Jamie Bell

Jamie Bell
Bell at the Paris premiere of The Adventures of Tintin, 2011
Born	Andrew James Matfin Bell (1986-03-14) 14 March 1986 Billingham, County Durham, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present
Known for	Billy Elliot, King Kong, Jumper, The Adventures of Tintin
Spouse(s)	Evan Rachel Wood (m. 2012)
Children	1

Andrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell^[1] (born 14 March 1986) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot (2000), King Kong (2005), Jumper (2008), and The Adventures of Tintin (2011), as well as starring as Abraham Woodhull in the upcoming TV series, Turn (2014).

Early life

Bell was born in Billingham, County Durham, England, where he grew up with his mother, Eileen (née Matfin), and older sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before Bell was born.^[2][3] Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister to her ballet lessons.^[4] He was a pupil at Northfield School and took performing arts classes at the local franchise of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. He was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. In 1999, he was chosen from a field of over 2,000 boys for the role of Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his working class widowed father and older brother by taking up ballet.^[5]

Career

Bell served as Honorary Jury President of the 2001 Giffoni Film Festival. Since his film debut in Billy Elliot, he has appeared as the disabled servant Smike in an adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, a young soldier in Deathwatch, a teenager on the run in Undertow, a gun toting pacifist in Dear Wendy, a disaffected Southern California teenager in The Chumscrubber, and the young Jimmy in the 2005 film version of King Kong. He also appeared in Close and True, an ITV legal drama shown in 2000, which starred Robson Green, James Bolam and Susan Jameson. In 2007, he played the title character in Hallam Foe – for which he was nominated for the best actor award at the British Independent Film Awards – and appeared as himself in lonelygirl15 spin-off KateModern.^[6]

In 2005, he starred opposite Evan Rachel Wood in the Green Day video Wake Me Up When September Ends, directed by Samuel Bayer. He had roles in two 2008 films: the sci-fi film Jumper and the World War II drama Defiance. In the latter he plays Asael Bielski, the third of the Bielski Brothers – leaders of a partisan group that saved some 1,200 lives during the Holocaust. Despite rumours to the contrary, he did not appear in Thea Sharrock's West End production of Equus.^[7]

In 2009, it was announced Bell would play the title role in the motion capture film The Adventures of Tintin, alongside British double act Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.^[8] The film received a U.S. release on 21 December 2011^[9] and a U.K. release on 26 October 2011.^[10] He also starred in the 2011 films The Eagle as Esca and Jane Eyre.

In 2013 he starred alongside James McAvoy in the film version of Irvine Welsh's Filth.

Personal life

Bell began dating American actress Evan Rachel Wood in 2005 after they co-starred in the music video for Green Day's song "Wake Me Up When September Ends".^[11] After a year together, the couple broke up in 2006.^[12] Five years later, in the summer of 2011, it was reported that Bell and Wood had rekindled their relationship.^[13] The couple married in a small ceremony on 30 October 2012.^[14] They have one son, born in July 2013.^[15]

Filmography

Awards

• 2000—BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer^[17]
• 2000—National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Outstanding Young Actor^[17] (only the second time this has been awarded; the first recipient was Christian Bale in 1987, when the award was titled Outstanding Juvenile Performance)^[18]
• 2000—British Independent Film Award, Best Newcomer (On-Screen)^[19]
• 2000—Las Vegas Film Critics Society, Sierra Award for Youth in Film^[20]
• 2000—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role^[21] (out of 4 Oscar-winning actors)^[18]
• 2001—Evening Standard British Film Award, Most Promising Newcomer^[17]
• 2001—Young Artist Award, Best Young Actor in an International Film^[22]
• 2001—Sony Ericsson Empire Award, Best Debut^[23]
• 2001—London Film Critics Circle, ALFS Award for British Newcomer of the Year^[24]
• 2001—Phoenix Film Critics Society, PFCS Award for Best Youth Performance^[25]
• 2005—Young Artist Award, Best Performance in a Feature Film–Leading Young Actor^[26]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jamie Bell

• Jamie Bell at the Internet Movie Database
• Jamie Bell at AllRovi
• People in Film: Jamie Bell – Focus Features
• Jamie Bell on Twitter