Jason Flemyng
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
This handsome lanky, auburn-haired British actor first came to the attention of American audience as the brash young Scottish physician who learns humanity in a small village in the period British series "Doctor Finlay" (PBS, 1993-1994). Jason Flemyng earned unanimous critical praise and was marked as an actor to watch. He delivered on this promise with a one-two punch as a seemingly respectable engineer with a hidden sadistic streak in Angela Pope's "The Hollow Reed" (1996) and as a self-absorbed HIV-positive dancer who reluctantly finds romance in Nancy Meckler's "Alive and Kicking/Indian Summer" (1997).
The London native started his career in the requisite spear-carrying roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his small screen debut supporting James Fox in "A Question of Attribution" (PBS, 1992) before earning kudos as the upstart medic on "Doctor Finlay." Segueing to the big screen, Flemyng made his debut in "Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'" (1994). Against the advice of nearly everyone, he accepted a small role in Michael Caton-Jones' "Rob Roy" (1995) merely to act with Tim Roth. In Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty" (1996), he was among the many men enchanted by Liv Tyler. "The Hollow Reed" allowed the actor to tap into a heretofore undemonstrated dramatic range. As Joely Richardson's manipulative live-in boyfriend, Flemyng was able to etch a memorable character that was as weak as he was abusive. "Alive & Kicking" further demonstrated his range. His Tonio demonstrates the superiority of a young man aware of both his attractiveness and appeal and resigned to his fate. His unlikely and rocky relationship with an older, stocky AIDS counselor (Antony Sher) gives the film its heart and the two actors brilliantly and believably create individuals whose needs are complementary. Flemyng then co-starred with Treat Williams and Famke Janssen in the sci-fi thriller "Deep Rising" (1998), playing an intellectual gunrunner. Additionally, he was featured in "The James Gang" (1997), a comedy about a down-and-out Scottish family on the run, "The Life of Stuff" (1997), about would-be gangsters, and "The Red Violin" (1998), an anthology about a magical musical instrument. Flemyng became an increasingly popular character actor after appearing as Tom, one of the four London working stiffs trying to beat a bad debt through crime in director Guy Ritchie's cult Brit hit "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998). After appearing as the lead in director George Romero's 2000 horror film "Bruiser"--in which he played a man without a face--Flemyng reunited with Ritchie for the high-spirited, stylishly crafted caper film "Snatch" (2000). His next high-visibility role came in the dramedy "Rock Star" (2001) opposite Mark Wahlberg, in which he played the flamboyant rock icon Bobby Beers, the lead singer of the heavy metal group Steel Dragon, who is replaced in the group by tribute-band singer Wahlberg. Also in 2001 Flemyn appeared as Jack the Ripper's subservient henchman Netley in the Hughes brothers' adaptation of Alan Moore's Gothic comic book "From Hell." After lead roles supporting turns in several smaller films--including "The Bunker" (2001), "Anazapta" (2001), "Flipped" (2001), "Mean Machine" (2001), "Below" (2002), Flemyng landed the plumb dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in another film adaptation of an Alan Moore comic book, "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (2003), easily the most faithful interpetation of Moore's take on the heores of late 19th Century novels.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1989
Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company
1991
Breakthrough TV role, "A Question of Attribution" (aired in the US in 1992)
1992
First role on American television, appeared in a two-part episode of "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (ABC)
1993
Co-starred in the Scottish TV series "Doctor Finlay" (aired in the US on "Masterpiece Theatre")
1994
Made feature film debut in "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book"; directed by Stephen Sommers
1995
Accepted a small role in "Rob Roy" because he wanted to work with Tim Roth
1996
Had featured role in Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty"
1997
Breakthrough feature role, starring in Nancy Meckler's "Alive and Kicking"
1998
Played one of a quartet of amateur thieves in Guy Ritchie's gangster film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"
1998
Re-teamed with Sommers for the thriller "Deep Rising"
2000
Re-teamed with director Guy Ritchie for "Snatch"
2001
Played the lead singer of heavy metal band in "Rock Star"
2001
Starred in the British play "Antarctica"
2003
Played Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde in "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"
2004
Played Crazy Larry in the Matthew Vaughn thriller "Layer Cake"
2005
Re-teamed with Jason Statham to star in "The Transporter 2"; scripted by Luc Besson
2007
Once again teamed with director Vaughn to co-star in "Stardust," based on Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel
2008
Played a father who abandons his son (played by Brad Pitt) in David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
2010
Co-starred in the remake of the 1981 film, "Clash of the Titans"
2011
Played Azazel, a Hellfire Club member in the "X-Men" prequel, "X-Men: First Class"
Family
Companions
