| Dominic Cooper | |
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Cooper at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival |
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| Born | Dominic Edward Cooper 2 June 1978 Greenwich, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
Dominic Edward Cooper (born 2 June 1978) is an English actor. He has worked in TV, film, theatre and radio, in productions including Mamma Mia!, The Duchess, The History Boys, and The Devil's Double.
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Cooper was born and brought up in Greenwich, London, the son of Julia (née Heron), a nursery school teacher, and Brian Cooper, an auctioneer.[1][2][3] His maternal great-grandfather was film enthusiast E.T. Heron, who published The Kinematograph Weekly. He attended the Thomas Tallis School in Blackheath, and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), graduating in 2000. He also attended John Ball Primary school, the same school that actor Jude Law attended.
He first worked in television and film before making his stage debut in Mother Clap's Molly House at the National Theatre in 2001.
Cooper was involved in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys from its first reading.[4] He also toured with the production to Broadway, Sydney, Wellington and Hong Kong as well as appearing in the radio and film adaptations of the play.[5][6][7][8]
In 2005, Cooper also appeared in a commercial for condom company Durex.[9]
He has had notable roles in the Royal National Theatre's adaptation of the His Dark Materials trilogy where he played the lead character Will Parry, the TV series Down To Earth and Sense & Sensibility. He is possibly best known for his work in Mamma Mia!, in which he sang several songs. In the film, his character was engaged to the daughter (played by Amanda Seyfried) of the lead (Meryl Streep). He appears opposite Keira Knightley in The Duchess and can also be seen in An Education.
He guest stars in the "Aspinol" sketch in his The History Boys co-star James Corden's BBC3 show Horne & Corden. In 2009 he played Hippolytus in Phedre at the National Theatre alongside Helen Mirren and Margaret Tyzack.
Recently he played the leading roles of Latif Yahia and Uday Hussein in the 2011 drama film The Devil's Double.
Cooper was nominated for a 2006 Drama Desk Award for his work on the Broadway production of The History Boys.[10]
He was nominated for the for Most Promising Newcomer (On Screen) award at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards[11] and has been nominated for the British Film Critics Circle's 2006 award for British actor in support[12] for his work on the film version of The History Boys.
He was in a relationship with fellow Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried but in May 2010 they ended the relationship because they were living in different countries. Seyfried is quoted as saying 'never date someone who does not live in the same country as you'. He is good friends with his former The History Boys co-star, James Corden. Cooper lived for a while in Corden's house until Corden started a family with his girlfriend. [13]