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A cast who would play my ancestors in a TV show about my family history.
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Alessio Boni was born on 4 July 1966 in Sarnico, Lombardy, Italy. He is an actor and director, known for The Best of Youth (2003), The Tourist (2010) and The Girl in the Fog (2017).Giovanni Mazzei- Actor
- Producer
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Martin Compston grew up in Greenock, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire. He spent his teen years going to see soccer (football) team Celtic with his brother Barry and dreamed one day he would play for them. He attended St. Columba's High School in Gourock, Inverclyde, where he passed through his Standard Grade Exams and obtained three As and two Bs in his Higher results. He left school after his fifth year to pursue his dream as a footballer and was soon signed by Morton Football Team.
In 2000, director Ken Loach discovered him at an audition at his old high school and gave him the lead role in Sweet Sixteen (2002). The movie was filmed in Martin's home area, including Greenock, Gourock, Inverkip, Kilmalcolm, and Wemyss Bay. The film was a huge success, which shot Martin into full view of the public and even gave some fame to Inverclyde. However, many counselors thought that this was bad publicity because the film has to do with drugs and underage drinking. However, Ken Loach then made a statement that the movie was not based on Greenock and Inverclyde - but was only filmed there, as that was where Martin was located.
Compston reunited with Loach for the omnibus film Tickets (2005)Lord Hugh Trenchard- Actress
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Morena Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to actress Vera Setta and journalist Fernando Baccarin. Her uncle was actor Ivan Setta. She is of Italian as well as Lebanese and Portuguese/Brazilian descent. She moved to New York at the age of ten, when her father was transferred there. She attended the LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts and then the Juilliard School.
Staying in New York she, worked in the theater - notably in the Central Park production of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" where she was also Natalie Portman's understudy - and appeared in several movies. After making Roger Dodger (2002) she moved to Los Angeles where she came to the attention of Joss Whedon who cast her in his short-lived cult sci-fi show Firefly (2002). Since then she has rarely been off our TV screens.Young Delva- Actress
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Katy Secombe is known for Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (2019) and WPC 56 (2013).Young Christine- Actor
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Born Alfie Oliver Mazzei in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom on 5th December 1999 to father, Andre Mazzei and mother, Rebecca Oliver. He trained at The Guildford School of Acting on the BA (Hons) Acting course from 2018-2021. His skills are singing, drumming, writing and martial arts. Alfie is best known for The River Man (2020), Silent Love (2018) and Retribution (???).Young Andy Mazzei- Actress
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Alice Braga Moraes born April 15, 1983 is a Brazilian actress. She has appeared in several Brazilian films, most notably as Angélica in 2002's highly acclaimed City of God and as Karina in 2005's Lower City. She came to international prominence after appearing opposite Will Smith in I Am Legend (2007) and has since become a familiar face in Hollywood, appearing in films such as Repo Men and Predators (both 2010), The Rite (2011) and Elysium (2013).Patrizia Mazzei- Actor
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James Brian Mark Purefoy was born and brought up in Taunton, Somerset, England, the son of Shirley (Taylor), who ran an employment agency, and Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy. After leaving school at the age of sixteen, he took a succession of different jobs, including working on a pig farm and as a porter at Yeovil District Hospital, before travelling and working extensively throughout Europe. At eighteen, James returned to college to take his A-Levels, one of which was Drama. It was there that he realised that this was something he felt inspired by and so applied for and was accepted onto the acting course at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Whilst playing the title role in "Henry V" in the first term of his final year at Central, he was seen by a casting director from the RSC and invited to join the company, immediately, in Stratford. Although initially asked only to play "Ferdinand" in Nicholas Hytner's production of "The Tempest", he left the RSC two years later having performed in eight productions and been directed by the likes of Adrian Noble, Roger Michell and Gene Saks playing, amongst other, "Edgar" in "King Lear" and "Malcolm" in "Macbeth". Over the next six years, he divided his time between theatre and television. In the theatre, he worked with Katie Mitchell on "Women of Troy" at the Gate; Matthew Warchus, Ken Stott and Jude Law on "Death of a Salesman" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse; Iain Glen on "Hamlet" at Bristol Old Vic; Bill Alexander in a critically-acclaimed season at Birmingham Rep, playing leading parts in "The Servant", "The Way of the World" and "Macbeth"; and with Simon Callow, Joseph Fiennes, Rupert Graves, and Helen McCrory, on "Les Enfants du Paradis", again for the RSC.
As well as appearing in the BBC's landmark period drama, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996), he has always chosen to do a wide variety of parts on television, to avoid being typecast. From the psychopathic rapist in BBC1's Calling the Shots (1993) with Lynn Redgrave to the fraudster "Darius Guppy" in LWT's "The Prince"; from the urbane observer "Nick Jenkins" in Channel 4's A Dance to the Music of Time (1997) to the sad stalker in Granada's series, Metropolis (2000), James has always managed to confound people's expectations of him. Over the last few years, he has been busy making feature films, on average at the rate of three a year. Early credits include "Jedd Wainwright" in Feast of July (1995) for "Merchant Ivory", and as the bisexual Irish baker, "Brendan" in Rose Troche's Bedrooms and Hallways (1998). From the alcoholic roustabout "Tom Bertram" in Mansfield Park (1999) to the wannabee "Bond" actor "Carl Phipps" in Maybe Baby (2000); the gambling, womanising "Daniel" in Women Talking Dirty (1999) with Helena Bonham Carter to the noble, enigmatic "Prince Edward" in Brian Helgeland's A Knight's Tale (2001).
He has continued to surprise those who seek to pigeon-hole him in his film career - always choosing to play parts that juxtapose strongly with the one he has just completed. Last year, he returned to the theatre to play the rake "Ned Loveless" in Trevor Nunn's acclaimed production of "The Relapse" at the National Theatre in London, before embarking on the biggest challenge he has yet faced - playing "George" in the big budget George and the Dragon (2004), with, among others, Michael Clarke Duncan, Val Kilmer, Piper Perabo and Patrick Swayze. This movie will be released in the summer of 2003. He lives alone in London.- Actor
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Mark Rylance was born in Ashford, Kent, the son of Anne (née Skinner) and David Waters, both English teachers. His grandmother was Irish. His parents moved to Connecticut in 1962 and Wisconsin in 1969, where his father taught English at the University School of Milwaukee. Rylance attended this school. He starred in most of the school's plays with the theatre's director, Dale Gutzman, including the lead in a 1976 production of Hamlet. He played Romeo in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet.
Mark was the first artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe in London, from 1995 to 2005. Rylance made his professional debut at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow in 1980. He went on to win the Olivier Award for Best Actor for Much Ado About Nothing in 1994 and Jerusalem in 2010, and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Boeing Boeing in 2008 and Jerusalem in 2011. He won a third Tony Award in 2014 for Twelfth Night. On television, he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as David Kelly in the 2005 Channel 4 drama The Government Inspector and was nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA TV Award for playing Thomas Cromwell in the 2015 BBC Two miniseries Wolf Hall.
In 2007, Rylance performed in Boeing-Boeing in London. In 2008, he reprise the role on Broadway and won Drama Desk and Tony Awards for his performance. In 2009, Rylance won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award Best Actor, 2009 for his role of Johnny Byron in Jerusalem written by Jez Butterworth at the Royal Court Theatre in London. In 2010, Rylance starred in a revival of David Hirson's verse play La Bête. The play ran first at London's Comedy Theatre before transferring to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, on 23 September 2010. Also in 2010, he won another Olivier award for best actor in the role of Johnny Byron in Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre in London. In 2011, he won his second Tony Award for playing the same role in the Broadway production. He played Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall (2015), BBC Two's adaptation of Hilary Mantel's historical novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. For his performance, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. Rylance was featured as the castaway on the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs on 15 February 2015.
Rylance co-starred in the biographical drama Bridge of Spies, released in October 2015, directed by Spielberg, and starring Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan and Alan Alda. The film is about the 1960 U-2 Incident and the arrest and conviction of Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel and the exchange of Abel for U-2 pilot Gary Powers. Rylance plays Abel and has received unanimous universal acclaim for his performance with many critics claiming it as the best performance of 2015. The St. Louis Post-Depatch quoted, "As the deeply principled Donovan, Hanks deftly balances earnestness and humor. And Rylance's spirited performance is almost certain to yield an Oscar nomination." David Edelstein from New York cited 'It's Rylance who keeps Bridge of Spies standing. He gives a teeny, witty, fabulously non-emotive performance, every line musical and slightly ironic - the irony being his forthright refusal to deceive in a world founded on lies." Rylance won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and New York Film Critics Circle Award in the Best Supporting Actor categories, as well as receiving Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, among other wins and nominations.Geoff Beechey- Actress
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Gemma Christina Arterton was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, where she was raised. She is the daughter of Sally-Anne (Heap), a cleaner, and Barry J. Arterton, a welder. Her mother's cousin is singer-songwriter Eric Goulden.
Her parents divorced when she was age five, and Gemma subsequently lived with her younger sister and her mother. Her parents encouraged their children to explore their creative abilities. Gemma's sister, Hannah, liked to sing, whereas Gemma chose acting. During her teenage years, she was part of the Masquerade and Miskin theater companies, appearing in productions of The Massacre of Civitella and Guiding Star. In 2004, she won an award for Best Supporting Actress, which helped her to win a grant to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Whilst studying at RADA, she landed her first professional role in Capturing Mary (2007), directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Maggie Smith. Gemma graduated from RADA in 2007 and won her first film role in St. Trinian's (2007). Her breakthrough role came in 2008, when she appeared in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008). In 2009, she was the winner of Empire's Best Newcomer Award.Old Rebecca Mazzei- Actor
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One of the leading actors in his native Brazil, Cauã Reymond has achieved prominence in his home country for his work in TV series, soap operas and independent films. Throughout his two-decade long career, he has portrayed a variety of challenging roles and collected many awards. He is also a successful film producer.Andre Mazzei- Actor
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William Patrick "Bill" Roache MBE is an English actor. He has played Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street since its first episode on 9 December 1960. He is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving living television actor in a continuous role. First acting job with Unicorn Players at Princes Theatre Clacton in 1959 with John Kendall and Helen Blackwood among others. Summer season repertory.
Roache was born in Basford, Nottinghamshire, the son of Hester Vera (née Waddicor) and Joseph William Vincent Roache. He grew up in nearby Ilkeston, Derbyshire, where he attended a Steiner school set up by his grandfather in the garden of the family home. His Freemason grandfather was interested in such things as hypnotism, theosophy, spiritualism, homoeopathy and esotericism, and the teachings of philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner. Roache was later educated at Rydal School which was also attended by his son Linus.
Roache joined the British Army, and was commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1953. A year later, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He left the British Army in 1956 with the rank of captain. Due to an exploding mortar round during his military service, Roache suffers from tinnitus.
After leaving the army, Roache turned to acting. He appeared in various stage productions, then had uncredited roles in several films, and later small parts in television serials including Knight Errant Limited and Skyport. He played the minor role of a space centre operator in the Norman Wisdom film The Bulldog Breed.
Shortly before joining Coronation Street at the beginning of the programme in 1960, Roache played the leading role in a Granada Television play called Marking Time, transmitted on ITV in 1961.
Roache is now the world's longest-serving television actor in a continuous role (as of July 2017) after the cancellation of the American soap opera As the World Turns in 2010, where Don Hastings had played Bob Hughes since October 1960 without a break.
On 16 October 1985, just weeks before the 25th anniversary of his debut on Coronation Street, he appeared as the special guest on the TV show This Is Your Life. With the departure of Pat Phoenix the previous year, he was the show's last remaining original cast member by this stage.
In 1999, Roache was the recipient of the British Soap Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for his role as Ken Barlow. In 2003, Roache appeared on Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes as Perry Como singing the song "Catch a Falling Star". In September and October 2005, he appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon. He was the winner of The Golden Shot remake, progressing through to Bullseye where he was beaten by television presenter Vernon Kay. He later entered All Star Family Fortunes, hosted by Kay, but lost by two points to his competitors.
Roache's 2008 autobiography is entitled Soul on the Street. It focuses on many of his life experiences and contains a significant amount of philosophical content in which Roache affirms his belief in the afterlife. In October 2008, Roache revealed on BBC Breakfast that he had a two-year feud with fellow Coronation Street actress Pat Phoenix, during which they did not speak to one another. This was over her changing of a scene involving the two of them. However, they did reconcile and became good friends. On 13 April 2012, Piers Morgan interviewed Roache for his ITV series Piers Morgan's Life Stories. On 26 September 2012, Roache was featured on the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?, researching his family history.
Roache lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire. His eldest son, by his first wife Anna Cropper (1938-2007), is actor Linus Roache (born 1964). The couple also had a daughter, Vanya (born 1967). The couple were married from 1961 until their divorce in 1974. Roache married his second wife, Sarah Mottram, in 1978. She died suddenly on 7 February 2009 at their home at the age of 58. With Sarah, he had a daughter named Verity (born 1981) and a younger son, the actor James Roache, christened William (born 1985). A second daughter, Edwina, died aged 18 months after her birth on 26 April 1983 from acute bronchial pneumonia on 16 November 1984.
In 1991, Roache won a libel action against The Sun, which had described him as boring and unpopular with his fellow Coronation Street stars. He was awarded £50,000 damages by the jury, the same amount that he had turned down in an out of court settlement offered by the newspaper before the case. As a result, he was liable for the £120,000 costs incurred. Roache sued his law firm for negligence in 1998, and was declared bankrupt in April 1999.
Roache is a supporter of the Conservative Party. In 2007, as a guest for Daily Politics, he championed Sir John Major as Britain's greatest post-war prime minister. He backed disgraced ex-Conservative MP Neil Hamilton in the 1997 election against Martin Bell. Roache became patron of the Ilkeston-based production company Sustained Magic Ltd in 2006.
Roache is a vegetarian because he "doesn't want animals being killed for him". He wrote about his interest in astrology in his biography, which he learned by taking a correspondence course from the Faculty of Astrological Studies. He said he had impressed members of the Coronation Street cast by the accuracy with which he read their astrological charts for them. Roache is a spiritualist and was photographed practising druid rituals in the 1970s. He predicted that the world would go through a fundamental change on 12 December 2012 and "move to a higher vibration".
During an investigation and trial, Roache's character Ken Barlow was written out of Coronation Street. However following Roache's acquittal he resumed filming on Coronation Street in June 2014, and returned to the screen on 4 August of that year.
Roache was awarded an MBE in the 2001 New Years Honours. In March 2007, he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Chester in recognition of his contribution to television.Paul Oliver- Actor
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Freddie Highmore is an English actor who came to prominence for his roles in Five Children and It (2004), Finding Neverland (2004), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
He was born Alfred Thomas Highmore in Camden Town, London, England, to Sue (Latimer), a talent agent, and Edward Thomas Highmore, an actor. Highmore has a younger brother, Albert "Bertie" Highmore. He attended Highgate School, and later earned a double-first degree in Spanish and Arabic from Cambridge University's Emmanuel College.
In 1999, Highmore made his big screen debut in the comedy Women Talking Dirty (1999), portraying Helena Bonham Carter's son. His next prominent role was in the family drama Two Brothers (2004). Highmore's breakout role came when he was cast in Finding Neverland (2004), alongside Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. He was then cast in the title role of Charlie Bucket in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and was reportedly recommended by co-star Johnny Depp. Roles in A Good Year (2006) and Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) soon followed, before he portrayed the title role in August Rush (2007), opposite Keri Russell and Robin Williams.
In 2013, he began starring as the iconic Norman Bates in the drama thriller series Bates Motel (2013), alongside Vera Farmiga as his mother. Highmore received much acclaim for his performance throughout the series' run, and was nominated for multiple Saturn Awards and Critics' Choice Television Awards.
2017- Stars in The Good Doctor as Shaun Murphy -a young autistic surgeon who has savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the surgical unit at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Shaun is alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, but he finds his niche using his extraordinary medical skill and intuition to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.Young Paul Oliver- Actor
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Andy Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Judy (2019), Ghost Stories (2017) and Death at a Funeral (2007).David Mazzei- Jan Harvey was born on 1 June 1947 in Penzance, Cornwall, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Family Affairs (1997), Bugs (1995) and EastEnders (1985). She is married to Stephen Yardley.Elizabeth Oliver
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Belle was born as Camilla Belle Routh in Los Angeles, California, to Deborah, a fashion designer, and Jack Wesley Routh, who composed country music and owns a construction company. Her mother is Brazilian and her father, who is from Kingman, Kansas, has English, German, and French ancestry. Camilla is an only child. She was named after a character played by Renata Sorrah in her mother's favorite Brazilian soap opera Cavalo de Aço (1973). However, most people call her by her middle name Belle.
She went to St Paul's Catholic Elementary School in West Los Angeles and, afterwards, attended the elite all-girls Marlborough School in Los Angeles. At school, she studied classical piano and was fond of languages. She can speak fluent Portuguese.
Camilla appeared in a national print commercial before the age of 1. At age 5, she appeared in two TV movies Trouble Shooters: Trapped Beneath the Earth (1993) and Empty Cradle (1993). Because of her work, she had never completed a full year of school. So, at age 13, she took time off to focus on her studies. She returned to work when she was age 16, with a main role in the film The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005). The role that provided her first major exposure was Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC (2008).
From 2006 to 2008, she got a taste of her mother's world with some fashion jobs - she modeled for Vera Wang's Princess fragrance.
Camilla is also involved in various charities and is an international spokesperson for "Kids With A Cause".Adrianna Mazzei- Actress
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Emilia Jones was recently named one of Variety's 10 Actors to Watch.
She is best known for playing the lead role of Ruby Rossi in CODA which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2022. Her performance garnered her 13 wins and 25 nominations including a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
For her role, Emilia spent nine months learning American Sign Language. She also had intensive singing lessons as all of her musical performances were recorded live on set. Her CODA duet video reached over 5 billion views on TikTok.
In addition to her television and film work, Emilia has also performed in three highly acclaimed West End theatre productions at The Almeida, The Young Vic and The Theatre Royal Drury Lane.Young Rebecca Oliver/Rebecca Mazzei- Actress
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Glória Pires was born on 23 August 1963 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is an actress and writer, known for Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (2009), Irrational Heart (2011) and O Dono do Mundo (1991). She has been married to Orlando Morais since 1987. They have three children. She was previously married to Fábio Jr..Old Delva- Alison King was born on March 3, 1973 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. at Leicester Royal Infirmary to Alex and June King, who were both nurses at the hospital. She was their fifth child and third daughter. She went to Markfield Mercenfeld Primary School and South Charnwood High School, where she first took an interest in acting. She continued to act while attending Groby Community College, where a teacher would offer drama and dance classes to students in their free time. Alison was raised as a Christadelphian and attended the Christadelphian Church at Westleigh, Leicester, where she was baptised as a teenager. At the age of 18, she moved to Newquay, Cornwall, and worked at Fat Willys Surf Shack. While on holiday in the Mediterranean, in a Tenerife bar in March 1995, she met Philip Middlemiss, who became her boyfriend for five years and encouraged her to become an actress. At the age of 22, she enrolled at the North Cheshire Theatre School. In the 1990s, King was described as a regular on the Manchester party scene while dating Middlemiss, and commented in 2007 about her party animal days, saying "it seems like another life time ago. That gap from 25 to 34 is a long time. Sometimes I meet somebody from 10 years ago and I can't remember anything." During her time at drama school, she got her first television role, playing Helen, a hair salon crimper, in two episodes of Brookside (1982). Before the conclusion of her three-year diploma, she was cast in the major role of Lynda Block in Sky One's Double Team (1997) for three years before the character was sent to prison. She reprised the role some years later.
During her break from working on Dream Team, she worked on several projects abroad including appearing as an extra in the American feature film Shanghai Knights (2003) as a prostitute in a scene alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. She gained supporting roles in BBC comedy-drama Help (2005), a Steven Seagal direct-to-video film Submerged (2005) and the little-seen feature film Final Contract: Death on Delivery (2006). She talked of her enthusiasm for filming action scenes "I always think you should do the slap for real. They always have a safety guy on set anyway. I've done a lot of action films actually - I like getting involved. I've kicked people, shot them and all kinds of things."
She played Frenchie in a production of Grease (1978) in Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and narrated a production of Blood Brothers in the London Palladium. In 2000, she appeared in an episode of Cold Feet (1997) as "Girlpower", a seductive Internet avatar. In the early 2000s, she made one-episode appearances in several television shows, including the final episode of Mile High (2003), playing the wife of Captain Nigel Croker's, and Coupling (2000) in the episode "The Man with Two Legs", as Chrissy with whom Jeff Murdock becomes infatuated on his morning train ride. She also appeared in the second episode of the fourth series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983) in 2004. She played one of the prominent roles for two independent films, Save Angel Hope (2007) and Back in Business (2007).
In 2006, she was cast as Carla Connor in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (1960), which proved to be her breakout role. She made her first appearance in the role in the episode broadcast on 1 December 2006. She had previously appeared in the soap in 2004 as an unrelated character named Mrs Fanshaw. Her one-episode role was part of a larger storyline to "sex up" Ryan Thomas's character, builder Jason Grimshaw. She later joked "I was Mrs Fanshaw - or Fanny. What a nightmare!" She said that she initially found the role difficult, as she "was uncomfortable playing a constant bitch at first. I'm getting into it now but I'm not as nasty or as cocky as Carla. She's horrible to anyone she perceives to be a rival. I couldn't be like that." In November 2010, she admitted her character "annoys the hell" out of her, and she has also said she hates the voice she chose for the character.
After becoming pregnant in 2008, Alison went on maternity leave in 2009. In a November 2008 interview, when asked about filming scenes while pregnant, she joked "Yeah, I'm big and fat at the minute. I'm just getting fatter. It's a competition between my boobs, my bump and my ass! I think my bum's slightly ahead at the minute! I look like Humpty Dumpty with leggings."
Alison's role in the soap involved high-profile storylines. In 2010 she was involved in the death of Tony Gordon storyline, in which she had to be kidnapped in the Underworld factory. For these scenes, she had to be tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her back and have her mouth gagged with gaffer tape. Of filming the scenes, she said "We were tied up and gagged for a week and a half. I was gaffa-taped for a little while and tied up for most of it. My wrist was sore at the end! It was a different experience anyway, acting for two weeks with your hands tied behind your back on a chair." Alison said the Siege Week was "great television and I'm really pleased to be part of it", and performed all stunts herself, except one that consisted of a jump from a balcony. The storyline was a hit with audiences and critically acclaimed.
Alison participated in a live episode to commemorate the show's 50th anniversary in late 2010. In September 2011, her character Carla was raped by her fiancée Frank Foster, whom she was unaware was a sexual predator. The storyline was announced in June, and producers insisted they had consulted domestic abuse charities. This storyline had a massive public impact and saw a high rise in reported rapes across the United Kingdom. Alison spoke of how there was an 800% increase in calls to support organisations after the storyline had aired, and that people had contacted her about their real-life experiences, some of whom she has kept in communication with. She said that she was "proud" of the storyline. Her performance in the rape storyline led to a Best Actress award at the 2012 British Soap Awards. When her nomination was announced, King called it "lovely, it was really nice to hear. I'm delighted." She said that she got "choked up" when she won. She admitted the rape storyline left her "physically and mentally exhausted", but in a January 2016 Q&A called it her favourite storyline of her own from the show. In January 2015, she was involved in a high-profile storyline involving a mini-bus where she almost dies, escaping from the mini-bus before it falls from a cliff.
In May 2015, it was announced she would be taking an extended break from Coronation Street to pursue other projects. She also initially stated her intention was to take a break from the show and return. However, in January 2016, it was confirmed that the departure would be permanent. She said of her reason to leave: "I've probably only ever done about 20 pick-ups or drop-offs in all the time my daughter's been at school, which is quite sad. And creatively, I miss being other people. It's what I went to drama school for. I love playing diverse characters and meeting new people. And, truthfully, I also want to be able to get my voiceover career going again. There's all sorts of things that I used to do, which I can't do while I'm on Coronation Street. So, those are the reasons, really." She departed on 26 May 2016 and in an interview said that she would be looking for new types of roles and projects, and saying said she would continue to watch Coronation Street. Before leaving, she was nominated for Best Serial Drama Performance at the 2016 National Television Awards, but lost to Danny Dyer. In August 2017, after numerous rumours earlier in the year, it was officially announced that Alison would return to her role as Carla Connor in December that year after being lured back by the show's new producer Kate Oates. She returned to filming Coronation Street on 10 October 2017. While on her break from Coronation Street, she filmed four episodes as Superintendent Henchy in the second series of Sky Atlantic comedy Sick Note (2017).
Alison is considered by the British press and public as a sex symbol. Her physical appearance and personality is considered popular within the United Kingdom male demographic. In December 2008, she was voted the top 'Sexiest Soap Babe Of 2008' in an online poll of the British public by MSN Entertainment, followed by Lacey Turner and Roxanne McKee in second and third place. She has been voted sexiest female for her role as Carla Connor on Coronation Street (1960), was nominated for Sexiest Soap Star at the TV Now Awards in 2008, and Sexiest Female at the 2011 British Soap Awards but lost to her Coronation Street co-star Michelle Keegan. She has been named as one of the "sexiest soap females". In August 2012, Maxim named her number one of the Top Ten Sexiest UK Soap Stars. Scottish Daily Record has called her "dreamy", while Daily Mirror has referred to her as "effortlessly gorgeous", and its readers voted her as one of the Sexiest Female soap stars. Columnist Grace Dent described her as "an alluring vision, raven haired, classy, sultry and replete with guile".
Alison has said she is "flattered" to be considered a sex symbol, speaking in 2010 of her surprise "I don't know that I am - but yeah, why not? I've just turned 37, so way to go! They can call me a sex symbol if they want." She spoke in 2007 that she hoped to remain popular with male viewers, saying "I'm thankful that people think I'm sexy, especially as I'm getting on a bit. But if they saw me first thing in the morning they may change their minds!" When asked about her nomination for Sexiest Female at British Soap Awards, she laughed "If I win it, I'll eat my own hat. I don't think Carla is sexy, I think she's just a bit gobby. I don't really see her as a sexpot."
In April 2004, Alison was chosen as the face of Boddingtons beer, taking over from Melanie Sykes. She launched the ad campaign at The Circle Club in Manchester. She said she was "thrilled to be chosen as the girl to deliver that infamous endline in a Boddingtons ad. As a girl who spends so much time in Manchester, it's great to be able to be part of a campaign for a brand such as Boddingtons, especially as I love a creamy pint of Bodds down my local." She made appearances in a series of recurring television adverts for Daz.
During her five-year relationship with Philip Middlemiss, Alison was the subject of press attention due to his fame on Coronation Street, which she would join a decade later, such as when in August 1996, Middlemiss and Alison, then 23-years old, were spotted staying at the Dromoland Castle in Newmarket-on-Fergus, prompting speculation that they they would get engaged. In November 1996, Middlemiss told Scottish Daily Record of his relationship with King "I've never been happier. She is a wonderful girl. I love her to death." Middlemiss has said the couple did not break up but drifted apart. In a July 2000 interview, he said of their relationship "I was in love with Allie. She's the only person I've ever really loved. But she was working in London and I was in Manchester. In another life, if I had been a bus driver and she had worked at the local baker's shop, we would have got married and had kids by now." In 2006, she became engaged to fellow actor Jim Alexander who co-starred in several series of Dream Team with her, as well as the Daz adverts. The couple shared a flat in London. However, the pair split in early 2007. The breakup was reported to be because of King's new role on Coronation Street as Carla Connor, as their relationship became strained when she moved to Manchester in order to star in the soap opera. In January that year, she had said "He's making me very happy and bounding up between London and Manchester. He's coming up for a month in a few days, so I'm looking forward to that very much." A friend of King's said she was "devastated" by the breakup and that she had thrown herself into her work to cope with the loss.
She dated Adam Huckett, a Coronation Street sound technician from April 2007, just two weeks after breaking off her engagement to Jim Alexander. She gave birth to their daughter, Daisy Mae, on 11 February 2009, in a Manchester hospital. She delivered the baby by Caesarean section. King has also stated that she wishes to have more children in the future, and loves being a mother. King admitted she initially struggled with motherhood and "cried down the phone to Julia Haworth for hours. She was sweet." In a 2010 interview with Scottish Daily Record, she said "I love motherhood. My daughter is hilarious. She just makes me laugh every day." When asked in October 2009 if she and Huckett would marry, she said "Probably. Eventually. If he gets a ring!" She became engaged to Huckett in September 2011 while on a trip to Paris. However, on 16 October 2012 it was reported that the engagement was off as they had split up. King had taken a four-month break from Coronation Street between June and October to go on holiday with Huckett and their daughter. They claimed they had split as they "weren't making each other happy anymore". They said they were "determined" to remain friends, denied anyone else was involved, and confirmed they would still work together on Coronation Street. Since 2016, she has been dating Hollyoaks (1995) assistant director Paul Slavin. The relationship was revealed after they were photographed by the press and there was speculation as to his identity. She said of the relationship: "I'm seeing somebody. It's very early days so I don't want to say anything more, but I'm happy."
Alison fronted a campaign to raise money for Breast Cancer Campaign with thermal manufacturer Damart in 2007, and in November 2015, wrote a column for The Mail on Sunday describing a holiday to Villa Irida, Corfu with her daughter and best friend.Natalie Mazzei - Lauren Marie Socha is an actress, known for her role in Misfits (2009).
She born June 9, 1990, in Derby, Derbyshire, England, to Kathleen (Lyons) and Robert Socha, and has Polish, English, Irish, and Italian ancestry. In 2010, Socha starred alongside Tim McInnerny in the short film Missing. She also had a minor role in the television mini-series Five Daughters.Claire Beechey - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Tom was born in Darley Dale in Derbyshire, England. He went to Repton School and, in between school and holidays, was in the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT), where Jude Law and Jonny Lee Miller also had early training. He was approached by the Austrian Olympic skiing team but continued to pursue acting. He did a three-year musical theatre course at Guildford School of Acting.Peter Beechey- Actor
- Soundtrack
Joseph Maxwell Dempsie is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama Skins (2007-2008) and Gendry Baratheon in Game of Thrones (2011-2013; 2017-2019). Dempsie's earlier acting credits include the medical dramas Peak Practice (2000), Doctors (2001-2003), and Sweet Medicine (2003), as well as the films One for the Road and Heartlands (2003). He also appeared in This is England '86 (2010) and This is England '90 (2015), Born and Bred, a BBC documentary-drama about Tony Martin, and as the villainous John in The Fades (2011).Michael Beechey- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Lilian Ridgway, known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress, best known for playing Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC comedy series Open All Hours (1976-1985) and its sequel, Still Open All Hours (2013-2016).
From 1993 to 1997, she played Auntie Mabel in BBC children's programme Come Outside and in 2006, she starred as Linda Clarke in EastEnders, before returning from 2008 to 2009 and again in 2016.
Baron was born in Urmston, Lancashire. She was originally trained as a dancer at the Royal Academy of Dance. Early in her career, she appeared in repertory theatre and several West End venues.
Baron's early television roles included small parts in Crossroads (1964), Up Pompeii (1970), Z-Cars (1971) and the British horror film Hands of the Ripper (1971). Baron appeared on television in BBC-3 (1965), a series in the vein of That Was The Week That Was, involving some of the same performers. She also alternated with Annie Ross as the resident singer on Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (1965). Baron has taken part in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who three times. She was heard as a singer in the 1966 serial The Gunfighters. She appeared in front of the cameras as Captain Wrack in the 1983 serial Enlightenment, and again in 2011 in Closing Time as Val.
Baron is best known for playing Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the popular BBC comedy series Open All Hours with Ronnie Barker and David Jason which ran for four series in 1976, 1981 to 1982 and in 1985, and was subsequently voted eighth in Britain's Best Sitcom in 2004.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Baron co-starred in the ITV sitcom Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! and the forgotten BBC sitcom A Roof Over My Head. She had small parts in Minder and Last of the Summer Wine. In 1986, she acted in a party political broadcast for the SDP-Liberal Alliance.
Baron also appeared in the 1987 Christmas special of The Two Ronnies. Baron then went on to appear in the BBC Two comedy series KYTV.
In the 1990s, Baron played Auntie Pat in five episodes of the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand (1992-93). Baron then went on to star in the children's television series Come Outside (1993-97) playing Auntie Mabel, an everyday woman living in a bungalow, set in Denham flying round on various adventures in her spotted aeroplane with her dog Pippin.
In 1997, Baron played Renee Turnbull in Coronation Street and took guest roles in Dinnerladies (1998), The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (1998), Sunburn (1999), Nancherrow (1999) and Goodnight Sweetheart (1999).
Baron continued to work regularly on television and the stage in the 2000s, with credits including Fat Friends (2000-2005), The Bill (2000), Doctors (2000, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2014), Peak Practice (2001), Holby City (2002 and 2006), Down to Earth (2005), Rome (2005) and Casualty (2009).
Baron briefly appeared in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders in 2006 as Linda Clarke, the mother of Jane Beale. In September 2008, it was announced that Baron would be returning to EastEnders.
She appeared regularly in the series from November 2008 to February 2009. On 8 April 2016, it was announced that Baron would return to the soap once again alongside John Partridge. She appeared on screen in May and June 2016.
In August 2010, Baron appeared in an episode of Agatha Christie's Marple on ITV. In September 2010, Baron appeared in a one-off television drama The Road to Coronation Street on BBC Four, a programme looking back at the early days of the British television soap opera Coronation Street. Baron portrayed actress Violet Carson who played Ena Sharples in the soap.
Baron was nominated for the 2011 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for this role.
On 26 December 2013, Baron reprised her role in a special one-off episode of Open All Hours on BBC One, entitled Still Open All Hours.
In December 2016 Baron made a guest appearance in a Christmas special of Citizen Khan and in January 2017 she appeared in an episode of Father Brown.
In 1966, Baron married her husband, John M. Lee. They had two children, Sarah and Morgan.Christine Beechey- Actress
- Writer
Lisa Hammond was born on 2 June 1983 in Chichester, Sussex, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Quills (2000), The Rubbish World of Dave Spud (2019) and EastEnders (1985).Nina Reynolds- Actress
- Producer
Born Julie Anne Harris, the youngest child of Albert and Pat Harris, Patsy Palmer was born for stardom. She spent her childhood in Bethnal Green, London with her whole family close by. She was particularly close to her maternal parents, whom she affectionately called "Farvey" and "Nor." Her parents separated when she was 8 and her father, to whom she never felt close, remarried and moved to America.
Palmer was bitten by the acting bug at the tender age of six when her older brother Albert auditioned for a part in the West End production of "Joseph and the Amazing Techni-Colored Dreamcoat". Accompanying him to the audition along with their mother, Patsy demanded to be allowed to audition despite being too young and, to the amazement of her family and herself, she was given a chorus role - and was the youngest member of the entire show! This prompted a young Julie Harris to audition for the free-paying Anna Scher Theatre School and, because there was already an accomplished film and theatre actress by the name of Julie Harris, she was given the stage name Patsy Palmer, her mother's maiden name. Whilst there Palmer extended her talents to writing plays, resulting in her winning an award at the London Festival of Plays at the age of just 12 for writing her own play about prostitution.
Patsy began her career on television by starring as an extra in an episode of The Bill (1984) in 1988 at 16. That year she had a prominent part as an acne-ridden teenager in a TV commercial for Clearasil. Further small roles in TV series such as Tricky Business (1989), Making News (1990), Clarissa (1991), Love Hurts (1992) and Drop the Dead Donkey (1990) followed before Patsy Palmer became an iconic household name with her famous portrayal of feisty red-head Bianca Jackson in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders (1985), making her first appearance in November 1993 at 21. During her time on the soap opera Palmer tackled various demanding storylines, such as her turbulent romance with Ricky Butcher, played by real-life best friend Sid Owen, the discovery of her father David Wicks, the premature death of her disabled daughter Natasha, for which she became the first- ever soap actress to be nominated for Best Actress at the Royal Television Society Awards, the death of her best friend Tiffany Mitchell, and the revelation of her affair with Dan Sullivan, her mother Carol Jackson's fiancé. In April 1997 she commanded the soap's biggest-ever audience draw with more than 22 million people tuning in to watch Ricky and Bianca's wedding. Her role in the show also prompted a meeting between her and Queen Elizabeth II, which she declared was one of the biggest highlights of her life. But after 6 years in the soap opera, Palmer bowed out to try new things, making her last appearance in September 1999.
Following her departure Palmer got involved in various projects, such as the detective series McCready and Daughter (2001), Do or Die (2001) and the period drama He Knew He Was Right (2004), as well as cameo appearances in short films Another Green World (2005) and Trapped (2008). Patsy also reprised her role as fiery Bianca Jackson in a special spin-off show Ricky and Bianca (2002), reuniting her with Sid Owen for the first time in three years, which detailed Bianca's life away from Walford, where she struggled to raise her son Liam and attend fashion college in Manchester as well as working in a seedy club in order to make ends meet. The show was extremely popular with Palmer's fans and resulted in her being invited to return to the show, but Palmer declined in order to spend time with her family. Later on in October 2007 it was announced that Patsy Palmer would be returning to EastEnders (1985) after 8 years away and, along with Sid Owen, her returning scenes were aired in April 2008. Palmer's second stint in the soap opera as Bianca portrayed her still as a struggling single mother, this time being thrown out of her residence for failing to pay rent and being made homeless along with her children. Palmer has also tackled the difficult storyline of sexual abuse, with her jailbird boyfriend Tony King grooming her stepdaughter Whitney.
Outside her career, Palmer is a mother to four children: Charley (born in February 1992, fathered by an ex-boyfriend); and Fenton (born in June 2000), Emilia (born in July 2001), and Bertie (born in December 2010), fathered by her husband, taxi-driver Richard Merkell. She was married to director Nick Love, who directed her in her role as a pregnant drug-addicted prostitute in Love Story (1999), but they separated after just five months of marriage. She lives in Brighton with Merkell, to whom she's been married since August 2000, and her four children. She is the active patron of Children's Cancer Charity CLIC Sargent.
Patsy Palmer is an incredible talent and a British icon from humble beginnings, a shining example to all Britons that no matter their background, there is hope for everyone that their dreams will come true. Hers did.Alison Mazzei- Louis Ashbourne Serkis is known for The Kid Who Would Be King (2019), Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).Young Hugh Trenchard
- Anatole Taubman was born in Zurich, Switzerland and is of Russian-Polish-Slovakian-Austrian-and-former-East-Prussian blood. In 1991 he made his baccalauréat at the renowned Gymnasium of the Benedictine boarding school of the monastery Einsiedeln and in 1994 he graduated from the reputable drama-school 'Circle in the Square' in NYC. He's fluent in five languages (English, French, Swiss-German, German and Italian) and is also truly cosmopolitan in his work. Taubman has starred and co-starred in over 50 feature films and TV productions. Since 1998, he has been busy working and with international success in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and for the USA throughout Europe and beyond. Among other credits Anatole Taubman is best known for his impressive English-language TV work in Band of Brothers (HBO), Servants (BBC), POW (ITV), Spooks VI (BBC), Waking The Dead VII - Pièta (BBC) or The Tudors II (Showtime) and established himself as a fine character actor in feature films like Mein Name is Bach (CH/D), Luther (D), Marmorera (CH), Fay Grim (USA), Snipers Valley (D), Secret Défense (F), Taken / 96 Hours (F / USA) and in 2009 Pope Joan (D), Same Same But Different (D) or in Chanel & Stravinsky (F).
Anatole Taubman is a member of the German Film Academy and of the European Film Academy. Anatole Taubman is Spokesperson for UNICEF Switzerland.Manfred Gölz - Actress
- Producer
Kate Dickie was born on 24 April 1971 in East Kilbride, Scotland, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Red Road (2006), Prometheus (2012) and Filth (2013).Georgiana Trenchard- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Katherine Jane Parkinson is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's The IT Crowd comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, winning in 2014. Parkinson studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and has appeared on stage in the plays The Seagull (2007), Cock (2009), and Home, I'm Darling (2018), for which she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play.Naomi Kate- Richard Lintern is a Film Television and Stage actor based in London.
He started life in Somerset England, studied at Durham University, then won a scholarship to The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Since graduating he has worked extensively across many disciplines, enjoying success at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre whilst developing a varied and rewarding film and television career. He also has a highly successful voice over career, including narrating BAFTA winning documentaries and voicing animated and games-based characters.
From 2013 til 2020 he starred as Thomas Chamberlain in BBC! Primetime drama Silent Witness, enjoying his role as one of the series' central figures. He left in 2020 to concentrate on developing other projects, both screen and stage basedHenry Trenchard - Actress
- Additional Crew
Kate Fahy was born in Dublin, Ireland. She is known for Defiance (2008), The Living and the Dead (2006) and The House of Eliott (1991). She has been married to Jonathan Pryce since 2015.Young Phyllis Oliver- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
English actor Warwick Davis was born in Epsom, Surrey, England, the son of Susan J. (Pain) and Ashley Davis, an insurance broker. Davis was born with the condition spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenital (SED), which caused his dwarfism. He was educated at City of London Freemen's School. When he was 11 years old, his grandmother heard a radio appeal for people under four feet tall to appear in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). A huge Star Wars fan, Davis auditioned successfully and was cast as an extra, playing an Ewok. Kenny Baker was cast as lead Ewok Wicket, but fell ill so George Lucas chose Davis to replace him. The film was a smash hit, and Davis went on to reprise his role as Wicket in further TV projects - The Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985).
Davis next big role came with a part specifically written for him, as the titular hero in Willow (1988). Other successes followed with roles in such projects as Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) and two distinctly different film series - the 'Harry Potter' and 'Leprechaun' film series. In 2006, he appeared in a cameo role in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's hit sitcom Extras (2005), which led to the pair writing a series specifically for Davis, the comic mockumentary Life's Too Short (2011).
Davis, along with his father-in-law Peter Burroughs, is also the director of an acting agency for very short and tall actors called Willow Management. He is married to Samantha Davis and they have a son and a daughter.Tommy Reynolds- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sorcha Cusack was born on 9 April 1949 in Dublin, Ireland. She is an actress, known for Snatch (2000), Father Brown (2013) and Jane Eyre (1973). She is married to Nigel Cooke. They have two children.Old Phyllis Oliver- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Jonathan Kerrigan (born 14 October 1972 in Lincolnshire) is an English actor well known for various leading roles on TV including In The Club, Casualty, Heartbeat, Merseybeat, and Reach For The Moon. Films include 55 Steps, Diana, FLiM, The Somnambulists, The Best Possible Taste. He is also a musician and has composed for both television and film.Young Leonard Oliver- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jonathan Pryce was born on 1 June 1947 in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Two Popes (2019), The Wife (2017) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). He has been married to Kate Fahy since April 2015. They have three children.Old Leonard Oliver- Nikesh Patel was born on 17 October 1985 in Wembley, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Indian Summers (2015), London Has Fallen (2016) and Halal Daddy (2017).Kevin Vara
- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Kunal Nayyar is an British actor. He moved from India to the US in 1999. He first moved to Portland, Oregon, to study business. He started acting in plays as a way of making new friends. He took acting classes, but he went on to graduate from the University of Portland with a degree in business, as something to fall back on. He then went on to get a master's degree in fine arts from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He did some work for the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, UK. He then landed his breakthrough role in The Big Bang Theory (2007) in 2007, just a year after graduating.Shay- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Dev Patel was born in Harrow, London, to Anita, a caregiver, and Raj Patel, who works in IT. His parents, originally from Nairobi, Kenya, are both of Gujarati Indian descent. His first role was in the UK TV series Skins (2007). His breakout role was in the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). In May 2012, he played Sonny Kapoor in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011). In March 2015, he had a leading role in two major motion pictures released in the theaters at the same time: Chappie (2015) and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015).K.P- Defector 3 Musician
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Giancarlo Giannini is an Oscar-nominated Italian actor, director and multilingual dubber who made an international reputation for his leading roles in Italian films as well as for his mastery of a variety of languages and dialects.
He was born August 1, 1942, in La Spezia, Italy. For 10 years he lived and studied in Naples, earning a degree in electronics. At 18 he enrolled in the Academy of Dramatic Art D'Amico in Rome and made his stage acting debut there. His credits included performances in contemporary Italian plays as well, as in Italian productions of William Shakespeare's plays "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Midsummer's Night Dream". In 1965 he made his television debut starring as David Copperfield in the TV miniseries made by RAI ,the Italian national TV company. He made his big-screen debut in Libido (1965), a Freudian psychological thriller. Since 1966 he has been in a successful collaboration with legendary Italian director Lina Wertmüller, who made several award-winning films with Giannini as a male lead. He appears as peasant Tonino who prepares to assassinate dictator Benito Mussolini in Love & Anarchy (1973), as a sailor in the irony-laden comedy Swept Away (1974), and as a concentration-camp survivor in the Oscar-nominated Seven Beauties (1975). He also starred as a Jewish musician arrested by the Nazis in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's masterpiece Lili Marleen (1981).
Giannini also made a reputation for dubbing international stars in films released on the Italian market, such as Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Michael Douglas, Dustin Hoffman, Gérard Depardieu, and Ian McKellen, among others. He received a compliment from Stanley Kubrick for his dubbing of Nicholson in The Shining (1980). Giannini's fluency in English and his mastery of dialects has brought him a number of supporting roles in Hollywood productions, such as A Walk in the Clouds (1995), Hannibal (2001), Darkness (2002), and Man on Fire (2004), among many others. He appears as Rene Mathis in the 21st James Bond film Casino Royale (2006), and reprises the role in the sequel, Quantum of Solace (2008).