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Mark Strong

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Mark Strong
Strong in 2010
Born
Marco Giuseppe Salussolia

(1963-08-05) 5 August 1963 (age 61)
London, England, UK
OccupationActor
Years active1989–present
SpouseLiza Marshall
Children2

Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as RocknRolla, Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Kick-Ass, Green Lantern, Zero Dark Thirty, Robin Hood, and John Carter. He often portrays villains or antagonists.

Early life

Strong was born in London, England, to an Austrian mother and an Italian father.[1] His father left the family soon after his birth, and he was brought up by his mother, who worked as an au pair. His English name is not a stage name; when he was a child, his mother changed his name by deed poll to help him fit in with his peers.[2] He was baptised a Catholic.[3] He speaks fluent German and some Italian.[4][5]

Strong attended Wymondham College, where he sang in the punk bands, the Electric Hoax and Private Party (the name of the latter was based on the idea that the band's shows would not be attended, due to prospective audiences thinking that the event was a "private party").[6] His original ambition was to become a lawyer, but after studying at university in Munich for one year, he decided to change his direction in life and returned home to London.[7] There, he studied English and Drama at Royal Holloway, and later attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.[8][9]

Career

Strong is a familiar face on British television. He appeared in two Prime Suspect serials for ITV as Inspector (later Detective Chief Superintendent) Larry Hall, in "Prime Suspect 3" (1993) and "Prime Suspect 6" (2003). He also had starring roles in two BBC Two drama serials, Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Long Firm (2004), for which he earned a BAFTA nomination. He also played the villainous Colonel Brand in Sharpe's Mission (1996). He played the romantic lead, Mr. Knightley, in the ITV adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma. In feature films, Strong played Steve in the 1997 adaptation of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch opposite Colin Firth

At the beginning of the 2000's he appeared in Heartlands, and in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse, for which he was nominated for the 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. In 2005 he was featured in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005), played Mussawi in the film Syriana, and played an assassin called Sorter in Revolver (2005). Strong portrayed the traitorous Wictred in Tristan & Isolde, showing his talent with swordplay and since 2006, he has provided the narration in the BBC's genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.

In 2007 Strong was one of the final two actors considered for the part of Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men; despite the persistence of rumours, he claims he was never offered the part.[10] Strong was Pinbacker, the insane captain of Icarus I, the first ship that was sent to reignite the Sun in Sunshine. Pinbacker was inspired by the character of Sergeant Pinback from Dark Star.[11] The character's disfiguring burns were influenced by the injuries suffered by F1 driver Niki Lauda.[12] Boyle described the character of Pinbacker as a representation of fundamentalism.[13] The director also described the potentially unrealistic presence of Pinbacker as an example of something that breaks the pattern of realism, similar to his scene in Trainspotting (1996) in which Ewan McGregor's character dives into a toilet.[14] This year he played prince Septimus, the youngest of the seven Stormhold princes, in Stardust.

In 2008 he played Nick Calderelli in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Mannie Miesel in Flashbacks of a Fool, Finn in Babylon A.D., Archy in RocknRolla, Philipp Bouhler in Good and Hani Salaam, Jordanian intelligence chief and director of the feared GID in Body of Lies which Strong was nominated London Critics Circle Film Award for Best British Supporting Actor and his perfomance was mentioned by several critics, with Scott calling it "a marvel of exotic suavity and cool insinuation" while Ebert "particularly admired" his aura of suave control.[15] Strong ascribed his casting to his performances in the 2005 films Syriana and Oliver Twist.[16] The character Haani Salaam was modelled after the 2000–2005 GID chief Saad Kheir (1953–2009), whose involvement, according to the original author David Ignatius, in sharply handled interrogations without use of torture, a counter with a jihadist with his mother on the phone and being called the 'fingernail boss' were near accurately featured in the film.[17] The next year he played a lead part in the Channel 4 film Endgame (2009).[18] and he played Lord Blackwood, the main villain in Sherlock Holmes (2009), who has somehow returned after his execution with a plot to take over the British Empire using an arsenal of dark arts and new technologies. He worked with director Ritchie for the third time and said he appreciates the director's lack of ego and how easy he is to work with.[19][20] The same year he played Frank D'Amico, the head of a criminal organization in Kick-Ass. Strong says he is drawn to playing the antagonist. He tries to "understand the purpose of the character", and then work on building a believable individual.[21]

Strong with the cast of Green Lantern at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.

He then played Thaal Sinestro a Green Lantern and Hal Jordan's mentor, in the superhero film Green Lantern (2011).[22] Mark Strong affirmed that the film will follow the origin story, "the film closely follows the early comics. Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan’s mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who’s made into a Green Lantern. He's certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern". Strong said the character "is a military guy but isn't immediately bad. It's the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he’s quite a heroic figure.” He also revealed that the outfit and other aspects of the character very closely follow the character's early days, “That widow's peak and thin mustache was for some reason originally based on David Niven.... So I would like to do justice to the Sinestro that was conceived for the comic books”.[23]

In 2011 he was the voice Pod of The Secret World of Arrietty and the voice of the character Captain Titus of the Ultramarines Chapter in the video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. The same year, and most notably, he played the role of Jim Prideaux in the remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was earlier played by Ian Bannen in the iconic original 1979 BBC series starring Alec Guinness. The film premiered in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival on 5 September 2011.[24] The film received generally positive reviews. The film holds an 83% 'Fresh' approval rating from 203 reviews collected by review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a dense puzzle of anxiety, paranoia, and espionage that director Tomas Alfredson pieces together with utmost skill".[25] Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating in the 0–100 range based on reviews from top mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 85 based on 42 reviews, equating to "universal acclaim".[26]

Strong at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in 2011

The next year he played Clive Cornell in The Guard which is the most successful independent Irish film of all time in terms of Irish box-office receipts, overtaking The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) which previously held this status.[27] The film has a 95 percent positive rating according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[28] Strong began filming the role of Jacob Sternwood in the British thriller, Welcome to the Punch.[29] He was Matai Shang, the leader of the Therns in John Carter. He then starred in Kathryn Bigelow's action thriller film Zero Dark Thirty with co-stars Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt.[30][31] It was independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures. The film had its premiere in Los Angeles, California on 19 December 2012 and had its wide release on 11 January 2013.[32] The film received wide critical acclaim and was nominated for five Oscars for the 85th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Chastain) and Best Original Screenplay. The film won one, for Best Sound Editing. Zero Dark Thirty earned four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Actress – Drama for Chastain.

In November 2012, Strong and Taissa Farmiga were cast as John and Anna in Mindscape will mark the feature-length directorial debut of Spaniard Jorge Dorado. The story of the film, written by Guy and Martha Holmes, centres on a man with the ability to enter people's memories who is working on the case of a brilliant but problematic teenager to determine whether she is a sociopath or the victim of a trauma. The film comes to theaters in later 2013.[33]

Personal life

Strong lives in London with his wife, Liza Marshall.[34][35] He said in 2008 "The moment that changed me for ever ... Having children. Life before and after kids is so different. My world-view changed and my daily life has never been the same. Occasionally I find myself looking at my two lovely boys in amazement". He is a longtime friend of actor Daniel Craig, who is the godfather of Strong's eldest son.[36] He dubbed Craig into German, as German with an English accent was required for Obsession (1997).

In an interview he said that his icon style is David Bowie and when he was a child he wanted to be the French actor Alain Delon: "I remember watching him in films and though I couldn't understand a word he was saying I remember thinking he looked great. Failing that, an astronaut, after watching the moon landing on a tiny, portable, black-and-white TV at my gran's house".[37]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Buddha of Suburbia Television producer
1993 Prime Suspect 3 Inspector Larry Hall
1993 Century Policeman
1994 Captives Kenny
1996 Our Friends in the North Terry "Tosker" Cox
1996 Sharpe's Mission Brand
1997 Fever Pitch Steve
1997 Gold Ed Smithson
1998 Spoonface Steinberg Father
1998 The Man with Rain in His Shoes Dave Summers
1999 Trust Michael Mitcham
1999 Births, Marriages and Deaths Terry
1999 In the Name of Love Chris Monroe
1999 Elephant Juice Frank
1999 Sunshine István Sors
2000 Bomber Colonel Chris Forsyth
2000 Anna Karenina Oblonsky
2001 To End All Wars Dusty Miller
2001 Hotel Ferdinand
2001 The Martins Doug
2001 Superstition Antonio Gabrieli
2002 Fields of Gold Dr. Tolkin
2002 Heartlands Ian
2002 Falling Apart Pete
2003 Some Place Safe Dad Short film
2003 It's All About Love Arthur
2003 Henry VIII Duke of Norfolk
2003 Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness Det. Chief Supt. Larry Hall
2004 The Long Firm Harry Starks Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2005 Revolver Sorter
2005 Oliver Twist Toby Crackit
2005 Walk Away and I Stumble Andy Spader
2005 Syriana Mussawi
2006 Tristan & Isolde Wictred
2006 Low Winter Sun Det. Sgt. Frank Agnew
2006 Scenes of a Sexual Nature Louis
2006–2012 Who Do You Think You Are? Narrator
2007 Sunshine Pinbacker
2007 Stardust Septimus
2008 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Nick
2008 Flashbacks of a Fool Mannie Miesel
2008 Babylon A.D. Finn
2008 RocknRolla Archy
2008 Body of Lies Hani Salaam Nominated – London Critics Circle Film Award for Best British Supporting Actor
2008 Good Philipp Bouhler
2009 Endgame Dr. Niel Barnard
2009 The Young Victoria Sir John Conroy
2009 Sherlock Holmes Lord Henry Blackwood Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Robert Downey, Jr.)
2010 Kick-Ass Frank D'Amico Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Chloë Grace Moretz)
2010 Robin Hood Sir Godfrey
2010 The Way Back Khabarov
2011 The Story of Earth Narrator
2011 The Guard Clive Cornell
2011 The Eagle Guern
2011 Green Lantern Thaal Sinestro
2011 The Secret World of Arrietty Pod Voice (United Kingdom dub)
2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Jim Prideaux Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
YouMovie Award for Best Cast
Nominated – Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast
2011 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Captain Titus Voice
2011 Black Gold Sultan Amar
2012 John Carter Matai Shang
2012 Zero Dark Thirty George
2013 Welcome to the Punch Jacob Sternwood
2013 Mindscape John
2013 Justin and the Knights of Valour Heraclio Voice/Post-production
2013 Total War: Rome II General Silanus Voice/Post-production
2013 Low Winter Sun Frank Agnew TV Series
2014 Before I Go to Sleep Post-production

References

  1. ^ Imogen Edwards-Jones (14). "Brightest star in Mamet's plow". Peter Gill, playwright and theatre director (from The Times). John Pavel. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Olga Craig (20 December 2009). "Mark Strong: how I put the fear factor into Sherlock Holmes". The Telegraph. London.
  3. ^ Vincent, Sally (16 April 2005). "Hard man, soft heart". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 June 2010. He was christened a Catholic
  4. ^ Day, Elizabeth (9 May 2010). "Robin Hood star Mark Strong: 'Real knights would have needed tea breaks'". The Observer. London. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  5. ^ Griffin, Susan (13 May 2010). "Interview: Mark Strong". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  6. ^ Wymondham College Remembered (15). "Rock & Roll Performers". Wymondham College Remembered. Wymondham College Remembered. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  7. ^ John Preston (18 February 2009). "Mark Strong: the strong, violent type". The Telegraph. London.
  8. ^ "Interview: Why actor Mark Strong is an accidental anti-hero". The Independent. London. 19 October 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  9. ^ Strong, Mark (9 May 2009). "'Your acting technique should be hidden". The Guardian. London.
  10. ^ Total Film (25). "Mark Strong refutes No Country casting rumour". Total Film. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Mark Kermode (25 March 2007). "2007: a scorching new space odyssey". London: The Observer. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  12. ^ John Horn (1 July 2007). "Danny Boyle feels the heat with 'Sunshine'". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ Benjamin Crossley-Marra (19 July 2007). "Interview: Danny Boyle". Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  14. ^ Michael James Allen (23 July 2007). "An Interview with Danny Boyle". Lumino Magazine. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger (19 June 2013). "Body of Lies Movie Review & Film Summary (2008)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Accidental anti-hero". The Independent. Independent News & Media. 19 October 2007.
  17. ^ Ignatius, David (13 December 2009). "Jordan's ex-spy chief wasn't too good to be true". Washington Post. MTV. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  18. ^ Hemley, Matthew (26 March 2008). "C4 season to feature apartheid thriller Endgame". The Stage. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  19. ^ Knolle, Sharon (13 January 2010). "Hey, 'Sherlock' ... Who's This Mark Strong Fellow?". Moviefone. AOL. Retrieved 13 January 2010. Guy and I, we've done three films together now. He's surprisingly lacking in ego. He's not a shouter or a bully. He just likes to create an environment in which people can do their best work.
  20. ^ Rich, Katey (23 December 2009). "Exclusive Interview: Sherlock Holmes Villain Mark Strong". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 23 December 2009. I like him. He's a really nice man. He's an ego-free zone. I've never known anybody to have such a different evaluation in the press as the person they are in real life. It's very odd that he's seen the way he has been, because he's incredibly easy to work with.
  21. ^ Truitt, Brian (23 April 2010). "Mark Strong can do a 'Kick-Ass' bad guy". USA TODAY. Gannett Co. Inc.
  22. ^ Rob M .Worley (18). "Mark Strong Circling GREEN LANTERN?". Mania. Mania. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  23. ^ Truitt, Brian (6 April 2010). "Mark Strong will channel his inner David Niven for 'Green Lantern'". USA Today. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Venezia 68: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Tomas Alfredson". labiennale.org. Venice Biennale. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  25. ^ Staff (2011). "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  26. ^ "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  27. ^ "'The Guard' Topples 'Barley' to Become #1 Indie Irish Film". IFTN. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  28. ^ "The Guard". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  29. ^ "James McAvoy Heads to 'Welcome to the Punch'". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  30. ^ Child, Ben (6 January 2012). "Kathryn Bigelow's Bin Laden film to star Joel Edgerton". The Guardian. London.
  31. ^ UPI takes territories on Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty; Screen Daily; May 15, 2012
  32. ^ "Zero Dark Thirty" premieres in Los Angeles CBS News, December 11, 2012.
  33. ^ "Jorge Dorado shoots Mindscape for Jaume Collet Serra". Cineuropa. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  34. ^ "Interview: Why actor Mark Strong is an accidental anti-hero". The Independent. London. 19 October 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  35. ^ Preston, John (18 February 2009). "Mark Strong: the strong, violent type". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  36. ^ Fitzherbert, Henry (10 March 2013). "Mark Strong: Thankfully, my wife saw evil in me..." Daily Express. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  37. ^ "My Secret Life: Mark Strong, Actor, age 45". The Independent. 13 September 2008.

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