Eddie Marsan

British actor

Eddie Marsan

Marsan at The World's End premiere, Leicester Square, in 2013

Born|

Edward Maurice Charles Marsan

(1968-06-09) 9 June 1968 (age 56)

Stepney, London, England

Alma mater| Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1990–present
Spouse|

Janine Schneider

(m. 2002)​

Children| 4

Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Happy-Go-Lucky (2008).

## Early life and education

[edit]

Marsan was born on 9 June 1968[1] in the Stepney district of London to a working-class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother was a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant.[2][3] He was brought up in Bethnal Green and attended Raine's Foundation School.[4] He left school at 16 and initially served an apprenticeship as a printer before beginning his career in theatre.[3]

He trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, graduating in 1991,[5] and went on to study under Sam Kogan[6] at the Kogan Academy of Dramatic Arts,[7] now known as The School of the Science of Acting,[7] of which Marsan is now a patron.[8] His first year at drama school was funded by Mr Benny, a bookmaker who ran a menswear shop where Marsan worked; he obtained scholarships for the rest of the course. It took many attempts for Marsan to get a place at drama school.[9]

## Career

[edit]

Marsan at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Marsan's first television appearance was in 1992 as a "yob" in the London Weekend Television series The Piglet Files. One of his more significant early television appearances was in the popular mid-1990s BBC sitcom Game On as an escaped convict who was an old flame of Mandy's. Marsan went on to have roles in Casualty, The Bill, Grass, Kavanagh QC, Grange Hill, Silent Witness, Ultimate Force, Southcliffe,[10] and more. He also voiced the Manticore in the Merlin episode "Love in the Time of Dragons".[11]

In 2011, he starred alongside Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan, all three actors relatively unknown at that time, in the British drama film Tyrannosaur.[12]

In 2013, he began portraying Terry Donovan, brother to the lead character in 7 series and 82 episodes of Showtime's drama series Ray Donovan.[10] The same year he played Ludwig Guttmann in the television film The Best of Men. In May 2015, Marsan appeared as the practical magician Gilbert Norrell in the BBC period drama Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.[13]

Marsan's film roles include the main villain in the 2008 superhero film Hancock alongside Will Smith and as Inspector Lestrade in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. His other films include Sixty Six, Gangs of New York,[10] 21 Grams, The Illusionist,[10] V for Vendetta, Gangster No. 1, Miami Vice, Mission: Impossible III, I Want Candy, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky,[10] Filth, Tyrannosaur[10] and Heartless.[14]

In 2021, Marsan appeared as anti-Fascist activist Soly Malinovsky in the television adaptation of the novel Ridley Road.[15] In 2022, he played the real-life role of John Darwin in ITV's drama series The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe.[16]

Marsan appeared as Mitch Winehouse, father of Amy Winehouse, in the biopic Back to Black, which was released in 2024.[17]

## Personal life

[edit]

Marsan married make-up artist Janine Schneider in 2002. They have four children.[18] Marsan is a humanist and was appointed a patron of Humanists UK in 2015.[19] He was critical of the lack of representation of working-class people in the arts in 2015 on BBC Radio 5 Live in which he stated too much drama is written from "the white, privileged, middle class perspective".[20] In 2024 he was interviewed on HARDtalk with an episode entitled "Do the arts neglect working-class people?".[9]

## Filmography

[edit]

Key  †  | Denotes works that have not yet been released

|

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1997  | The Man Who Knew Too Little | Mugger No. 1  |
1999  | This Year's Love | Eddie  |
Janice Beard | Mr Tense  |
2000  | Gangster No. 1 | Eddie Miller  |
2001  | The Emperor's New Clothes | Louis Marchand  |
The Bunker | Pfc Kreuzmann  |
2002  | Gangs of New York | Killoran  |
2003  | AfterLife | Jez Walters  |
21 Grams | Reverend John  |
2004  | The Rocket Post | Heinz Dombrowsky  |
Vera Drake | Reg  |
2005  | The Secret Life of Words | Victor  |
Beowulf & Grendel | Father Brendan  |
The New World | Eddie  |
The Headsman | Fabio  |
2006  | V for Vendetta | Brian Etheridge  |
Mission: Impossible III | Brownway  |
Miami Vice | Nicholas  |
Sixty Six | Manny Reuben  |
The Illusionist | Josef Fischer  |
Pierrepoint | James "Tish" Corbitt |
2007  | I Want Candy | Doug Perry  |
Grow Your Own | Little John  |
2008  | Happy-Go-Lucky | Scott  |
Hancock | Kenneth "Red" Parker Jr.  |
Me and Orson Welles | John Houseman |
Faintheart | Richard  |
2009  | Red Riding | Jack Whitehead  |
Sherlock Holmes | Inspector Lestrade |
The Disappearance of Alice Creed | Vic  |
Heartless | Weapons Man  |
2010  | London Boulevard | DI Bailey  |
2011  | Junkhearts | Frank  |
Tyrannosaur | James  |
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | Inspector Lestrade  |
War Horse | Sgt Fry  |
2012  | I, Anna | DI Kevin Franks  |
Snow White and the Huntsman | Duir  |
A Running Jump | Perry  | Short
2013  | Jack the Giant Slayer | Crawe  |
The World's End[21] | Peter Page  |
Filth | Bladesey  |
Still Life | John May  |
2014  | God's Pocket | Smilin' Jack Moran  |
X+Y | Richard  |
2015  | Concussion | Steven DeKosky |
2016  | A Kind of Murder | Marty Kimmel  |
The Limehouse Golem | Uncle  |
Their Finest | Sammy Smith  |
The Exception | Heinrich Himmler |
2017  | Atomic Blonde | Spyglass  |
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House | Agency Man  |
2018  | Entebbe | Shimon Peres |
Deadpool 2 | The Headmaster  |
White Boy Rick | Art Derrick  |
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle | Vihaan | Voice and motion capture role
Vice | Paul Wolfowitz |
2019  | Hostage Radio | Jarvis Dolan  |
The Professor and the Madman | Muncie  |
Hobbs & Shaw[22] | Professor Andreiko  |
Abigail | Jonathan Foster  |
Pets United | The Cyborg / The Mayor / Frank Stone  | Voice role
The Gentlemen | Big Dave  |
2021  | Wrath of Man | Terry  |
The Virtuoso | The Loner  |
Flag Day | Mr. Emmanuelle  |
Charlotte | Albert Salomon  | Voice role
2022  | The Contractor | Virgil  |
Choose or Die | Hal  |
Vesper | Jonas  |
2023  | Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre | Knighton  |
Fair Play | Campbell  | [23]
Firebrand | Edward Seymour |
2024  | Back to Black | Mitch Winehouse  |
Midas Man | Harry Epstein  | [24]
TBA | Emperor †  | Martin Luther | Post-production

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1992  | The Piglet Files | Yob  | Episode: "Sex, Spies and Videotape"
1992–1996  | The Bill | Martin Price/Roy Kilby/Dean Stacey/Gary Vaughan  | 4 episodes
1996  | Casualty | Rick Grant  | Episode: "Chain Reactions"
EastEnders | Roddy  | 1 episode
Game On | Stoat  | Episode: "Heavy Bondage & Custard Creams"
1996–1998  | Grange Hill | Andy Sutcliffe/Eddie Sutcliffe  | 3 episodes
1997  | Get Well Soon | Brian Clapton  | Main cast, 6 episodes
Kavanagh QC | Ian Vincent  | Episode: "The Ties That Bind"
1999  | The Vice | Rhys  | 2 episodes
2000  | The Mrs Bradley Mysteries | Ronald Quincy  | Episode: "The Worsted Viper"
2001  | The Monkey King | Pigsy  | Miniseries, 2 episodes
2002  | Ultimate Force | Badger  | Episode: "The Killing House"
Judge John Deed | Ed Hay  | Episode: "Nobody's Fool"
2003  | Grass | Sunshine  | 3 episodes
Charles II: The Power and the Passion | Titus Oates | Episode #1.4
2004  | Coming Up | Martin  | Episode: "The Baader Meinhoff Gang Show"
Quite Ugly One Morning | Stephen Lime  | Television film
Silent Witness | Derek Portnoy  | 2 episodes
2006  | Friends and Crocodiles | Martin Butterworth  | Television film
2008  | God on Trial | Lieble  | Television film
Little Dorrit | Pancks  | Miniseries, 12 episodes
The 39 Steps | Scudder  | Television film
2009  | Criminal Justice | Saul  | Main cast, 5 episodes
2009–2010  | Law & Order: UK | Jason Peters  | 2 episodes
2010  | Merlin | The Manticore (voice)  | Episode: "Love in the Time of Dragons"
The Sarah Jane Adventures | Mr White  | 2-part story: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
2011  | Moby Dick | Stubb  | Miniseries, 2 episodes
2012  | Playhouse Presents | The Intruder  | Episode: "Walking the Dogs"
The Best of Men | Ludwig Guttmann | Television film
2013  | Southcliffe | Andrew Salter  | 4 episodes
2013–2020  | Ray Donovan | Terry Donovan  | Main cast, 80 episodes
2015  | Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | Gilbert Norrell  | Miniseries, 7 episodes
River | Thomas Neill Cream | Miniseries, 6 episodes
Hunted | Narrator (voice)  | Reality television series
2016  | Galavant | Death  | Episode: "Love and Death"
2017  | Urban Myths | Bob Dylan | Episode: "Bob Dylan: Knockin' on Dave's Door"
2018  | Indian Summer School | Narrator (voice)  | Reality television series, 3 episodes
2021  | The Pact | Arwel Evans  | Miniseries, 4 episodes
Deceit | Paul Britton  | Miniseries, 4 episodes
Ridley Road | Soly Malinovsky  | 4 episodes
2022  | Ray Donovan: The Movie | Terry Donovan  | Television film
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe | John Darwin | Miniseries, 4 episodes
2023  | The Power | Bernie Monke  | Main role
The Winter King | Uther Pendragon | 2 episodes
2024  | Franklin | John Adams | Miniseries
Inside No. 9 | Nathaniel  | Episode: "The Curse of the Ninth"
Suspect | Alistair Underwood  | Series 2
Supacell | Ray  | 2 episodes
Heartstopper | Geoff  | 3 episodes
TBA  | Lockerbie †  |  | Filming[25]

### Video games

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role

|
|

2020  | Deathtrap Dungeon | Narrator

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Awards  | Category  | Work  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2004  | 7th British Independent Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor/Actress | Vera Drake | Won  | [26][27]
2005  | London Film Critics' Circle Awards  | British Supporting Actor of the Year  | Nominated  | [26]
2007  | The Last Hangman  | Nominated  | [26]
2008  | 11th British Independent Film Awards | BIFA for Best Supporting Actor | Happy-Go-Lucky | Won  | [26][28]
Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA awards | EDA Best Actor in Supporting Role | Nominated  | [26]
EDA Best Seduction (shared with: Sally Hawkins)  | Nominated  | [26]
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards 2008 | DFWFCA Best Supporting Actor  | Won  | [26][29]
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | DFCS Best Supporting Actor | Nominated  | [26]
IndieWire Critics Poll | ICP Best Supporting Performance | Nominated  | [26]
Village Voice Film Poll | VVFP Best Supporting Actor | Nominated  | [26]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | LAFCA Best Supporting Actor | Nominated  | [26]
2009  | Chlotrudis Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won  | [26]
Central Ohio Film Critics Association awards  | COFCA Best Supporting Actor  | Nominated  | [26]
Gold Derby Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated  | [26]
International Cinephile Society Awards | ICS Best Supporting Actor  | Nominated  | [26]
International Online Cinema Awards  | INOCA Best Supporting Actor  | Nominated  | [26]
London Film Critics' Circle Awards  | British Supporting Actor of the Year | Won  | [26]
National Society of Film Critics  | NSFC Best Supporting Actor | Won  | [26]
Online Film & Television Association  | OFTA Best Supporting Actor  | Nominated  | [26]
Online Film Critics Society Awards | OFCSA Best Supporting Actor | Nominated  | [26]
Evening Standard British Film Awards | Peter Sellers Award for Comedy | Nominated  | [26]
2011  | Best Actor | The Disappearance of Alice Creed | Nominated  | [26]
14th British Independent Film Awards | BIFA for Best Supporting Actor | Tyrannosaur | Nominated  | [26][30]
2012  | Moscow International Film Festival  | Silver St. George - Best Actor | Junkhearts | Nominated  | [26]
2013  | 16th British Independent Film Awards | BIFA for Best Supporting Actor | Filth | Nominated  | [26][31]
2014  | Art Film Festival  | Blue Angel award for Best Male Performance  | Still Life | Won  | [26]
Edinburgh International Film Festival | Best Performance in a British Feature Film  | Won  | [26]
2015  | 5th VOICES Film Festival, Vologda, Russia  | Best Actor  | Won  | [32]
2022  | BAFTA Cymru | Best Actor | The Pact | Nominated  | [33][26]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Southern, Nathan (2016). "Eddie Marsan". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
2. ^ Simon, Alex (8 December 2008). "Eddie Marsan Keeps It Real". The Hollywood Interview.com. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
3. ^ a b Taylor, Ella (7 January 2009). "Happy-Go-Lucky: Driver's Eddie". LA Weekly. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
4. ^ "December Reunion" (PDF). Old Raineians Newsletter: 3. April 1994. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
5. ^ "Mountview Notable Alumni". mountview.org.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
6. ^ Kogan, Sam (2010). Kogan, Helen (ed.). The Science of Acting. UK, USA and Canada: Routledge. Back cover. ISBN 978-0-415-48812-9.
7. ^ a b "Patrons". Kogan Academy of Dramatic Arts. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
8. ^ Prospectus. The Academy of the Science of Acting and Directing. 2007. p. 4.
9. ^ a b "HARDtalk - Eddie Marsan: Do the arts neglect working-class people? - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
10. ^ a b c d e f "Terry Donovan Played by Eddie Marsan". paramountplus.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
11. ^ "Love in the Time of Dragons - Merlin Series 3 Episode 9 of 14". bbc.co.uk. 6 November 2010.
12. ^ "Tyrannosaur 2011". filmaffinity.com. 2011.
13. ^ "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Mr Norrell Played by Eddie Marsan". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
14. ^ Miska, Brad (3 February 2010). "Trailer for Lionsgate UK's Mass Release 'Heartless'". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
15. ^ "Interview with Eddie Marsan". 28 September 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
16. ^ Lawson, Mark (15 April 2022). "Death, fraud and canoes: how a mind-blowing insurance scam became an ITV drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
17. ^ Ntim, Zac (2 February 2024). "'Back To Black' Trailer: Marisa Abela Is Amy Winehouse In Sam Taylor-Johnson's Musical Biopic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
18. ^ Anderson, John (4 August 2010). "A Go-to Actor for 'That Guy' Roles". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
19. ^ "Actor Eddie Marsan appointed Patron of the BHA". Humanists UK. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
20. ^ "5 Live In Short - Actor Eddie Marsan: 'UK drama too white, middle-class' - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
21. ^ Hewitt, Chris (28 September 2012). "Martin Freeman joins 'The World's End' along with Eddie Marsan". Empire. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
22. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (4 October 2018). "Eddie Marsan Along for the Ride In 'Fast & Furious' Spin-off 'Hobbs And Shaw'". [[Deadline Hollywood|]]. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
23. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (7 February 2022). "'Fair Play': Sebastian de Souza, Eddie Marsan & Rich Sommer Join MRC & T-Street Finance World Thriller". Deadline Hollywood.
24. ^ "Toronto Jewish Film Festival - Midas Man, Opening Night Film, Canadian Premier". Toronto Jewish Film Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
25. ^ Szalai, Georg (5 March 2024). "'Suits' Star Patrick J. Adams, Connor Swindells, Merritt Wever Cast in Netflix, BBC Series 'Lockerbie'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Eddie Marsan Awards". IMDB (Index source only). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
27. ^ "BIFA 2004 Winners & Nominations". BIFA. 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
28. ^ "BIFA 2008 Winners & Nominations". BIFA. 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
29. ^ Levy, Emanuel (17 December 2008). "Oscar 2008: Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Awards". Cinema 24/7. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
30. ^ "BIFA 2011 Winners & Nominations". BIFA. 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
31. ^ "BIFA 2013 Winners & Nominations". BIFA. 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
32. ^ "The Winners of the 5th VOICES Film Festival". voices-festival.org. 6 July 2015.
33. ^ "Winners announced for the 2022 BAFTA Cymru Awards". bafta.org. 9 October 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Eddie Marsan at IMDb

Awards for Eddie Marsan

* v
* t
* e

British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor

Actor/Actress

* Susan Lynch (2003)
* Eddie Marsan (2004)
* Rosamund Pike (2005)
* Leslie Phillips (2006)
* Toby Kebbell (2007)

Actor

* Eddie Marsan (2008)
* John Henshaw (2009)
* Geoffrey Rush (2010)
* Michael Smiley (2011)
* Rory Kinnear (2012)
* Ben Mendelsohn (2013)
* Andrew Scott (2014)
* Brendan Gleeson (2015)
* Brett Goldstein (2016)
* Simon Russell Beale (2017)
* Alessandro Nivola (2018)
* Hugh Laurie (2019)
* D’angelou Osei Kissiedu (2020)
* Talid Ariss (2021)

* v
* t
* e

London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Supporting Actor of the Year

* Rupert Everett (1997)
* Nigel Hawthorne (1998)
* Michael Caine (1999)
* Albert Finney (2000)
* Paul Bettany (2001)
* Kenneth Branagh (2002)
* Bill Nighy (2003)
* Phil Davis (2004)
* Tom Hollander (2005)
* Michael Caine (2006)
* Tom Wilkinson (2007)
* Eddie Marsan (2008)
* Michael Fassbender (2009)
* Andrew Garfield (2010)

* v
* t
* e

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor

1967–2000|

* Gene Hackman (1967)
* Seymour Cassel (1968)
* Jack Nicholson (1969)
* Chief Dan George (1970)
* Bruce Dern (1971)
* Eddie Albert / Joel Grey (1972)
* Robert De Niro (1973)
* Holger Löwenadler (1974)
* Henry Gibson (1975)
* Jason Robards (1976)
* Edward Fox (1977)
* Richard Farnsworth / Robert Morley (1978)
* Frederic Forrest (1979)
* Joe Pesci (1980)
* Robert Preston (1981)
* Mickey Rourke (1982)
* Jack Nicholson (1983)
* John Malkovich (1984)
* John Gielgud (1985)
* Dennis Hopper (1986)
* Morgan Freeman (1987)
* Dean Stockwell (1988)
* Beau Bridges (1989)
* Bruce Davison (1990)
* Harvey Keitel (1991)
* Gene Hackman (1992)
* Ralph Fiennes (1993)
* Martin Landau (1994)
* Don Cheadle (1995)
* Martin Donovan / Tony Shalhoub (1996)
* Burt Reynolds (1997)
* Bill Murray (1998)
* Christopher Plummer (1999)
* Benicio del Toro (2000)

2001–present|

* Steve Buscemi (2001)
* Christopher Walken (2002)
* Peter Sarsgaard (2003)
* Thomas Haden Church (2004)
* Ed Harris (2005)
* Mark Wahlberg (2006)
* Casey Affleck (2007)
* Eddie Marsan (2008)
* Paul Schneider / Christoph Waltz (2009)
* Geoffrey Rush (2010)
* Albert Brooks (2011)
* Matthew McConaughey (2012)
* James Franco (2013)
* J. K. Simmons (2014)
* Mark Rylance (2015)
* Mahershala Ali (2016)
* Willem Dafoe (2017)
* Steven Yeun (2018)
* Brad Pitt (2019)
* Paul Raci (2020)
* Anders Danielsen Lie (2021)
* Ke Huy Quan (2022)
* Charles Melton (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
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* BnF data
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* Norway
* Korea
* Poland
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Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

People|

* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef

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