Sean Mark Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean, 17 April 1959) is a British film and stage actor. Bean has also acted in a number of television productions as well as performing voice work for computer games and television adverts. As an actor, he adopted the Celtic spelling “Sean” of his first name.
Bean has played a wide range of roles, from villains to heroes. He is probably best playing flawed heroes. He is best known for his roles as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, James Bond’s adversary Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye and Odysseus in Troy. His portrayal as Richard Sharpe in the television series Sharpe has also earned him high acclaim in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Sean Mark Bean was born to Brian and Rita Bean in Handsworth district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Bean’s father owned a steel plating business, which he had set up with a colleague. The business employed a total of 50 people. Bean’s mother worked as a secretary. He has a younger sister named Lorraine. Despite becoming relatively wealthy (his father owned a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow), the family never moved away from the council estate, because they preferred to remain close to friends and family.
As a child, Bean smashed a glass door due to an argument over scissors. A piece of the glass embedded in his leg and left a large scar and briefly impeded his walking. In 1975, Bean left Brook Comprehensive school with two O Levels in Art and English. Bean’s childhood accident prevented him from pursuing his love of football professionally (although he would later carry out this fantasy in film). After a job selling cheese at a supermarket and another clearing snow for the council, Bean started working for his father’s firm with a day release at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology doing a welding course. While at Rotherham, after stumbling on an arts class, Bean decided to pursue his interest in art. After attending courses at two other colleges, one for half a day and the other for less than a week, he returned to Rotherham College, where he came across a drama course that he subsequently signed up for. After some college plays and one at Rotherham Civic Theatre, he applied and auditioned for a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), which he won.
Career
Early career
He graduated from RADA in 1983 having won the Silver Medal for his performance in Waiting for Godot. He made his professional acting début in 1983 at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, Berkshire as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. His early work involved a mixture of stage and screen work. His first national exposure came in an advert for non-alcoholic lager. Between 1986 and 1988 he toured the country with the Royal Shakespeare Company doing productions of Romeo And Juliet, Fair Maid of the West, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He appeared in his first film in 1986 when he played Ranuccio Thomasoni in Derek Jarman’s film Caravaggio he then reunited with the director on War Requiem in 1988 which also starred Lord Laurence Olivier.
During the late 80s and early 90s he became an established actor on British television. He had notable performances in the BBC productions Clarissa and Lady Chatterley. His role in the latter became infamous for the sex scenes between him and Joely Richardson. In 1990 Bean co-starred with Richard Harris in Jim Sheridan’s adaption of the John. B. Keane play, The Field.
Sharpe
- Main article: Sharpe
However it was the character Richard Sharpe that he would become most associated with. Bean was the first choice to play Sharpe, but was unavailable, so the part went to Paul McGann. Two days into filming, however, McGann was injured in a football match, and while the producers initially tried to work around his injury, eventually he was replaced with Bean, who was by then available.http://www.tv.com/sharpe/sharpes-rifles/episode/197764/summary.html The 14-episode Sharpe television series was based on Bernard Cornwell’s novels about the Napoleonic Wars and started with Sharpe’s Rifles. The series followed the fortunes of Richard Sharpe as he rose from Sergeant to Lieutenant Colonel by the time of the Battle of Waterloo. It ran from 1993 to 1997 with 3 episodes produced each year. This established him as a household name in the UK. After several years of rumours, another one-off episode, called Sharpe’s Challenge, was aired in April 2006. Bean also played the role of Lord Richard Fenton in the TV Miniseries Scarlett based on the sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.
Cracking Hollywood
His first notable Hollywood appearance was as an Irish republican terrorist in the 1992 film adaptation of Patriot Games.
This would be the first of several villains that he would portray. He became Alec Trevelyan (MI6’s 006), the major villain of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, minor antagonist Spence in Ronin (1998), a wife-beating ex-con in Essex Boys (2000), the malevolent kidnapper-jewel thief in Don’t Say a Word (2001) and the greedy treasure hunter in National Treasure (2004).
In 1996 he finally achieved his childhood dream of playing for Sheffield United, albeit as Jimmy Muir in the film When Saturday Comes. Although the film was not critically acclaimed, Sean Bean got credit for a good performance.
His perhaps most widely seen role was as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, although his only major part was in the first of the films, only appearing briefly in the extended edition of The Two Towers, and a flashback in The Return of the King. Due to his fear of flying he was reluctant to take the helicopters out to remote mountain locations while filming for The Fellowship of the Ring. After a particularly rough ride, he vowed not to fly to a location again, and in one instance he chose to take a ski lift into the mountains and then hike the final few miles, all in full costume. As a reference to promos he made for the Sharpe series, Boromir cuts himself on Isildur’s sword and mutters, “Still sharp”.
Life after The Lord of the Rings
Later roles gave more scope for his acting abilities. He became the repentant Grammaton cleric who gives in to his emotions in Equilibrium in 2002, a quirky alien cowboy in 2003’s The Big Empty, a sympathetic and cunning Odysseus in the 2004 film Troy, a villainous treasure hunter Ian Howe in National Treasure, a villainous scientist in The Island (2005) and a sympathetic soul in North Country (2005) , in which Bean converted his naturally heavy Sheffield accent into that of Minnesota slang, and a dedicated father in Silent Hill.
He was cameoed with a myriad of other Hollywood stars in Moby’s music video We Are All Made of Stars in February 2002. In the same year he returned to the stage in London performing in Macbeth alongside Samantha Bond. Due to popular demand, the production would run until March 2003.
Sean’s high profile and recognisable voice has created a number of opportunities for doing voice over work, especially in the British advertising industry. He has featured in television adverts for O2, Morrisons and Barnardos as well as for Acuvue and the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States. He also does the voice over for the National Blood Service’s television and radio campaign. He also voiced Martin Septim in the Role Playing video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Sean has completed a one hour pilot, called Faceless, for American television. He has also appeared in Outlaw, an independent British production, and a remake of The Hitcher (released in
January 2007), in which he put on an American accent again. He is currently in Norway filming another independent film called Far North.
In 2005, he played “Captain Rich” in Flightplan.
As of 2006 two films in pre-production will reportedly star Sean Bean. Come like Shadows is an adaptation of Macbeth. He also starred in a recent production of Macbeth on the London stage with Samantha Bond as Lady Macbeth with much critical success. Information released about another play adaptation, this one from Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, states that it will feature Sean Bean. Both films are set to start production sometime in the autumn of 2007. He has said that he would like to appear in Coronation Street (joking that he could be the milkman). He has also stated that he would like to do some wildlife presenting sometime in the future.
In Sept. 2007, he was in Chicago filming the independent thriller Root of All Evil.
Image
Often described as down-to-earth, Sean Bean has retained his Sheffield accent despite now living in London. He is also described as a sex symbol; he was voted the UK’s second sexiest man in 2004. He admits he doesn’t mind being considered the ladies’ “bit of rough”.
He has developed a reputation as a loner, a label he considers unfair. In addition, he has been accused of being a chauvinist; this originated after his second wife claimed he watched too much football, spent too much time in the pub and left clothes about the house.
Acting style
Despite being professionally trained, Sean Bean adopts an instinctive style of acting. He has said in interviews that the most difficult part is at the start of filming when trying to understand the character. After achieving this he can snap in and out of character instantly. This ability to go from the quiet man on set to the warrior figure “amazed” Sean Astin during filming of The Fellowship of the Ring.Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Cast Commentary, region 2 Other fans include the directors Mike Figgis (Stormy Monday) and Wolfgang Petersen (Troy) who described working with him as a “beautiful thing”.
Personal life
He has been married and subsequently divorced three times: His first marriage was to high-school sweetheart Debra James on 11 April 1981, which broke up when he moved to London to attend RADA; then to actress Melanie Hill, between 27 February 1990 and August 1997, with whom he shares daughters Lorna and Molly; he then married Sharpe co-star Abigail Cruttenden on 22 November 1997, mother of his third daughter Evie Natasha; they divorced in July 2000. He describes himself as quiet. Although he admits he can be a workaholic, in his spare time he likes relaxing with a book or listening to music. He is also a keen gardener. He states in interviews that he is not into showbiz parties.
Bean’s first love was football and he has been a passionate Sheffield United supporter from a young age (he now has a tattoo on his left shoulder that reads 100% Blade). He is now a director of the club. He also wrote the foreword and helped promote a book of anecdotes called Sheffield United:The Biography. He also follows Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
He is an admirer of Tony Benn.
Awards and honours
Sean Bean is yet to receive a major individual award in the film industry. However he did receive 3 separate awards as part of the ensemble cast in Return of the King: from the Screen Actors Guild, the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association, all in 2004.
He was reportedly considered for an Oscar nomination for his Role in North Country, which was considered to be one of his best performances for years, eventually Woody Harrelson got the nod ahead of Bean.
In his home city of Sheffield he received an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 1997. He was also selected as one of the inaugural members of Sheffield Legends, the Sheffield equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is to have a plaque in his honour placed in front of Sheffield Town Hall.
He received an honorary degree in English Literature from The University of Sheffield on 20th July 2007.
Filmography
| Year |
Film |
Role
|
| 1986
|
Caravaggio
|
Ranuccio
|
| 1988
|
Stormy Monday
|
Brendan
|
| 1989
|
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
|
Larry Frisk
|
| 1989
|
War Requiem
|
German Soldier
|
| 1990
|
The Field
|
Tadgh McCabe
|
| 1991
|
Clarissa
|
Robert Lovelace
|
| 1992
|
Patriot Games
|
Sean Miller
|
| 1993
|
Sharpe’s Rifles
|
Lieutenant Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Eagle
|
Captain Richard Sharpe
|
| Lady Chatterley
|
Oliver Mellors
|
| 1994
|
Sharpe’s Company
|
Captain Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Enemy
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Honour
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Black Beauty
|
Farmer Grey
|
| 1995
|
Sharpe’s Gold
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Battle
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Sword
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| GoldenEye
|
Alec Trevelyan
|
| 1996
|
When Saturday Comes
|
Jimmy Muir
|
| Sharpe’s Regiment
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Siege
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Mission
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| 1997
|
Anna Karenina
|
Vronsky
|
| Sharpe’s Revenge
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Justice
|
Major Richard Sharpe
|
| Sharpe’s Waterloo
|
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sharpe
|
| 1998
|
Ronin
|
Spence
|
| 1999
|
Extremely Dangerous
|
Neil Byrne
|
| Bravo Two Zero
|
Andy McNab
|
| 2000
|
Essex Boys
|
Jason Locke
|
| 2001
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
|
Boromir
|
| Don’t Say a Word
|
Patrick Koster
|
| 2002
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (extended edition)
|
Boromir
|
| Equilibrium
|
Partridge
|
| Tom and Thomas
|
Paul Shepherd
|
| 2003
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
|
Boromir
|
| The Big Empty
|
Cowboy
|
| 2004
|
Pride
|
Dark (voice)
|
| National Treasure
|
Ian Howe
|
| Troy
|
Odysseus
|
| 2005
|
North Country
|
Kyle
|
| Flightplan
|
Captain Rich
|
| The Island
|
Dr. Merrick
|
| 2006
|
The Dark
|
Sarah’s father James
|
| Silent Hill
|
Chris DeSilva
|
| The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (video game)
|
Martin Septim (voice)
|
| Sharpe’s Challenge
|
Richard Sharpe
|
| 2007
|
The Hitcher
|
John Ryder
|
| Outlaw
|
Danny Bryant
|
| 2008
|
Far North (post-production)
|
Loki
|
| A Woman of No Importance (announced)
|
Lord Illingworth
|
| Come Like Shadows (announced)
|
Macbeth
|
References
External links
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- Premiere Magazine: Sean Bean Interview
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