
Boromir in
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, although his only major part was in the first of the films, only appearing briefly in the extended edition of '', and a flashback in ''. Due to his fear of flying he was reluctant to take the helicopters out to remote mountain locations while filming for ''
The Fellowship of the Ring''. After a particularly rough ride, he vowed not to fly to a location again, and in one instance he chose to take a ski lift into the mountains and then hike the final few miles, all in full costume.
[13] As a reference to
promos he made for the Sharpe series, Boromir cuts himself on
Isildur's sword and mutters, "Still sharp".
Life after ''The Lord of the Rings''
Later roles gave more scope for his acting abilities. He became the repentant Grammaton cleric who gives in to his emotions in ''
Equilibrium'' in 2002, a quirky alien cowboy in 2003's ''
The Big Empty'', a sympathetic and cunning
Odysseus in the 2004 film ''
Troy'', a villainous treasure hunter Ian Howe in ''
National Treasure'', a villainous scientist in ''
The Island'' (2005) and a sympathetic soul in ''
North Country'' (2005) , in which Bean converted his naturally heavy
Sheffield accent into that of
Minnesota slang, and a dedicated father in ''
Silent Hill''.
He was cameoed with a myriad of other Hollywood stars in
Moby's
music video ''We Are All Made of Stars'' in February 2002.
[14] In the same year he returned to the stage in London performing in ''
Macbeth'' alongside
Samantha Bond.
[15] Due to popular demand, the production would run until March 2003.
Sean's high profile and recognisable voice has created a number of opportunities for doing voice over work, especially in the British advertising industry.
[16] He has featured in television adverts for
O2,
Morrisons and
Barnardos as well as for
Acuvue and the
Sci-Fi Channel in the United States. He also does the voice over for the
National Blood Service's television and radio campaign. He also voiced
Martin Septim in the Role Playing video game ''.
[17]
Sean has completed a one hour pilot, called ''
Faceless'', for American television. He has also appeared in ''Outlaw'', an independent British production, and a
remake of ''
The Hitcher'' (released in
January 2007), in which he put on an American accent again. He is currently in
Norway filming another independent film called ''
Far North''.
15
In 2005, he played "Captain Rich" in ''
Flightplan''.
As of 2006 two films in pre-production will reportedly star Sean Bean. ''Come like Shadows'' is an adaptation of ''
Macbeth''.
[18] He also starred in a recent production of Macbeth on the London stage with Samantha Bond as Lady Macbeth with much critical success. Information released about another play adaptation, this one from
Oscar Wilde's ''
A Woman of No Importance'', states that it will feature Sean Bean.
[19] Both films are set to start production sometime in the autumn of 2007. He has said that he would like to appear in ''
Coronation Street'' (joking that he could be the milkman).
[20] He has also stated that he would like to do some wildlife presenting sometime in the future.
[21]
Image
Often described as down-to-earth, Sean Bean has retained his Sheffield accent despite now living in London.
8 He is also described as a sex symbol; he was voted the UK's second sexiest man in 2004.
[22] He admits he doesn't mind being considered the ladies' "bit of rough".
[23]
He has developed a reputation as a loner, a label he considers unfair.
8 In addition, he has been accused of being a chauvinist; this originated after his second wife claimed he watched too much football, spent too much time in the pub and left clothes about the house.
[24]
Acting style
Despite being professionally trained, Sean Bean adopts an instinctive style of acting.
[25] He has said in interviews that the most difficult part is at the start of filming when trying to understand the character.
[26] After achieving this he can snap in and out of character instantly. This ability to go from the quiet man on set to the warrior figure "amazed"
Sean Astin during filming of ''The Fellowship of the Ring''.
[27] Other fans include the directors
Mike Figgis (''
Stormy Monday'') and
Wolfgang Petersen (''
Troy'') who described working with him as a "beautiful thing".
25
Personal life
He has been married and subsequently divorced three times:
[28] His first marriage was to high-school sweetheart Debra James on
11 April 1981, which broke up when he moved to London to attend RADA; then to actress
Melanie Hill, between
27 February 1990 and August 1997, with whom he shares daughters Lorna and
Molly; he then married
Sharpe co-star
Abigail Cruttenden on
22 November 1997, mother of his third daughter Evie Natasha; they divorced in July 2000. He describes himself as quiet.
28 Although he admits he can be a workaholic, in his spare time he likes relaxing with a book or listening to music. He is also a keen gardener. He states in interviews that he is not into showbiz parties.
Bean's first love was football and he has been a passionate
Sheffield United supporter from a young age (he now has a tattoo on his left shoulder that reads 100%
Blade).
1 He is now a director of the club. He also wrote the foreword and helped promote a book of anecdotes called Sheffield United:The Biography.
[29] He also follows
Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
21
He is an admirer of Tony Benn.
Awards and honours
Sean Bean is yet to receive a major individual award in the film industry. However he did receive 3 separate awards as part of the ensemble cast in ''
[30]: from the
Screen Actors Guild, the
National Board of Review and the
Broadcast Film Critics Association, all in 2004.
In his home city of Sheffield he received an honorary doctorate from
Sheffield Hallam University in 1997.
30 He was also selected as one of the inaugural members of
Sheffield Legends, the Sheffield equivalent of the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is to have a plaque in his honour placed in front of
Sheffield Town Hall.
[31]
He received an honorary degree in English Literature from The University of Sheffield on 20th July 2007.
[32]
Filmography
References
1. Sean Bean Profile
2. Sean Bean Biography
3. 'I do my work and if things work out, they work out'
4. Sean Bean - actor
5. Biography
6. Barbican Ad
7. MSN Movies
8. Sharpe still cuts it
9. http://www.tv.com/sharpe/sharpes-rifles/episode/197764/summary.html
10. Sharpe rumours
11. Sean Bean Biography
12. When Saturday Comes review
13. Flightplan interview
14. We are all made of Stars
15. The Compleat Sean Bean
16. Voice that's earning a bean or two...
17. Bethesda Softworks Taps Hollywood Voice Talent
18. Bean and Swinton lead 'user-friendly' Macbeth
19. A Woman of No Importance
20. Bean eager for Coronation Street role
21. Its hard being a sex symbol!
22. Bloom is Britain's sexiest actor
23. The Andrew Duncan Interview
24. Sean Bean, the Sheffield welder turned actor, is careful not to sever his roots.
25. Sheffield Steel
26. Sean Bean: The Interview
27. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, ''Cast Commentary'', region 2
28. The Thinking Woman's Bit of Rough Mary Black
29. "Sheffield United:The Biography"
30. The Sean Bean Picture Pages
31. Sheffield Legends
32. Sheffield University
External links
★
★
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Premiere Magazine: Sean Bean Interview
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