Ben Daniels
Ben Daniels (born June 10, 1964) is a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award winning British actor.[1]
Born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, the six-feet tall,[2] blonde-haired and blue-eyed Daniels has appeared in many UK-based television shows and dramas, such as "Cutting It", The Virgin Queen (TV show) & Soldier Soldier. For the Emmy nominated 1997 TV film, "David", he played the part of Jonathan as well as the role of Mercutio in the 1994 TV production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In "Ian Fleming: Bondmaker", Ben performed as the famous English author and journalist Ian Fleming.
Trained at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art for three years, he has also starred in several feature films such as Madeline, where he was cast as the somewhat sinister British tutor Leopold and in a 2005 film loosely based on the computer game Doom with the same title, featuring The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson. Daniels received a small part in Doom playing a religious marine named "Goat".
In the movie Passion in the Desert (1997), which was based on a book by novelist Honoré de Balzac, Daniels portrayed a French soldier named Augustin Robert. Daniel's character gets lost in the desert during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and develops a strange bond with a leopard he meets.[3] Passion in the Desert was nominated for a Golden Seashell award.
Very active in the theatre scene, Ben won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award[1] in 2001 for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons at the Royal National Theatre located in London. Earlier in his career, in 1991, for his performance in another stage play titled Never the Sinner at the London Playhouse Theatre he was first nominated (but lost to David Bradley) for the same award[4], which he would win years later, for playing the part of Richard Loeb, a real life Chicago-based killer who murdered a 14 year-old boy. He has co-starred alongside Juliette Binoche in the stage play "Naked" in London.
Ben has also been nominated in the Evening Standard Awards, an honor presented to those for "outstanding achievements" in the London Theatre (1994) [1] as well as "Best Actor" (for Martin Yesterday,1998) at the M.E.N Awards.
Most recently, Ben Daniels is set to appear in the new UK mini series State Within, which is currently under post-production.[5]
Trivia
- Admires the acting style of Kevin Spacey. [6]
- Ben Daniels was ranked #47 in the Annual Pink List of influential gay and lesbian people in Britain in 2006. [7]
- Was offered movie roles with Oscar-winning actor/director Mel Gibson in the film, The Patriot (2000 film) as well as a part in Vertical Limit. Daniels refused both offers. [8]
- He currently resides in South London, England.
- Ben took on the serious role of as State Secretary Dr. Joseph Buhler in "Conspiracy". A dramatization of the Wannsee Conference at which the Final Solution was endorsed, the TV movie also starred such actors as Stanley Tucci, Kenneth Branagh, Colin Firth, and David Threlfall.[9]
- Won the Best Supporting Actor in the 25th Laurence Olivier Awards for his part in the play production of All My Sons.[10]
- Guest starred in the British television drama Spooks in the episode titled "Traitor in a Friend" and appeared with Rachel Weisz in Michael Winterbottom’s I Want You.[11]
- Can be seen in two The Moody Blues' music videos. [1]
Quotes
- "I wanted to have hair like Terry from Funboy 3, but I was given a granny bobble cut with pink dye instead." - Regarding the "worst haircut" he ever had.[12]
- "I didn`t pick up hateful vibes, they took it in a light, humorous way. I even had women giving me their phone numbers, one even chased me round a supermarket!" - On his view of the attention stemming from his female fans. [8]
- "I landed two Hollywood movie roles, one alongside Mel Gibson in The Patriot and the other with Chris O'Donnell in Vertical Limit. The money was good, but it wasn't for me."[8]
- "I love kids. I really enjoyed having them around on set. It was good fun. It was tough though to have something who isn't acting with you in a scene, who has no concept of what you're trying to do, wriggling right next to your face in the middle of an intense emotional scene! It was difficult keeping things going when you thought constantly - is it going to cry? Babies were quite well-behaved with the exception of the farting and burping babies. This was the funniest thing to happen on set, particularly in the middle of a scene! I love kids, they make me laugh!" - On working with the youngest actors while filming the television series "Cutting It". [13]
- "I really felt like public property this time round which I don't really like at all. There was a phone with a camera peeping through vegetables while I was out shopping a few weeks ago." - Daniels on his fame. [13]
- "The second time we met," Daniels recalls, "Mowgli nipped me. He wasn’t being aggressive, but there were teeth marks on my arm after he was pulled off. An essential part of my education was discovering more about leopards’ moods." - Daniels during the production of the 1997 movie Passion in the Desert and his involvement with the animal cast member.[14]
- "I saw his eyes go as he read my expression. I looked frightened, which meant I looked like prey. Then he leaped for me, but the trainer pulled him off. If he’d gotten me from the back of the neck and snapped it, that would have been it. People think I’m insane but I think it’s all the more exciting because it’s so dangerous." - Commenting after what could have been a serious injury during the filming of Passion in the Desert with the leopard. [14]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Ben Daniels at IMDb
- ^ "Celebrity Star Heights with Surnames beginning with - D".
- ^ Passion in the Desert at IMDb
- ^ "1990-1991 15th Laurence Olivier Awards". Past Winners Database. Los Angeles Times.
- ^ State Within at IMDb
- ^ http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488124/415585
- ^ Marc Shoffman (2006-07-03). "Ian McKellen ranked most influential gay man". Pink News.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Ben Daniels". Totty Watch. Rainbow Network.
- ^ "Ben Daniels". Drama Faces. BBC.
- ^ "2000-2001 25th Laurence Olivier Awards". Past Winners Database. Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Married/unmarried: Cast".
- ^ http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488124/415585
- ^ a b "Cutting It is back on BBC ONE" (Press release). BBC. 2004-04-16.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Passion in the Desert". Fine Line Features.