Ben Chaplin
Encyclopedia
Ben Chaplin is an English actor.
, England and attended Hurtwood House
. At the age of 17, he enrolled in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
.
Chaplin first came to public attention for his performance as Matthew Malone in the first series of the sitcom Game On. After departing the series (his character was later recast with Neil Stuke
) he co-starred in several films including The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Terrence Malick
's The Thin Red Line
, Murder By Numbers
, The Touch
with Michelle Yeoh
, Birthday Girl
and "Dorian Gray
" (2009) as society artist Basil Hallward.
He has also worked on the stage, including in Neil LaBute
's play This Is How It Goes
. He received an Olivier Award Nomination for Best Supporting Performer in The Glass Menagerie
and a Tony Award
Nomination for Best Featured Actor for The Retreat from Moscow
.
Chaplin is signed to Independent Models in London.
, but they have since broken up.
Early life
Chaplin, the youngest of four children, was born in London, the son of Cynthia (née Chaplin), a drama teacher, and Peter Greenwood, an engineer. He took his stage name after his mother's maiden name. He was raised in Windsor, BerkshireWindsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, England and attended Hurtwood House
Hurtwood House
Hurtwood House is a private, residential, co-educational sixth-form college near Dorking, Surrey, England. Founded in 1970 by Richard Jackson, the main house is an Edwardian mansion set in in the Surrey Hills...
. At the age of 17, he enrolled in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
.
Career
After finishing his training, he moved to London full time, where he joined a repertory theatre company. Between work as a statistician for the London Transport Authority and clerical jobs, he began landing roles in BBC dramas and British films. James Ivory and Ismail Merchant cast him as a servant in The Remains of the Day.Chaplin first came to public attention for his performance as Matthew Malone in the first series of the sitcom Game On. After departing the series (his character was later recast with Neil Stuke
Neil Stuke
Neil Stuke , is an English actor notable for playing Matthew in the second and third series of Game On after taking over the role from Ben Chaplin,and for his role as Billy Lamb, Head Clerk in the 2011 BBC television series "Silk"...
) he co-starred in several films including The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
's The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1998 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays men in: C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division; in particular those soldiers played by Sean Penn, Jim...
, Murder By Numbers
Murder by Numbers
Murder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It stars Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case....
, The Touch
The Touch (2002 film)
The Touch is a 2002 Hong Kong action/adventure martial arts film directed by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon cinematographer Peter Pau and starring Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh...
with Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
, Birthday Girl
Birthday Girl
Birthday Girl is a 2001 British-American drama and crime film directed by Jez Butterworth. The plot focuses on English bank clerk John Buckingham who orders a Russian mail-order bride, Nadia. It becomes clear upon her arrival that Nadia cannot speak English, and early into her stay, two mysterious...
and "Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray is the main character of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.It may also refer to:* Dorian Gray , an Italian film starring Helmut Berger...
" (2009) as society artist Basil Hallward.
He has also worked on the stage, including in Neil LaBute
Neil LaBute
Neil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,...
's play This Is How It Goes
This Is How It Goes
This Is How It Goes is a 2005 play by Neil LaBute set in small town America, about the repercussions of an interracial love triangle.High school sweethearts — the star of the high school track team and a cheerleader — marry. He becomes a successful businessman; she's a stay-at-home mom...
. He received an Olivier Award Nomination for Best Supporting Performer in The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
and a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Nomination for Best Featured Actor for The Retreat from Moscow
The Retreat from Moscow
The Retreat from Moscow is a play written by William Nicholson.The play is about the end of a three-decade marriage and the subsequent emotional fallout. The title is taken from Napoleon's costly invasion of Moscow and the subsequent retreat. It was first performed at the Chichester Festival...
.
Chaplin is signed to Independent Models in London.
Personal life
Chaplin was in a long term relationship with American actress, Embeth DavidtzEmbeth Davidtz
Embeth Jean Davidtz is an American-born actress who spent much of her early life in South Africa.-Early life:Davidtz was born in Lafayette, Indiana, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. Her parents, John and Jean, later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then...
, but they have since broken up.
Filmography
- The Remains of the DayThe Remains of the Day (film)The Remains of the Day is a 1993 Merchant Ivory film adapted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, Mike Nichols and John Calley. It starred Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton with James Fox,...
(1993) - Feast of JulyFeast of JulyFeast of July is a 1995 UK film produced by Merchant Ivory Productions, based on the novel by H. E. Bates, starring Embeth Davidtz and Ben Chaplin.-Plot:...
(1995) - The Truth About Cats & DogsThe Truth About Cats & DogsThe Truth About Cats & Dogs is a 1996 American romantic comedy film, starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin, and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Audrey Wells...
(1996) - Washington SquareWashington Square (film)Washington Square is a 1997 American drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. The screenplay by Carol Doyle is based on the 1880 novel of the same name by Henry James, which was filmed as The Heiress in 1949.-Plot summary:...
(1997) - The Thin Red LineThe Thin Red Line (1998 film)The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays men in: C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division; in particular those soldiers played by Sean Penn, Jim...
(1998) - Lost SoulsLost Souls (film)Lost Souls is a 2000 American horror film directed by Janusz Kamiński, and stars Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, Elias Koteas, and John Hurt. It is about a man who is told he will become the Antichrist.-Plot:...
(2000) - Birthday GirlBirthday GirlBirthday Girl is a 2001 British-American drama and crime film directed by Jez Butterworth. The plot focuses on English bank clerk John Buckingham who orders a Russian mail-order bride, Nadia. It becomes clear upon her arrival that Nadia cannot speak English, and early into her stay, two mysterious...
(2001) - Murder by NumbersMurder by NumbersMurder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It stars Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case....
(2002) - The TouchThe Touch (2002 film)The Touch is a 2002 Hong Kong action/adventure martial arts film directed by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon cinematographer Peter Pau and starring Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh...
(2002) - Stage BeautyStage BeautyStage Beauty is a 2004 British-American-German romantic period drama directed by Richard Eyre. The screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher is based on his play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which was inspired by references to 17th century actor Edward Kynaston made in the detailed private diary kept by...
(2004) - Chromophobia (2005)
- The New World (2005)
- Two WeeksTwo WeeksTwo Weeks is a 2007 comedy-drama film written and directed by Steve Stockman and starring Sally Field.-Plot:Four siblings return home to their mother's house, in North Carolina, for what they think are the last few days of her life...
(2006) - The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007)
- 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...
(2009) - Dorian Gray (2009)
- 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) - Ways to Live ForeverWays to Live Forever (film)Ways to Live Forever is a drama film by director Gustavo Ron based on the award winning novel of the same name written by Sally Nicholls. The film stars Robbie Kay, Alex Etel, Ben Chaplin, Emilia Fox and Greta Scacchi. The film is produced by Life&Soul Productions, El Capitan Pictures and Formato...
(2010) - Twixt (2011)