Jamie Bell
Jamie Bell | |
|---|---|
| Awards | NBR Award for Best Cast 2002 Nicholas Nickleby |
Jamie Bell (born 14 March 1986) is a BAFTA-winning English actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the film Billy Elliot, for which he won the 2000 BAFTA Award for Best Actor.
Biography
Early life
Bell was born in Stockton on Tees, England, where he grew up with his mother and older sister. His father left after his birth. Bell was a pupil at Northfield School, then the Stagecoach Theatre School. He was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. He began dance lessons at the age of six when he saw a girl dance out of rhythm, and told his mother he could do better. In 1999, he was chosen from a field of about 2000 boys for the the role of Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his working-class widowed father and older brother by taking up ballet.[1]
Career
Bell acted as Honorary Jury President of the 2001 Giffoni Film Festival. Since his film debut in Billy Elliot, he has appeared in a number of diverse roles, including the crippled servant Smike in an adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, a young soldier in Deathwatch, a teenager on the run in Undertow, a gun-toting pacifist in Dear Wendy, and a disaffected Southern California teenager in The Chumscrubber. In 2007, he played the title character in Hallam Foe (for which he was nominated for the best actor award at the British Independent Film Awards) and appeared as himself in lonelygirl15 spin-off KateModern.[2]
He has roles in two 2008 films: the sci-fi movie Jumper and World War II drama Defiance. Despite rumours to the contrary, he will not be appearing in Thea Sharrock's West End production of Equus,[3] having withdrawn from negotiations when he was not offered the contract for the play's Broadway run.[citation needed]
Personal life
In 2005 and 2006, Bell dated actress Evan Rachel Wood, with whom he appeared in the music video for Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends".[4]
He currently resides in New York, and also owns a home in Chelsea, London. He is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club.
Filmography
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2000 |
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| 2002 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2005 |
Music Videos |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 |
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| 2008 |
Awards
- 2000 — BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer
- 2000 — National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Outstanding Young Actor (only the second time this has been awarded. The first recipient was Christian Bale in 1987, when the award was titled Outstanding Juvenile Performance).
- 2001 — BAFTAs, Best Male Performance (over 4 oscar-winning actors.)
References
- ^ Billy Elliot, DVD, production notes
- ^ "Hallam Foe star Jamie Bell guest stars on Bebo's KateModern".
- ^ The Stage
- ^ Evan Rachel Wood - Wood Confirms Bell Romance