Jason Done
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Jason Done | |
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Born | April 5, 1973 Salford, England |
Jason Done (born April 5, 1973) is an English actor.
[edit] Background
Jason Done was born and raised in Salford, England. His love for acting began at an early age after watching the Ken Loach film, Kes. Aged eight, he entered a talent competition, and won first prize for his stand up comedy. At sixteen, Jason won his school's drama prize and was awarded a place at the National Youth Theatre's summer school, where he worked with acclaimed playwright John Burrows.
Jason gained a Foundation Diploma in Performing Arts with distinction from Salford University. While studying, he co-wrote comedy sketches inspired by Monty Python and performed them in venues around northern England. He made his professional stage debut in Hull Truck Theatre's production of A Hard Day's Night and soon after began work on ITV's Mothers Ruin (1994), a six-part comedy series. He followed this with Martin Sadofski's drama Blood and Peaches, a gritty tale of four young people growing up in Bradford, England against a backdrop of racial unrest.
It was at this time that Jason realized his passion for dramatic work. This led him back to the theatre for his role as Stubbs in the London premiere of Sam Shepherd's play, States of Shock, where he debuted his American accent. Jason received outstanding notices, and followed the play with a role in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996), opposite Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche. Jason returned to the small screen for Wokenwell (1997), where he played PC Brian Rainford. The show gained a cult following.
Next came The Barber of Siberia directed by Oscar winner Nikita Mikhalkov, where he played an American army cadet stationed at West Point. Described as “deliciously evil” for his role as Mordred in NBC's 1998 made-for-television film, Merlin, Jason worked alongside a star-studded ensemble including Sam Neill, Isabella Rossellini and Helena Bonham Carter, in what was NBC's highest-rated drama in twelve years.[citation needed]
Always willing to try new accents, Jason played a tormented student from Cornwall in The Passion (1999)(BBC 1). He then joined the cast of the popular ITV series, Where the Heart Is (1997) for two years. The Emmy award-winning Dreamworks/HBO production Band of Brothers saw Jason's return to US television. His role as Julie Walters' son in BBC's critically-acclaimed Murder had Jason working with director Beeban Kidron and writer Abi Morgan. Having earlier worked on the short film The King and Us, Jason spread his wings to write, produce and star in his own short film Shooting from the Lip, a commentary on lost love. Jason most recently starred as Sean Denning, a malevolent gangster manipulating the police, in a two part TV film of the popular series In Deep.
Done has starred in series 1 and 2 and will appear in series 3 of Waterloo Road on BBC 1. He plays teacher Tom Clarkson, a laid back English teacher.
When he's not working Jason likes to relax with a copy of The Beano. "I collect the stickers" he says.