Sean Chapman
Encyclopedia
Sean Chapman is an English-born actor
. He is best known for playing Frank Cotton in Clive Barker
's Hellraiser
, and its sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II
. He is also known for voicing the character Sgt. Michael Sykes (callsigned "Psycho") in Crysis
in 2007 and in Crysis Warhead
in 2008.
, who cast him in his film about Borstal
life, Scum. He has since played a variety of roles in British Theatre and in both British and European cinema.
, CH4, and Contact. Sean Chapman is the only actor to have worked three times with Alan Clarke.
Other leading roles in television include The Black and Blue Lamp (BBC), No Further Cause For Concern (BBC), Ellington (ITV), Peak Practice (ITV), Kavannagh QC (ITV), Midsommer Murders (ITV), Trial and Retribution V (ITV), Murphy's Law (ITV). He has also featured in various episodes of French & Saunders
and in Absolutely Fabulous
. He appeared in the episode 'The Raven in the Foregate' of the third season of Cadfael in 1997 as a medieval murder suspect and spy.
Leading roles at The National Theatre include Angels In America (1992), Rutherford And Son (1995), Fair Ladies At A Game Of Poem Cards (1999), The Prince's Play (2000), Sleep With Me (2002).
His repertory work outside London during the 1980s includes Hamlet (Royal Exchange),Pride and Prejudice (Leicester Haymarket), The Clandestine Marriage (Bristol, Old Vic), Comedy of Errors (York Playhouse), Wolf At The Door, Invisible Friends (Scarborough, Stephen Joseph Theatre).
Other work in London's West End includes the National Theatre production of Single Spies (Queens Theatre), and Me and Mamie O'Rourke (Aldwych).
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is best known for playing Frank Cotton in Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
's Hellraiser
Hellraiser
Hellraiser is a 1987 British and American horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Hellraiser explores themes of sadomasochism and morality under duress and fear. The film spawned a series of sequels...
, and its sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 horror film directed by Tony Randel. It draws heavily upon, and was made by much of the same cast and crew as its precursor, Hellraiser.-Summary:...
. He is also known for voicing the character Sgt. Michael Sykes (callsigned "Psycho") in Crysis
Crysis
Crysis is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek , published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, and released in November 2007. It is the first game of a trilogy. A separate game entitled Crysis Warhead was released on September 12, 2008, and follows similar...
in 2007 and in Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game developed by the studio Crytek Budapest, Hungary, and published by Electronic Arts. Crysis Warhead is a stand-alone expansion game and does not require Crysis installed to play...
in 2008.
Early life
Born in Greenwich, London in 1961, he was abandoned by his father as a child and brought up by his mother. He admits that he was not particularly interested in school, except for English and Drama and, aged 14, moved to stage school, from where he gained early experience in film and television. At the age of 17 he met the director Alan ClarkeAlan Clarke
Alan Clarke was a television and film director, producer and writer, born in Wallasey, Merseyside, England.Most of Clarke's output was for television rather than cinema, including work for the famous play strands The Wednesday Play and Play for Today...
, who cast him in his film about Borstal
Borstal
A borstal was a type of youth prison in the United Kingdom, run by the Prison Service and intended to reform seriously delinquent young people. The word is sometimes used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory, such as Approved Schools and Detention Centres. The court...
life, Scum. He has since played a variety of roles in British Theatre and in both British and European cinema.
Filmography
- Passion Flower HotelPassion Flower Hotel (film)Passion Flower Hotel is a 1978 comedy film featuring the erotic ventures of schoolgirls residing at a private boarding school. It was directed by André Farwagi...
(1978) - Rodney - ScumScum (film)Scum is a 1979 British crime drama film directed by Alan Clarke, portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. The story was originally made for the BBC's Play for Today strand in 1977, however due to the violence depicted in the film, it was withdrawn from broadcast...
(1979) - James - Party PartyParty Party (film)Party Party is a British comedy film about three friends and their South London crowd.This crowd includes workers, spivs and young police constables. A British entry into the teenage/youth house party genre typified by John Hughes' films and the late 80s movies of Kid and Play.The movie was...
(1983) - Sam Diggins - UnderworldUnderworld (1985 film)Underworld is a 1985 British horror film, written by Clive Barker and James Caplin, and starring Denholm Elliott, Miranda Richardson, Steven Berkoff, Larry Lamb, Ingrid Pitt and Art Malik, in which a mad doctor keeps mutants underground. The film was directed by George Pavlou.-Plot:Dr...
(1985) - Buchanan - Eat the Rich (1987) - Mark
- The Fourth ProtocolThe Fourth ProtocolThe Fourth Protocol is a novel written by Frederick Forsyth and published in August 1984.-Explanation of the novel's title:The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which contained four secret protocols. The fourth, of the protocols, was meant to prohibit the non-conventional...
(1987) - Captain Lyndhurst - HellraiserHellraiserHellraiser is a 1987 British and American horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Hellraiser explores themes of sadomasochism and morality under duress and fear. The film spawned a series of sequels...
(1987) - Frank Cotton / Frank The Monster (voice)(UK release)(uncredited) - Hellbound: Hellraiser IIHellbound: Hellraiser IIHellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 horror film directed by Tony Randel. It draws heavily upon, and was made by much of the same cast and crew as its precursor, Hellraiser.-Summary:...
(1988) - Frank Cotton / Frank The Monster (voice) / Skinless Frank (voice) - For Queen and CountryFor Queen and CountryFor Queen and Country is a 1989 crime drama film produced by Working Title Films and Zenith, starring Denzel Washington. Washington stars as Reuben James, a Black British former paratrooper, who joined the British Army to escape the poverty of inner city London.-Plot synopsis:Reuben , although...
(1989) - Bob Harper - Tangier Cop (1997) - Arthur Smith
- The Sea ChangeThe Sea ChangeThe Sea Change is a 1998 British-Spanish comedy film directed by Michael Bray and starring Maryam d'Abo, Sean Chapman and Ray Winstone. A workaholic British banker neglects his girlfriend...
(1998) - Rupert - Gangster No. 1Gangster No. 1Gangster No. 1 is a 2000 British crime film. It stars Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis and Paul Bettany and was directed by Paul McGuigan.- Cast :*Malcolm McDowell as Gangster 55*David Thewlis as Freddie Mays*Paul Bettany as Young Gangster...
(2000) - Bent Cop - Joy Division (2006 film)Joy Division (2006 film)Joy Division is a 2006 British film directed by Reg Traviss. The story is a fictional biopic which follows the life of a boy in Germany at the end of WWII into his adulthood in Russia and London during the Cold War...
(2006) -Harris - A Mighty Heart (film)A Mighty Heart (film)A Mighty Heart is a 2007 drama film directed by Michael Winterbottom; It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart. Although initially a financial failure, A Mighty Heart was met with relatively positive reviews from both critics and viewers alike.The film was screened out of...
(2007) -US Journalist - VividVivid-Music:*Vivid , a Japanese rock band*Vivid , the 1988 debut album by Living Colour*"Vivid", a song by Fairy Fore*Vivid: Kissing You, Sparkling, Joyful Smile, a 2008 mini-album also known simply as Vivid, by Korean singer BoA...
(2009) (post-production) -Detective Sergeant
Television
His television work is extensive, including leading roles in many single dramas and TV plays, including the films Made In BritainMade in Britain
Made in Britain is a 1982 British drama film directed by Alan Clarke, and written by David Leland, about a 16-year-old white power skinhead named Trevor, and his constant confrontations with authority figures. It was originally broadcast on ITV as the fourth in an untitled series of works by...
, CH4, and Contact. Sean Chapman is the only actor to have worked three times with Alan Clarke.
Other leading roles in television include The Black and Blue Lamp (BBC), No Further Cause For Concern (BBC), Ellington (ITV), Peak Practice (ITV), Kavannagh QC (ITV), Midsommer Murders (ITV), Trial and Retribution V (ITV), Murphy's Law (ITV). He has also featured in various episodes of French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
and in Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
. He appeared in the episode 'The Raven in the Foregate' of the third season of Cadfael in 1997 as a medieval murder suspect and spy.
Theatre
His work in London theatre is also extensive. Leading roles include Enemies (Almeida 2006), A Prayer For My Daughter (Young Vic, 2007).Leading roles at The National Theatre include Angels In America (1992), Rutherford And Son (1995), Fair Ladies At A Game Of Poem Cards (1999), The Prince's Play (2000), Sleep With Me (2002).
His repertory work outside London during the 1980s includes Hamlet (Royal Exchange),Pride and Prejudice (Leicester Haymarket), The Clandestine Marriage (Bristol, Old Vic), Comedy of Errors (York Playhouse), Wolf At The Door, Invisible Friends (Scarborough, Stephen Joseph Theatre).
Other work in London's West End includes the National Theatre production of Single Spies (Queens Theatre), and Me and Mamie O'Rourke (Aldwych).
Fiction
His first novel, A Distant Prospect, is due for publication in 2010. He is currently completing his second novel, The Blood In The Moon.VideoGames
- Battle Engine AquilaBattle Engine AquilaBattle Engine Aquila is a 2003 video game for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows in which you pilot the Battle Engine for the Forseti military in their wars against the Muspell to decide who will rule what's left of the world...
(2003) - CrysisCrysisCrysis is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek , published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, and released in November 2007. It is the first game of a trilogy. A separate game entitled Crysis Warhead was released on September 12, 2008, and follows similar...
(2007) - Psycho - Crysis WarheadCrysis WarheadCrysis Warhead is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game developed by the studio Crytek Budapest, Hungary, and published by Electronic Arts. Crysis Warhead is a stand-alone expansion game and does not require Crysis installed to play...
(2008) - Psycho
External links
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/interview-sean-chapman-777626.html
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/aug/13/comment.features