Eddie Marsan
Encyclopedia
Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan (born 1968) is an English actor.
, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady
and teacher's assistant. He was brought up in Bethnal Green
and initially served an apprenticeship as a printer
, before beginning his career in theatre, and moving to a television and film career. He trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
, graduating in 1991.
", in the London Weekend Television
series The Piglet Files
. One of his more significant earliest television appearances was in the popular mid-1990s BBC sitcom Game On as a bungling bank robber. Marsan went on to have roles in Casualty
, The Bill
, Kavanagh QC
, Grange Hill
, Silent Witness
, Ultimate Force
, and more.
Hancock
alongside Will Smith
and as Inspector Lestrade in Guy Ritchie
's Sherlock Holmes
. His other movies include Sixty Six, Gangs of New York
, 21 Grams
, The Illusionist, V for Vendetta
, Gangster No. 1
, Miami Vice
, Mission: Impossible III
, I Want Candy, Vera Drake
, Happy-Go-Lucky
, Tyrannosaur
and Heartless
.
, the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
for his performance in Happy-Go-Lucky
. Marsan also won the last one for his performance in Vera Drake
.
For his performance in Happy-Go-Lucky, Marsan also earned another nominations, such as the Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
, and the Women Film Journalists Awards for Best Supporting Actor.
Early life
Marsan was born in StepneyStepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady
Lunch Lady
Lunch lady is an American slang term for a woman who cooks and serves food in a school cafeteria; the equivalent British English term is "dinner lady". In Britain, a dinner lady also patrols the school playgrounds during the lunch breaks to maintain order amongst the children...
and teacher's assistant. He was brought up in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
and initially served an apprenticeship as a printer
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
, before beginning his career in theatre, and moving to a television and film career. He trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts is an independent drama school situated in the Wood Green area of North London. It was founded in 1945 by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as 'The Mountview Theatre Club', an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week...
, graduating in 1991.
Television career
Marsan's first television appearance was in 1992, as a "yobYobbo
Yobbo or yob is a slang term for an uncouth or thuggish working-class person. The word derives from a back slang reading of the word "boy" .-Britain:Dr. C. T...
", in the London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
series The Piglet Files
The Piglet Files
The Piglet Files is a British sitcom produced by LWT .The show consisted of three series totaling twenty-one episodes that ran between 1990 and 1992....
. One of his more significant earliest television appearances was in the popular mid-1990s BBC sitcom Game On as a bungling bank robber. Marsan went on to have roles in Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
, Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
, Silent Witness
Silent Witness
Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
, Ultimate Force
Ultimate Force
Ultimate Force is a British television drama series that was shown on ITV, which deals with the activities of the fictional Red Troop of the SAS...
, and more.
Film
Marsan has since branched out into numerous and varied film roles including work in the United States, and is achieving much success in Hollywood, most recently as the main villain in the 2008 superhero filmSuperhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
Hancock
Hancock (film)
Hancock is a 2008 American action-comedy superhero film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars...
alongside Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
and as Inspector Lestrade in Guy Ritchie
Guy Ritchie
Guy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...
's Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
. His other movies include Sixty Six, Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
, 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
, The Illusionist, V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...
, Gangster No. 1
Gangster No. 1
Gangster No. 1 is a 2000 British crime film. It stars Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis and Paul Bettany and was directed by Paul McGuigan.- Cast :*Malcolm McDowell as Gangster 55*David Thewlis as Freddie Mays*Paul Bettany as Young Gangster...
, Miami Vice
Miami Vice (film)
Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives, Crockett and Tubbs, who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann...
, Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III is a 2006 spy film, the third based on the spy-themed television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt....
, I Want Candy, Vera Drake
Vera Drake
Vera Drake is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, telling the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abortions...
, Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky is a 2008 British Comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. The screenplay focuses on a cheerful and optimistic primary-school teacher and her relationships with those around her...
, Tyrannosaur
Tyrannosaur (film)
Tyrannosaur is a 2011 British drama film written and directed by actor Paddy Considine .The film depicts an environment similar to what Considine witnessed growing up on a council estate in the Midlands, although the film is in no way autobiographical...
and Heartless
Heartless (2009 film)
Heartless is a 2009 British horror film directed by Philip Ridley and starring Jim Sturgess, Noel Clarke, Clémence Poésy and Eddie Marsan.-Plot:Jamie Morgan is a troubled photographer with a heart-shaped birthmark on his face...
.
Filmography
- Get Well SoonGet Well Soon (TV series)Get Well Soon was a short-lived 1997 BBC television comedy series starring Matthew Cottle and Eddie Marsan. Lasting only 6 episodes, it was about the everyday lives of a group of patients, doctors, nurses and other staff at a National Health Service hospital during the post-World War II period. The...
(1997) - The Man Who Knew Too LittleThe Man Who Knew Too LittleThe Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 American comedy espionage film starring Bill Murray, directed by Jon Amiel, and written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin...
(1997) as Mugger #1 - This Year's LoveThis Year's LoveThis Year's Love is the title of a 1999 film set in and around Camden Town in London. It was written and directed by David Kane.-Cast:*Dougray Scott as Cameron*Jennifer Ehle as Sophie*Ian Hart as Liam*Sophie Okonedo as Denise...
(1999) as Eddie - Gangster No. 1Gangster No. 1Gangster No. 1 is a 2000 British crime film. It stars Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis and Paul Bettany and was directed by Paul McGuigan.- Cast :*Malcolm McDowell as Gangster 55*David Thewlis as Freddie Mays*Paul Bettany as Young Gangster...
(2000) as Eddie Miller - The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) as Louis Marchand
- The BunkerThe Bunker (2001 film)The Bunker is a 2001 horror film directed by Rob Green, written by Clive Dawson and starring Jason Flemyng.-Plot:In late 1944 the remnants of a platoon of German Panzergrenadiers from the Großdeutschland Division are caught in an Ambush by American troops. In their retreat, they find a bunker,...
(2001) as Pfc. Kreuzmann - The Monkey King (TV miniseries) as Pigsy
- Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(2002) as Killoran - AfterLifeAfterLifeAfterLife is a 2003 film drama set in Scotland directed by Alison Peebles and original screen play by Andrea Gibb. An ambitious Scottish journalist forced to choose between his high-flying career or caring for his younger sister who has Down's Syndrome....
(2003) as Jez Walters - 21 Grams21 Grams21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
(2003) as Reverend John - Charles II: The Power and The PassionCharles II: The Power and The PassionCharles II: The Power and the Passion is an award-winning British television mini-series, broadcast on BBC One in 2003, and produced by the BBC in association with the A&E Network in the United States...
(2003) as Titus OatesTitus OatesTitus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:... - The Rocket PostThe Rocket PostThe Rocket Post is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Whittaker and starring Ulrich Thomsen, Shauna Macdonald, Kevin McKidd and Patrick Malahide. It is set on a remote Scottish island during the late 1930s...
(2004) as Heinz Dombrowsky - Vera DrakeVera DrakeVera Drake is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, telling the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abortions...
(2004) as Reg - The Headsman (2005) as Fabio
- The Secret Life of WordsThe Secret Life of WordsThe Secret Life of Words is a 2005 Spanish film, directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins. The film was released on December 15, 2006 and grossed a worldwide total of $6,410,058.-Plot:...
(2005) as Victor - Beowulf & GrendelBeowulf & GrendelBeowulf & Grendel is a 2005 film loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. Filmed in Iceland and directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, it stars Gerard Butler as Beowulf, Stellan Skarsgård as Hrothgar, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Grendel and Sarah Polley as the witch Selma...
(2005) as Father Brendan - The New World (2005) as Eddie
- Mission: Impossible IIIMission: Impossible IIIMission: Impossible III is a 2006 spy film, the third based on the spy-themed television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt....
(2006) as Brownway - Miami ViceMiami Vice (film)Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives, Crockett and Tubbs, who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann...
(2006) as Nicholas - Sixty SixSixty Six (film)Sixty Six is a 2006 British biographical-comedy-drama film about a bar mitzvah which takes place in London on the day of the 1966 world cup final based on the true life bar mitzvah of director Paul Weiland.- Plot :...
(2006) as Manny Reuben - The Illusionist (2006) as Josef Fischer
- V for VendettaV for Vendetta (film)V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
(2006) as Brian Etheridge - PierrepointPierrepoint (film)Pierrepoint , is a 2005 British film directed by Adrian Shergold about the life of British executioner Albert Pierrepoint....
(2006) as James "Tish" Corbitt - I Want CandyI Want Candy (film)I Want Candy is a 2007 British comedy film from Ealing Studios.-Plot:A group of film students at Leatherhead University in search of funding for their feature film "The Love Storm" end up having to rewrite and make it into a porno...
(2007) as Doug Perry - Grow Your OwnGrow Your Own (film)Grow Your Own is a 2007 British comedy film directed by Richard Laxton, and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Carl Hunter. It stars Benedict Wong, John Henshaw, Eddie Marsan, Pierce Quigley, Omid Djalili, Alan Williams, Philip Jackson, and Olivia Colman...
(2007) as Little John - Happy-Go-LuckyHappy-Go-LuckyHappy-Go-Lucky is a 2008 British Comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. The screenplay focuses on a cheerful and optimistic primary-school teacher and her relationships with those around her...
(2008) as Scott - HancockHancock (film)Hancock is a 2008 American action-comedy superhero film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars...
(2008) as Red Parker - God on TrialGod on TrialGod on Trial is a 2008 BBC/WGBH Boston television play written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Antony Sher, Rupert Graves and Jack Shepherd. The play takes place in Auschwitz during World War II. The Jewish prisoners put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people...
(2008) as Lieble - Me and Orson WellesMe and Orson WellesMe and Orson Welles is a 2009 period-drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay, and Claire Danes. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to perform in Orson Welles's stage production of...
(2008) as John HousemanJohn HousemanJohn Houseman was a Romanian-born British-American actor and film producer who became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane... - Little DorritLittle Dorrit (TV serial)Little Dorrit is a 2008 British television serial directed by Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh, and Diarmuid Lawrence. The teleplay by Andrew Davies is based on the serial novel of the same title by Charles Dickens, originally published between 1855 and 1857....
(2008) as Pancks - The 39 StepsThe 39 Steps (2008 film)The 39 Steps is a 2008 British television feature-length adaptation of the John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps produced by the BBC. The adaptation is set on the eve of World War I, and sees mining engineer Richard Hannay caught up in a conspiracy following the death of a British spy in his...
(2008) as Scudder - FaintheartFaintheartFaintheart is a 2008 film, the first to be created using input from an online site.The film was a result of a collaborative effort from Myspace, Vertigo films and Film4. The resulting group, MyMovieMashUp, sought to harness the talents of the online community and to enable them to be involved in...
(2008) as Richard - Red RidingRed RidingRed Riding is a television adaptation of English author David Peace's Red Riding Quartet. Published between 1999 and 2002, the quartet comprises the novels Nineteen Seventy-Four , Nineteen Seventy-Seven , Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three...
(2009) as Jack Whitehead - Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes (2009 film)Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
(2009) as Inspector LestradeInspector LestradeInspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade.... - The Disappearance of Alice CreedThe Disappearance of Alice CreedThe Disappearance of Alice Creed is a 2009 British thriller film about the kidnapping of a young woman by two ex-convicts. The film is written and directed by J Blakeson and stars Gemma Arterton as the captured Alice Creed, with Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan as Danny and Vic, the...
(2009) as Vic - Criminal Justice (2009) as Saul
- HeartlessHeartless (2009 film)Heartless is a 2009 British horror film directed by Philip Ridley and starring Jim Sturgess, Noel Clarke, Clémence Poésy and Eddie Marsan.-Plot:Jamie Morgan is a troubled photographer with a heart-shaped birthmark on his face...
(2009) as Weapons Man - London BoulevardLondon BoulevardLondon Boulevard is a 2010 British film noir released in the United Kingdom on 26 November 2010. It is based on a novel by Ken Bruen with screenplay and direction by William Monahan, marking his directorial debut...
(2010) as DI Bailey - Junkhearts (2010) as Frank
- Law and Order: UK (2011) as Jason Peters
- Moby DickMoby Dick (miniseries)Moby Dick is a television miniseries based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name, produced by RHI Entertainment, Tele München Gruppe, and Gate Filmproduktion. Starring William Hurt as Captain Ahab, it was directed by Mike Barker with a screenplay by Nigel Williams...
(2011) as Stubb - TyrannosaurTyrannosaur (film)Tyrannosaur is a 2011 British drama film written and directed by actor Paddy Considine .The film depicts an environment similar to what Considine witnessed growing up on a council estate in the Midlands, although the film is in no way autobiographical...
(2011) as James - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of ShadowsSherlock Holmes: A Game of ShadowsSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is an upcoming 2011 British-American action mystery film directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and Dan Lin. It is a sequel to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur...
(2011) as Inspector Lestrade - Jack the Giant KillerJack the Giant Killer (2012 film)Jack the Giant Killer is an upcoming fantasy / adventure film based on the fairy tale of the same name. The film is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Nicholas Hoult as the titular hero with a script written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney...
(2012)
Awards and Nominations
Marsan won the Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting ActorChlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and...
, the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the National Society of Film Critics.The awards was given for the first time in 1968 .-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:...
and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2008
The 29th Critics' Circle Awards, given by the London Film Critics Circle in February 2009, honoured the best in film for 2008.-Actor of the Year:Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler*Sean Penn - Milk*Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon...
for his performance in Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky is a 2008 British Comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. The screenplay focuses on a cheerful and optimistic primary-school teacher and her relationships with those around her...
. Marsan also won the last one for his performance in Vera Drake
Vera Drake
Vera Drake is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, telling the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abortions...
.
For his performance in Happy-Go-Lucky, Marsan also earned another nominations, such as the Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
Detroit Film Critics Society
The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Detroit, Michigan, United States.-2007 Awards:The nominees for the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2007 were announced on 15 December and the winners were announced on 21 December 2007.-Best Actor:**George Clooney - Michael...
, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.This awards is given since 1969.- 1960s :- 1970s :- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :...
, and the Women Film Journalists Awards for Best Supporting Actor.