Sean Bean
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Received honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 1997
Bean has lent his unique vocal abilities to TV documentaries (i.e., "Paradise Blues" 1999; "Treacherous Places" 2001), TV commercials (for Hellmann's mayonaise and the London Times) as well as audio books (e.g., "The Big Game" 1999).
Biography
A charismatic screen presence who proved equally effective in romantic leads and as a villain, actor Sean Bean carved his path through the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before making a name for himself on British television and in American films. After spending the latter half of the 1980s making smaller films, he made his U.S. feature debut as a vengeance-minded IRA terrorist in the hit spy thriller, "Patriot Games" (1992), which opened the doors for the actor to play a wide range of bad guys. The following year, Bean was featured as a tough 19th century British officer, Richard Sharpe, in the long-running made-for-television movie series "Sharpe" (ITV, 1993-2008) that gave him steady work over the next couple of decades. Meanwhile, he was a former 00 agent-turned-traitor in "GoldenEye" (1995) before playing an inexperienced spy in the thriller "Ronin" (1998). But it was his supporting turn as the proud warrior, Boromir, who falls prey to temptation in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) that exposed Bean to his biggest audience and turned him into a widely-recognized figure. From there, he had supporting roles in large scale features like "Troy" (2004) and "The Island" (2005), while offering compelling turns in smaller movies such as "North Country" (2005) and "The Hitcher" (2007), displaying a versatility that stood Bean apart from his contemporaries. By the time of his starring role as Ned Stark on "Game of Thrones" (HBO 2011-18) began, Bean was a well-known actor, which made his character's sudden death early in the show's run that much more shocking. Further TV work on crime thriller "Legends" (TNT 2014-15) and "The Frankenstein Chronicles" (ITV Encore 2015- ), as well as roles in films ranging from Ridley Scott's "The Martian" (2015) to notorious flop "Pixels" (2015), kept him in the public eye.
Born on April 17, 1959 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, Shaun Mark Bean was raised in Handsworth by his father, Brian, a welder and steel factory owner, and his mother, Rita, a secretary. Having dropped out of school at age 16, Bean worked a variety of odd jobs before deciding to enroll in at the Rotterham College of Arts and Technology. But he left to briefly attend the Granville College of Education in 1979, only to return to Rotterham where he eventually discovered acting, performing in such shows as "Cabaret" and "The Owl and the Pussycat." Deciding to pursue acting as a career, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on scholarship and further honed his craft, while meeting future second wife, Melanie Hill, after divorcing high school sweetheart Debra James in 1981. After graduating RADA in 1983 with a Silver Medal for his performance in "Waiting for Godot," Bean made his professional stage debut - then billed as Shaun Behan - as Tybalt in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury. Following his British television debut in "Winter Flight" (1984), he spent a season on stage with the Young Writers Festival before joining the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986, where he acted in repertory, including playing Romeo to Niamh Cusack's Juliet.
Bean made his feature debut in Derek Jarman's film "Caravaggio" (1986), playing a man involved in a love triangle with the famed Baroque painter (Nigel Terry) and his other lover (Tilda Swinton). He reunited with the director on "War Requiem" (1988), a docudrama detailing the experiences of a solider (Nathaniel Parker) fighting in World War I. Bean had his first notable film role as an Irishman who becomes involved with shady characters in the moody, jazz-influenced "Stormy Monday" (1988), directed by Mike Figgis. He shined as Richard Harris' repressed son in "The Field" (1990), while proving himself to be an effective villain in the Thames Television production "Lorna Doone" (1990), one of numerous adaptations of the popular 19th century romance novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. Turning to romantic leads, Bean delivered a fine portrayal of the vile Robert Lovelace in the adaptation of Samuel Richardson's "Clarissa" (BBC, 1991) before managing to bed Joely Richardson in a steamy adaptation of D.H. Lawrence renamed "Lady Chatterly" (BBC, 1992). Because of his penchant for villainy, Bean was tapped for his American debut as the chief bad guy in "Patriot Games" (1992), playing an IRA terrorist who seeks revenge against CIA agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) for killing his brother during a foiled assassination attempt on members of the Royal Family.
In 1993, Bean began a long-running stint playing fictional 19th century British officer, Richard Sharpe, in a series of made-for-television movies and miniseries that he went back to with regular frequency over the next few decades. He first appeared as the hardened Yorkshire soldier in "Sharpe's Rifles" (ITV, 1993), in which he is tasked with teaching a ceremonial battalion how to fight in a real battle. Bean immediately followed up with 12 more installments from 1993-97, which amounted to about three per year. All the while, he continued to appear in major U.S. and U.K. productions, playing a veritable rogues' gallery of villains like the despicable Earl of Fenton in the miniseries sequel, "Scarlett" (CBS, 1994). His natural affinity for playing bad guys led to a James Bond film, "GoldenEye" (1995), in which he was Alec Trevelyan, Agent 006, who turns traitor against Her Majesty's Secret Service while on a mission with Bond (Pierce Brosnan), only to turn up years later after being presumed dead. After portraying Count Vronsky in the big screen adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" (1997), Bean portrayed the weak-stomached weapons expert, Spence, whose place in a for-hire ops mission is called into question by a rogue agent (Robert De Niro) in John Frankenheimer's thrilling "Ronin" (1998).
Back on British television, Bean starred in the four-part series, "Extremely Dangerous" (ITV, 1999), playing a former MI5 agent who goes on the run to clear his name after being accused of brutally killing his wife and child. He next garnered praise for his portrayal of real-life British soldier Andy McNab who led a secret mission during the Persian Gulf War in the British television drama "Bravo Two Zero" (BBC, 1999). Following a return to villainy as a wife-beating ex-con in "Essex Boys" (2000) and a malevolent kidnapper/jewel thief in "Don't Say a Word" (2001), Bean reached his widest audience playing the proud human warrior Boromir in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's novel, "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), who aids hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) on a quest to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom, only to fall prey to the Ring's temptations. Though credited with the next two installments, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003), Bean's contributions in those two film were limited to a series of flashbacks.
After roles in the futuristic thriller "Equilibrium" (2002) and the off-kilter comedy "The Big Empty" (2003), Bean returned to epic-style filmmaking when he played the legendary Greek hero Odysseus in "Troy" (2004), the big screen adaptation of Homer's tale of the Trojan War starring Brad Pitt as the hero Achilles. He followed with a turn as Nicolas Cage's villainous rival in the popular, if unambitious adventure film "National Treasure" (2004). Next was playing yet another villain in the sci-fi thriller "The Island" (2005), Michael Bay's ham-handed rip-off of the 1970s television movie, "Parts: The Clonus Horror" (1979). In Bay's version, Bean played a smart, but evil doctor who runs a futuristic medical facility that harvests cloned human beings (Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson) for organ transplants. He next had a supporting role as the captain of an airline flight who refuses to believe the missing daughter of a passenger (Jodie Foster) was ever aboard in the thriller "Flightplan" (2005). Shifting gears, Bean showed a rarely seen warmer side and a potent dose of charm in the drama "North Country" (2005), playing the protective and sympathetic husband of a female miner (Frances McDormand) whose friend (Charlize Theron) launched the first-ever sexual harassment lawsuit against a corporation.
In "Silent Hill" (2006), a supernatural horror feature based on the popular video game, Bean played the husband of a desperate mother (Radha Mitchell) trying to find an answer for her daughter's mysterious recurring dream that pulls her out of bed to sleepwalk. Against her husband's objections, she takes her to a fog-shrouded ghost town inhabited by a variety of strange beings - including demons - and overcome by a living darkness that transforms everything it touches. Despite negative reviews, "Silent Hill" opened No. 1 at the box office with over $20 million in box office dollars. That same year, he returned to playing Richard Sharpe in "Sharpe's Challenge" (ITV, 2006), which he followed up with strong performances in thrillers like "Outlaw" (2007) and "The Hitcher" (2007). After another go-round with "Sharpe's Peril" (ITV1, 2008), Bean had a role on the heavily-promoted, but ultimately failed series "Crusoe" (NBC, 2008-09) before appearing in the three-part British series "Red Riding" (Channel 4, 2009). Back in the high-end feature world, he played Zeus in "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (2010), who accuses the titular Percy (Logan Lerman) of stealing his lightning bolt. He returned to American television for the epic medieval series, "Game of Thrones" (HBO, 2011-18), to play the honorable Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, who remains so doggedly loyal to the King of the Seven Kingdoms (Mark Addy) he is willing to leave his family. Ned's death in the ninth episode of the series was seen as the first proof that the producers of the epic series would not follow standard TV conventions about which characters were safe from harm.
Starring roles in spy thriller "Cleanskin" (2012) and comic-tinged action drama "Soldiers of Fortune" (2012) followed before Bean returned to television in the Ashley Judd mystery "Missing" (ABC 2012). A key supporting role as the king in Snow White retelling "Mirror Mirror" (2012) and a small role in horror "Silent Hill: Revelation" (2012) followed, along with a key role in action thriller "Wicked Blood" (2014). Bean also served as a producer on the crime drama "Legends" (TNT 2014-15), as well as starring as an undercover FBI agent. After co-starring in "Jupiter Ascending" (2015), Adam Sandler action comedy "Pixels" (2015) and Ridley Scott's "The Martian" (2015), Bean returned to television in the British series "The Frankenstein Chronicles" (ITV Encore 2015- ), which began airing on Netflix in 2018. Between series, Bean also appeared in religious drama "The Young Messiah" (2016), military thriller "Drone" (2017) and British thriller "Dark River" (2017).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1983
Made professional stage debut as Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury (credited as Shaun Behan)
1984
Made British TV-movie debut in "Winter Flight"
1985
Spent a season acting on stage with the Young Writers Festival
1986
Made feature film debut in Derek Jarman's "Caravaggio"
1986
Joined the Royal Shakespeare Company
1988
Delivered a fine performance as an Irish janitor in Mike Figgis' "Stormy Monday"
1988
Reunited with Jarman for "War Requiem"
1990
Portrayed the wicked Carver Doone in the Thames Television production "Lorna Doone"
1990
Co-starred opposite Richard Harris in "The Field"
1991
Garnered praise for playing Lovelace on the BBC adaptation of "Clarissa" (aired on "Masterpiece Theatre" in 1992)
1992
Cast as gamekeeper Mellors opposite Joely Richardson's "Lady Chatterley" (BBC)
1992
Made American film debut as an Irish radical in "Patriot Games" opposite Harrison Ford
1993
Landed breakthrough role as the Napoleonic era British soldier Richard Sharpe on "Sharpe," a series of 14 TV-movies adapted from Bernard Cornwell's novels (aired in the U.S. on "Masterpiece Theatre")
1994
Cast as Lord Richard Fenton in the CBS miniseries "Scarlett," filmed as a sequel to "Gone With the Wind" (1939)
1994
Portrayed Esau to Matthew Modine's "Jacob" in the TNT biblical movie
1995
Played Agent 006 in James Bond film "Goldeneye"
1997
Cut a dashing figure as Vronsky in the remake of "Anna Karenina," starring Sophie Marceau
1998
Co-starred in the international thriller "Ronin"
1998
Portrayed real-life British soldier Andy McNab in the TV drama "Bravo Two Zero"
1999
Played a man accused of murdering his family in the four-part ITV miniseries "Extremely Dangerous"
2000
Offered a strong performance as a volatile ex-con in the British gangster film "Essex Boys"
2001
Cast as the leader of a gang of jewel thieves who resort to blackmail and murder in the thriller "Don't Say a Word"
2001
Portrayed Boromir in the Peter Jackson directed "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel
2002
Had small but pivotal role in the futuristic thriller "Equilibrium" (a.k.a. "Librium")
2003
Had a small cameo as Boromir in Jackson's "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
2003
Featured in the comedy "The Big Empty" opposite Jon Favreau
2003
Reprised role of Boromir in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Extended Edition
2004
Cast as the Greek hero Odysseus in director Wolfgnag Petersen's epic "Troy"
2004
Cast opposite Nicolas Cage and Harvey Keitel in "National Treasure"
2005
Played Frances McDormand's husband in "North Country"
2006
Co-starred with Radha Mitchell in the thriller "Slient Hill"
2007
Starred in a remake of a 1986 horror film "The Hitcher"
2010
Cast as Zeus, Lord of the Sky and Ruler of Olympus, in the film adaptation of "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief"
2011
Portrayed Eddard 'Ned' Stark on HBO's "Game of Thrones," based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling <i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i> series
2012
Cast as the King in the fantasy comedy "Mirror Mirror," starring Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen and Lily Collins as Snow White
2012
Appeared in "Soldiers of Fortune"
2015
Landed a supporting role in "Jupiter Ascending"
2015
Nabbed a supporting part in Ridley Scott's "The Martian"
2015
Nabbed a recurring part in "The Frankenstein Chronicles"
2015
Played a supporting role in the Adam Sandler movie "Pixels"
2015
Was a producer on the TV series "Legends"
2016
Was cast in the religious drama "The Young Messiah"
2016
Nabbed a supporting part in the action-adventure film "Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV"
2016
Nabbed a starring role in the thriller "Drone"
2017
Appeared as Father Michael Kerrigan on "Broken"
2018
Co-starred on crime drama series "The Oath"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Received honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 1997
Bean has lent his unique vocal abilities to TV documentaries (i.e., "Paradise Blues" 1999; "Treacherous Places" 2001), TV commercials (for Hellmann's mayonaise and the London Times) as well as audio books (e.g., "The Big Game" 1999).
"He is arguably one of Britain's sexiest actors, makes a fine villain and has the nation's best-known bottom. His face is unusual but attractive: slitty-eyed, roughened, but with a fine bone structure supporting cheeks that look somehow well worn - as if they've been punched and kissed in equal measure." --Grace Bradberry writing in the London Times, January 1, 1999.
"I've never seen myself as the romantic lead, really."I don't get up in the morning and think, `I wonder who's going to offer me the romantic lead this week.' I've played a lot of criminals too." --Sean Bean quoted in WM Magazine, Autumn 2000.
"... I sort of leave the character at the end of the day. I don't carry anything around with me - no excess baggage or unnecessary thoughts. I think it's too exhausting to do that. To put things into perspective - your work is your work, and your leisure time is something else. You don't actually constantly think about your character 24 hours a day. It's probably detrimental - it would have been in my case, with the character of Jason Locke in 'Essex Boys'. I think everybody's got different methods of working which suit the particular individual. Mine is to sort of play the part, and give 100%, to concentrate and focus on it while I'm actually working, but then leave it behind until the next day." --Sean Bean to Winona Kent in a 2001 interview published at "The Compleat Sean Bean" (http://mypage.direct.ca/w/wkent/seanbean.html)
