James Purefoy

James Purefoy
Purefoy at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012
Born	James Brian Mark Purefoy (1964-06-03) 3 June 1964 Taunton, Somerset, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Spouse(s)	Holly Aird (1996–2002)
Children	Joseph (b. 1997), Rose (b. 2012)

James Brian Mark Purefoy^[1] (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor best known for portraying Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome and for his current role as Joe Carroll, a professor-turned-serial-killer in the TV series The Following.

Early life and work

Purefoy was born in Taunton, Somerset ^[2] the eldest son of Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy and Shirley Taylor. He was a boarder at Sherborne School, Sherborne, Dorset which he left with only one O-level. Later he went to night school and got 11 more, then took his A-levels.^[3] He worked at Yeovil District Hospital as a porter before studying acting at the British drama school the Central School of Speech and Drama, while trying to sell copies of the Socialist Worker in his spare time.^[3]

Career

Purefoy's early professional roles included Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in Leatherhead, Walter in Mary Morgan at the Riverside Studios and Alan Strang in Equus on tour.

RSC and other stage work

Purefoy subsequently joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1988 and appeared in The Constant Couple, Macbeth, The Tempest, The Man Who Came to Dinner (Gene Saks, Barbican) and King Lear as Edgar.

Elsewhere, he has also appeared as Laertes in Hamlet at the Bristol Old Vic (1991) Brian in William Gaminara's Back Up the Hearse and Let them Sniff the Flowers at the Hampstead Theatre (1992), Roland Maule in Noël Coward's Present Laughter at the Globe Theatre (1993), Biff in Death of a Salesman, alongside Ken Stott and Jude Law, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds (1994), Tony in The Servant at the Birmingham Rep (1995). He returned to the RSC for Simon Callow's stage adaptation of the film classic, Les enfants du paradis at the Barbican. He also played Hugh de Morville in Paul Corcoran's Four Nights in Knaresborough at the Tricycle Theatre, (1999) and Loveless in Trevor Nunn's production of The Relapse at the National Theatre in 2001.

Between March and June 2011 he starred as Peter in Trevor Nunn's production of Flare Path at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, alongside Sheridan Smith and Sienna Miller, as part of the playwright Terence Rattigan's centenary year celebrations.^[4]

Film and television

Purefoy was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for GoldenEye,^[2] but ultimately lost the role to Pierce Brosnan. Throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as Bond in future films. He played James McCarthy, a young man accused of murdering his father, in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," in Granada's The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. One of his notable roles was as Nicholas Jenkins in the eight-part miniseries A Dance to the Music of Time for Channel 4 in 1997. He played Edward, the Black Prince in the film A Knight's Tale, Rawdon Crawley in Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon and Tom Bertram in the 1999 production of Mansfield Park.

He has played major roles in several television costume dramas, including Sharpe's Sword, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Prince and the Pauper, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Blackbeard: Terror at Sea, Beau Brummell: This Charming Man, The Tide of Life, Camelot and Rome.

He was originally the actor for V in the 2006 Film V for Vendetta but could not stand having the mask on the whole time while filming the movie and left shortly after the filming had begun.

Originally Purefoy was cast as V in V for Vendetta, but left six weeks into filming. Parts of the film contain (dubbed) scenes of Purefoy. Speculation suggested that his departure was due to an opportunity to play James Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale.^[5] However, these rumours were proven false when Daniel Craig was announced as the new James Bond. In the commentary track of the A Knight's Tale special edition DVD, director Brian Helgeland stated his opinion that Purefoy would be the perfect choice to play the "next" James Bond, well before Purefoy was being considered for the Casino Royale role.

He played Mark Antony in the HBO/BBC original television series, Rome. At the time there were rumours that at least one nude body in the show had been digitally enhanced. When his Wikipedia entry, which at that time referred to the rumours, was brought up in an interview with Alastair McKay, published in the January 2007 issue of Out magazine, Purefoy said, "I won't say whose it was, but there was a penis in the series that may have been slightly enhanced. But it wasn't mine. Mine's all mine."^[6]

Producer William J. MacDonald announced that James Purefoy would play Simon Templar in a new TV series of The Saint. The new series was scheduled to start shooting in Berlin and Australia in April 2008.^[7] However, production ultimately did not occur and in August Purefoy was reported as negotiating with NBC to star in another series,^[8] The Philanthropist.

He starred as Teddy Rist in the summer television series, The Philanthropist, which aired on NBC beginning on June 2009. His character is a billionaire playboy who decides to use his wealth and power to help others in need.

In 2013, The Following debuted, staring Purefoy as the lead antagonist of the series. He portrays Joe Carroll, a former professor who becomes a serial killer and leads a cult of followers, all whom help create Carroll's "story." Despite his character's apparent death at the end of the first season, Purefoy signed on to re-appear on season two where the character of Joe Carroll was revealed to be still alive.

Personal life

Purefoy had an eleven-year relationship with actress Fay Ripley, after the two met at Brooklands Technical College in Weybridge, Surrey. Afterwards, Purefoy was married to actress Holly Aird from 1996 to 2002. They had a son together, Joseph, who was born in 1997. He has been in a relationship with the art historian and television producer Jessica Adams since 2004. Their daughter Rose was born in October 2012. He is a supporter of Yeovil Town.^[9]

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Purefoy.

• James Purefoy at the Internet Movie Database
• Spanish site for actor James Purefoy
• Home of the incomparable Mr. James Purefoy
• James Purefoy as Blackbeard
• James Purefoy as Beau Brummell
• Interview with James Purefoy, BBC Somerset, September 2005
• Interview with James Purefoy, BBC Somerset, January 2006
• Interview with James Purefoy, BBC Somerset, February 2007
• Interview in The Guardian, 6 January 2007
• Men's Vogue profile