Ed Speleers

Ed Speleers
Born Edward John Speleers
(1988-04-07) 7 April 1988
Chichester, Sussex, England
Nationality English
Occupation Actor, producer
Years active 2006–present
Notable work Eragon, Downton Abbey
Spouse(s) Asia Macey
Children 2

Edward John "Ed" Speleers (born 7 April 1988)[1] is an English actor and producer. He is best known for playing the title role in the 2006 film Eragon, as well as starring in Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning TV series Downton Abbey. Speleers also has nominations for awards such as Saturn Award and National Television Awards.

Early life

Speleers was born at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex. His parents divorced when he was three.[2] His mother, Gill, lives in Spain;[3] his father, John, is a financial consultant and lives in London.[3] He has two older half brothers.[2] In 2006, he left Eastbourne College to portray Eragon.[3] Before starring in the film Eragon, he had already auditioned for a number of roles, such as Peter Pevensie's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - which he lost to William Moseley. For Eragon, he defeated about 180,000 candidates.[4]

Career

Acting

Prior to Eragon, Speleers appeared in school productions, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream when he was 10,[5] Peter Pan, A Streetcar Named Desire, Richard III and Hamlet. While at Eastbourne College, Speleers wrote a play, Retribution, with his friend Rob Curran, which investigated the subjects of child abuse and paedophilia.[6] Speleers also acted in a short film by Charlie Bleakley, called Metropolis.

He then landed the lead role of the 20th Century Fox screen version of Eragon in 2006.[7] In 2008, he appeared in the British prime time series Echo Beach as Jimmy Penwarden.[8] In 2010, Speleers played the role of Jason Grint in the made-for-television fantasy-adventure film based on witchcraft in a medieval feudal time period.[9]

In mid 2010, Speleers was cast as one of the lead roles in British thriller film A Lonely Place to Die directed by Julian Gilbey, a feature film, starring Melissa George, Sean Harris and Eamonn Walker, released in September 2011 in Britain.[10] He has starred in few short films Deathless as John Ray, The Ride as Student and Turncoat as Nathan Reece.[11]

In 2012, Speleers was part of the comedy horror film Love Bite, in the lead role of Jamie, with Jessica Szohr and Timothy Spall.[12] This production, was well regarded by the critics as to the cast, production and screenplay. He was also cast in the film A Dead Man in Deptford, based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess,[13] and in the worldwide hit and Golden Globe award winning series Downton Abbey, in which he played the regular role of Jimmy Kent.[14][15]

He starred as Sam in the film Plastic, written and directed by Julian Gilbey for Gateway Films. Production was shot in Britain, Miami and Brunei from January 2013.[16] The film was largely panned by critics. On 12 March 2014 it was reported that Speleers was among five actors being considered for a lead role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens,[17] but the role has been never confirmed.

In 2015, Speleers had a small role in the historical drama mini-series Wolf Hall as Edward Seymour, brother of Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour.[18] He also played a leading role in the direct to DVD werewolf horror film Howl, as a young and unsatisfied train conductor. His character, Joe, is overseeing the last London train on a dark and stormy night when the train is overtaken by a werewolf attack.[19] He guest starred in BBC One 6-part mini-series Partners in Crime, an adaptation of two of Agatha Christie's novels about a crime-solving married couple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Speleers appeared in three episodes based on the story N or M?, in the role of Carl Denim.[20] He played the role of Greg in the British drama film Remainder directed by Omer Fast.[21]

In 2016, he played the role of Slean in the British epic fantasy drama television series from ITV, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands.[22] He had a supporting role in the fantasy adventure film Alice Through the Looking Glass, directed by James Bobin.[23] The following year starred in the biopic novel Breathe, with Andrew Garfield.

In late 2017, Ed Speleers and fellow Downton Abbey guest star, Maria Doyle Kennedy, were confirmed to appear in season four of the British-American drama series Outlander. Speleers is set to play Irish smuggler and pirate Stephen Bonnet.[24] The series is written by Ron Moore (Battlestar Galactica) based on Gabaldon's fourth book in the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn, which will continue the romantic storyline between the characters Claire and Jamie.[25]

In February 2018, the British portal Screen Daily, confirmed a production of the film Zoo. Starring Speleers and produced by Alexander Brondsted, Zoo is a dark comedy-horror film about a couple in crisis attempting to reconcile during a zombie pandemic.[26] On August 21, 2018, Speleers premiered the play Rain Man, living the ambitious character, Charlie Babbitt. The piece is based on the film of the same name, produced by MGM, and gave Speleers a tour of the United Kingdom.

Producing

In 2017, Speleers was a producer of Barnaby Blackburn's short film Wale.[27]

Personal life

Speleers lives in London, England. He is married to Asia Macey and has one child with her, born in January 2015.[28][29] In May 2018, the British portal Daily Mail confirmed that the couple would be expecting their second baby.[30]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director Notes
2006EragonEragonStefen Fangmeier
2011A Lonely Place to DieEdJulian Gilbey
2012Love BiteJamieAndy De Emmony
2014PlasticSamJulian Gilbey
2015HowlJoePaul Hyett
RemainderGregOmer Fast
2016Alice Through the Looking GlassJames HarcourtJames Bobin
2017BreatheColin CampbellAndy Serkis
2018The Revenger: An Unromantic ComedyJohnnyMark MurphyIn Post-production
The House That Jack BuiltPolice OfficerLars von Trier
2018 Zoo John Antonio Tublen In Post-production

Shorts

Year Title Role Director Notes
2010DeathlessJohn RayAimee Powell
2011The RideStudentMarion Pilowsky
2012Metamorphosis: Titian 2012ActeonLuke White
2013TurncoatNathan ReeceWill Gilbey
2017 Wale Ed Barnaby Blackburn Producer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008Moving WallpaperEd Speleers4 episodes
Moving Wallpaper: The Mole1 episode
Echo BeachJimmy Penwarden12 episodes
2009Jirō Shirasu: Man of HonourRobin Cecil Byng1 episode
2010WitchvilleJason GrintTV film
2012-2014Downton AbbeyJames Kent17 episodes
2015Wolf HallEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset4 episodes
Agatha Christie's: Partners in CrimeCarl Denham3 episodes
2016Beowulf: Return to the ShieldlandsSlean12 episodes
2018OutlanderStephen Bonnetseason 4

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Rain Man Charlie Babbitt The Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Company

Video Games

Year Title Voice
2006EragonEragon
2016Battlefield 1Daniel Edwards

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Filmography Result
2007 Saturn Award Best Young Actor Eragon Indicated
2012 Golden Globe Best Miniseries or TV-Movie Downton Abbey Winner
2014 Emmy Award Best Comedy Series Cast Downton Abbey Winner

References

  1. ↑ "Ed Speleers profile". Official Facebook Page.
  2. 1 2 Hiltbrand, David (15 December 2006). "'Eragon' star Edward Speleers is on quite the ride". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ed Speleers biography". Tribute.ca.
  4. ↑ "Eragon". teacher.scholastic.com. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
  5. ↑ Freeman, Suzanne (6 December 2006). "Edward Speleers". Scholastic News. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Jones, Aled (1 July 2011). "FrightFest Week – A Lonely Place To Die: Ed Speleers Interview". Filmwerk. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Eragon". Scholastic News Online. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "First Look: The sexy cast of 'Echo Beach'". 2007-11-15. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  9. ↑ "Witchville on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  10. ↑ "First look at UK quad for FrightFest flick 'A Lonely Place to Die'". Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  11. ↑ Watch Deathless () online - Amazon Video, retrieved 2016-08-27
  12. ↑ Love Bite, retrieved 2016-08-27
  13. ↑ Franklin, Garth (13 September 2010). "Sam Riley is Marlowe in 'Dead Man'". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  14. ↑ Sperling, Daniel (22 March 2012). "'Downton Abbey' recruits 'Eragon' actor Ed Speleers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  15. ↑ MacNaghten, Holly (25 September 2014). "An Interview with Ed Speleers". The Gentleman's Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Rosser, Michael (6 December 2012). "Speleers, Poulter and Allen to star in Plastic". Screen Daily. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  17. ↑ Kroll, Justin (12 March 2014). "'Star Wars Episode VII': Actors Battle for Lead Role". Variety. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  18. ↑ Robinson, Joanna. "Here's Why the Cast of Wolf Hall Looks So Familiar". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  19. ↑ Howl, retrieved 2016-08-27
  20. ↑ "N or M? - Part Three, Partners in Crime - BBC One". BBC. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  21. ↑ "Movie Review – Remainder (2015)". 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  22. ↑ "Beowulf Official Site | Esquire Network". Esquire Network. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  23. ↑ "West Sussex actor Ed Speleers stars in the fantasy movie Alice Through the Looking Glass alongside a stellar cast". The Argus. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  24. ↑ Chris Harnick (2017-10-11). "Outlander Season 4 Adds Downton Abbey Veterans in Pivotal Roles". Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  25. ↑ Denise Petski (2017-10-11). "'Outlander': Maria Doyle Kennedy & Ed Speleers Join Season 4 Cast". Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  26. ↑ "Seville International heads to EFM with 'Zoo' (exclusive)". Screen. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  27. ↑ {{https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6547100/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast}}
  28. ↑ "Ed Speleers to be a dad". Express. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  29. ↑ Griffiths, Charlotte (16 November 2014). "Downton Ed falls for Asia". Daily Mail. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  30. ↑ "BAZ BAMIGBOYE: I won't Dust off Hoffman for Rain Man!". Mail Online. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
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