Jamie Bell
Quick Facts
Biography
Andrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell (born 14 March 1986) is an English actor and dancer who rose to prominence for his debut role in Billy Elliot (2000) for which he won the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He is also known for his roles in the films King Kong (2005), Jumper (2008), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), and Snowpiercer (2013), as well as starring as Abraham Woodhull in the TV series, Turn: Washington's Spies (2014). He portrayed the Thing in the 2015 film Fantastic Four.
Early life
Bell was born in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, England, where he grew up with his mother, Eileen (née Matfin), and elder sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before Bell was born. Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister to her ballet lessons. He was a pupil at Northfield School and took performing arts classes at the local franchise of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. He was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre.
Career
In 1999, he was chosen from a field of over 2,000 boys for the role of Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his working-class widowed father and elder brother by taking up ballet. He also appeared in Close and True, an ITV legal drama shown in 2000, which starred Robson Green, James Bolam, and Susan Jameson.
Bell served as Honorary Jury President of the 2001 Giffoni Film Festival. In 2002, he appeared as the disabled servant Smike in an adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby and a young soldier in Deathwatch. In the following years, he portrayed a teenager on the run in Undertow, a gun-toting pacifist in Dear Wendy, a disaffected Southern California teenager in The Chumscrubber, and the young Jimmy in the 2005 film version of King Kong. Also in 2005, he starred opposite Evan Rachel Wood in the Green Day video Wake Me Up When September Ends, directed by Samuel Bayer. In 2007, he played the title character in Hallam Foe – for which he was nominated for the best actor award at the British Independent Film Awards – and appeared as himself in lonelygirl15 spin-off KateModern. He had roles in two 2008 films: the sci-fi film Jumper and the World War II drama Defiance. In the second film he plays Asael Bielski, the third of the Bielski Brothers – leaders of a partisan group that saved some 1,200 lives during the Holocaust.
In 2009, it was announced Bell would play the title role in the motion capture film The Adventures of Tintin, alongside British double act Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The film was released in 2011. He also starred in the 2011 films The Eagle as Esca and Jane Eyre as St. John Rivers. In 2013, he starred alongside James McAvoy in the film Filth and appeared as Edgar in Snowpiercer.
Since 2014, Bell has appeared as Abraham Woodhull in Turn: Washington's Spies; the fourth and final season will begin airing in April 2017. In 2015, he played the Thing in the Fantastic Four reboot.
Personal life
Bell began dating American actress Evan Rachel Wood after they met while co-starring in the music video for Green Day's 2005 song "Wake Me Up When September Ends". After a year together, the couple broke up in 2006. Five years later, in mid-2011, it was reported that Bell and Wood had rekindled their relationship. The couple married in a small ceremony on 30 October 2012. They have one son, born in July 2013. Bell and Wood announced that they had separated on 28 May 2014.
In late 2015, Bell began dating his Fantastic Four co-star Kate Mara and in January 2017, the couple got engaged.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Director |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Billy Elliot | Billy Elliot | Stephen Daldry |
2002 | Deathwatch | Pvt. Charlie Shakespeare | Michael J. Bassett |
2002 | Nicholas Nickleby | Smike | Douglas McGrath |
2004 | Undertow | Chris Munn | David Gordon Green |
2005 | Dear Wendy | Dick Dandelion | Thomas Vinterberg |
2005 | The Chumscrubber | Dean Stifle | Arie Posin |
2005 | King Kong | Jimmy | Peter Jackson |
2006 | Flags of Our Fathers | Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski | Clint Eastwood |
2007 | Hallam Foe | Hallam Foe | David Mackenzie |
2008 | Jumper | Griffin O'Conner | Doug Liman |
2008 | Defiance | Asael Bielski | Edward Zwick |
2011 | The Eagle | Esca | Kevin Macdonald |
2011 | Jane Eyre | St. John Rivers | Cary Fukunaga |
2011 | Retreat | Jack | Carl Tibbets |
2011 | The Adventures of Tintin | Tintin | Steven Spielberg |
2012 | Man on a Ledge | Joey Cassidy | Asger Leth |
2013 | Snowpiercer | Edgar | Bong Joon-ho |
2013 | Filth | Ray Lennox | Jon S. Baird |
2013 | Nymphomaniac | K | Lars von Trier |
2015 | Fantastic Four | Ben Grimm/The Thing | Josh Trank |
2017 | Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool | Peter Turner | Paul McGuigan |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Close and True | Mark Sheedy | 1 episode: "Town and Gown" |
2014–present | TURN: Washington's Spies | Abraham Woodhull | Main cast (2014-present; 30 episodes) |
Music videos
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie | Jimmy (voice) | |
2008 | Jumper: Griffin's Story | Griffin O'Conner (voice) |
Accolades
Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Billy Elliot | BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role | Won |
British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer | Won | ||
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer | Won | ||
Empire Award for Best Debut | Won | ||
Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer | Won | ||
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Youth in Film | Won | ||
London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year | Won | ||
National Board of Review Award for Outstanding Young Actor | Won | ||
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Youth Performance | Won | ||
Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in an International Film | Won | ||
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor | Nominated | ||
European Film Award for Best Actor | Nominated | ||
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance | Nominated | ||
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Newcomer | Nominated | ||
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | Nominated | ||
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated | ||
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Breakout Performance | Nominated | ||
2002 | Nicholas Nickleby | National Board of Review Award for Best Cast | Won |
Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor | Nominated | ||
2004 | Undertow | Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor | Won |
2007 | Hallam Foe | BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor | Nominated |
British Independent Film Award for Best Actor | Nominated | ||
2008 | Jumper | MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Hayden Christensen) | Nominated |
2013 | Nymphomaniac | Bodil Award for Best Supporting Actor | Nominated |
2016 | Fantastic Four | Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Combo (shared with Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Miles Teller) | Nominated |