Burn Gorman

Burn Hugh Gorman^[1] (born 1 September 1974) is an American-born English actor and musician. He is best known for portraying Owen Harper in Torchwood, William Guppy in Bleak House, and Stryver in The Dark Knight Rises. He is also known for his appearances in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and films such as Johnny English Reborn, Red Lights, and Pacific Rim.

Early life

Gorman was born in Hollywood, California, the son of English parents.^[2] His father was a professor of linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, California. At the age of seven, he moved to London. He trained at the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre.

Career

Gorman appeared in the first two seasons of the BAFTA Cymru-winning science-fiction/crime drama Torchwood as Owen Harper. Other television includes Sex, the City and Me, Funland, Bonekickers and other projects for the BBC.

Gorman appeared in the BAFTA and EMMY-winning BBC One adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House as William Guppy, and the BAFTA-nominated political thriller Low Winter Sun (Tiger Aspect/Channel 4) the same year. He played scriptwriter Ray Galton in the BAFTA-nominated and RTS-winning BBC Four television play, The Curse of Steptoe.

Other television includes Funland (BBC Three), A Good Thief (Granada), Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC One), Casualty, Merseybeat and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (BBC). He played a guest role in EastEnders on 9 March 2007 as Jed. Gorman has recently starred in the ITV adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights as Hindley Earnshaw. He also had a small part in Cemetery Junction as one of the police officers. In 2011, he starred in Sky1's second Martina Cole adaptation, The Runaway. It was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa and London in 2010.

Film work includes Love is Not Enough, Layer Cake, Colour Me Kubrick, The Best Man, Penelope, Claus, The Oxford Murders and Cemetery Junction.

His London theatre credits include Ladybird (Royal Court), Flush (Soho Theatre), Oliver (Theatre Royal), The Green Man and Gong Donkeys (Bush Theatre), of which Michael Billington of The Guardian wrote "Burn Gorman proves that he is one of the best young actors in Britain."^[3]

Gorman has also worked with acclaimed actress and director Kathryn Hunter, Marcello Magni of Complicite, Mike Hodges (of Get Carter and Croupier fame), Artistic Director of NT of Scotland Vicky Featherstone, Mark Ravenhill, Frantic Assembly, and with the English National Opera (in Morning To Midnight with Richard Jones). He has performed in readings, workshops and development initiatives with the National Theatre Studio, Young Vic, Royal Court, Oxford Stage Company, Paines Plough and Soho Theatre.^[4]

Outside of London, Gorman has worked with the Playhouse, Nottingham, the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, and Manchester's Royal Exchange Studio and Library and Contact Theatres, where he was nominated for a Manchester Evening News Best Newcomer Award.

From December 2008 to October 2009, he played Bill Sikes in Cameron Mackintosh's West End revival of the musical Oliver! He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatre Awards for his performance.^[5]

As a musician, Gorman has played in clubs and on stages all over the world, appearing alongside Neneh Cherry, Rodney P and Groove Armada amongst others, and has worked on videos and visuals with the Streets. He also competed against Yorkshire Beatboxer Desebel and was crowned the BBC 1Xtra Human Beatbox Champion.

Gorman played his first leading role in the 2011 feature film, Up There, which had its premiere at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. Allan Hunter of Screen Daily described him as "bringing echoes of Buster Keaton as the melancholy Martin".^[6]

Personal life

Gorman has three older sisters.

Filmography

References

External links

• Burn Gorman at the Internet Movie Database
• Burn Gorman Interview on Starpulse