Blake Ritson
| Blake Ritson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 June 1980 |
| Occupation | actor |
| Years active | 1996-present |
| Partner | Hattie Morahan |
Blake Ritson (born 14 June 1980) is an English actor and director.
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[edit] Early life
Blake attended the Dolphin School in Reading, Berkshire until 1993, before going to St Paul's School, an independent school for boys in Barnes in West London on an academic scholarship. He then attended the University of Cambridge,[1] where he studied English and Medieval Italian, Dante primarily.[2] While a student he acted on both stage and screen,[3] playing Paul Etheridge in White Chameleon, Fleance in Macbeth, and Augustus in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia (1996) at the National Theatre in productions directed by Richard Eyre and Trevor Nunn.[2]
[edit] Career
Blake is best known in recent years for portraying Mr Elton in the BBC 2009 adaptation of Emma and Edmund Bertram in the 2007 ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park,[4] Giles Vicary in the BBC series Red Cap and for playing sidekick Robert Presley in A Touch of Frost.[5] He also played the part of Justin in The League of Gentlemen, Idek in God on Trial, and the Duke of Kent in Upstairs Downstairs.
Blake writes and directs with his older brother, Dylan Ritson.[6] The Ritson brothers' latest short film, Love Hate, starring Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell was completed in May 2009 and was selected for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Palm Springs Film Festival, London BFI Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Foyle, Omaha, Encounters, Berkshire International Film Festival, Sofia Film Fest (Bulgaria), Tofifest International Film Festival (Poland), West Hollywood International, LA Shorts Fest, Short Shorts Film Festival (Japan). It was the winner of the Jury Award at Palm Springs International Shortsfest and won the Best International Short award at Cinema St. Louis Film Festival. "Crisply shot and superbly acted, it's also a sly comment on repression and everyday insanity. It will be great to see what the Ritsons do next." (Empire)
The brothers first directed the short film Out of Time. Starring Mark Heap and Raquel Cassidy, the film won the Global Audience Award at the first CON-CAN Movie Festival[7] and was runner up at Minimalen and the Berlin Film Festival. It also screened at the London, San Paulo and Dresden film festivals. Their second short film, More More More, starring The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss, was a runner-up in the Turner Classic Movies Competition. Their third film, shot in 2009 with Hayley Atwell as Hate, was entitled Love Hate.[8] The Ritson brothers have also shot a fourth short film, Good Boy, starring Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson), Reece Shearsmith, Nicholas Burns, Joanna Page and Blake's fiancee Hattie Morahan.[9]
The Ritson Brothers were selected for the front cover of Screen International's "Stars Of Tomorrow 2009".
Blake played the banjolele on Doug Hodge's 2006 album Cowley Road Songs,[10] which was recorded in four days at the Blue Moon Studios in Banbury.[11] He describes the banjolele as “a hybrid instrument between a ukulele and a banjo; teamed up with the gazoo it’s a winning combination.”[2]
[edit] Personal life
Blake is the brother of Dylan Ritson, with whom he directs and writes. Dylan also attended Cambridge, where he wrote and directed plays for Footlights and the Edinburgh Festival which received numerous awards and excellent reviews in the national press.[3]
Blake's fiancee is the stage and screen actress Hattie Morahan, who was also the costume designer and script supervisor on one of the movies he and his brother directed.[12]
[edit] Selected credits
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[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Breaking the Code | Christopher Morcom | TV |
| Different for Girls | Young Prentice | ||
| 1997 | Knight School | Sir Roger de Courcey | TV (2 episodes) |
| 1999 | Shooting the Past | Nick | TV |
| Titus | Mutius | ||
| 2000 | The League of Gentlemen | Justin Smart | TV (2 episodes) |
| 2001 | London's Burning | Dermot | TV (2 episodes) |
| Me Without You | Tim | ||
| Urban Gothic | Dave Matthews | TV (1 episode: "The End") | |
| Red Cap | Lt. Giles Vicary | TV | |
| 2002 | A Box | Delivery Boy | Short |
| The Cicerones | Guide 1 'Foreign' | Short | |
| AKA | Alexander Gryffoyn | ||
| 2003 | Adventure Inc. | Byron Haycroft | TV (1 episode: "Angel of St. Edmunds") |
| Red Cap | Giles Vicary | TV (12 episodes) | |
| 2004 | Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King | Angelo | Voice |
| 2005 | If... | Ben Swales | TV (1 episode: "If...We Stopped Giving Aid to Africa") |
| Strauss: The Waltz King | Older Johann Strauss II | TV | |
| The Bill | Gavin Murray | TV (1 episode: "374") | |
| 2006 | The Romantics | Percy Bysshe Shelley | TV |
| Casualty | Daniel Tasker | TV (1 episode: "Worlds Apart") | |
| The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Graham Marshall | TV (1 episode: "Chinese Walls") | |
| Killzone: Liberation | Colonel Cobar | Voice | |
| A Touch of Frost | D.C. Robert Presley | TV (1 episode: "Endangered Species") | |
| 2007 | Mansfield Park | Edmund Bertram | TV |
| The Commander: The Devil You Know | John Littlewood | TV | |
| 2008 | God on Trial | Idek | TV |
| RocknRolla | Johnny Sloane | ||
| 2009 | Love Hate | Rob | Short |
| Emma | Mr. Elton | TV (4 episodes) | |
| Dead Man Running | Jarvis | ||
| 2010 | Upstairs Downstairs | The Duke of Kent | TV (2 episodes) |
| 2011 | The Crimson Petal and the White | Bodley | TV (3 episodes) |
| 2011 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron | Enoch | Voice |
[edit] Stage
- Rope - Brandon (Almeida, dir. Roger Michell)
- Tender - (Donmar Warehouse, dir. Seth Sklar-Heyn)
- Violet - Mio (Royal Court, dir. Indu Rubasingham)
- Love Is Blind - Manolito Trevelez (Royal Court, dir. Nathalie Abrahami)
- The Importance of Being Earnest - Jack Worthing (ADC Theatre, 1999, dir. Phillip Breen)
- Arcadia - Septimus (Bristol Old Vic, dir. Rachel Kavanaugh)
- HappyTime Park - Xavier (Riverside Studios, devised and dir. Dylan Ritson)
- In Praise of Love - Joey (Theatre Royal Bath, dir. Deborah Bruce)
- Arcadia - Augustus (Theatre Royal Haymarket, - National Theatre/Michael Codron - dir. Trevor Nunn)
- Macbeth - Fleance (National Theatre, Olivier, dir. Richard Eyre)
- White Chameleon - Paul Etheridge (National Theatre, Cottesloe, dir. Richard Eyre)
- The Luke Files - Bartholomew (RT Productions, dir. Paul McKusker)
- Romeo and Juliet - Benvolio (Immersive, dir. Mark Rosenblatt)
[edit] Radio and Voice Over Work
- Death in Genoa - Dr. Carlo Bazzani (Independent Drama, written Thomas Wright)
- The Absolutist - Reader (BBC Book at Bedtime, dir. Heather Larmour)
- Richard II - Bolingbroke (BBC Radio 4, dir. Jessica Dromgoole and Jeremy Mortimer)
- Money - Evelyn (BBC Radio 3, dir. Sam West)
- Saint Joan - Charles (BBC Radio 3, dir. Jonquil Panting)
- Sunk - Bert Selphin (BBC Radio 4, dir. Gemma McMullan)
- Leverage - David (BBC Radio 4, dir. Sasha Yevtushenko)
- A Month in the Country - Moon (BBC Radio 4, dir. David Hunter)
- The Far Pavilions - Ash (BBC Radio 4, dir. Jessica Dromgoole and Marc Beeby)
- With Great Pleasure - Reader (BBC Radio 4, dir. Christine Hall)
- Two on a Tower - Swithin St.Cleeve (BBC Radio 4, dir. Stefan Escreet)
- Vincent Price and the Horror of the English Blood Beast - (BBC Radio 4, dir. Sam Hoyle)
- The Wings of the Dove - (BBC Radio 4, dir. Nadia Molinari)
- The Killing - (BBC Radio 4, dir. Sasha Yevtushenko)
- The Man Who Shot the 60s - (BBC4, dir. Linda Brusasco)
- Six Windows of the Muslim World - (Crescent Films, dir. Ned Williams)
- Dragon Quest VIII - Journey of the Cursed King - Video game
- Xenoblade Chronicles - Video game
- Killzone: Liberation - Video game
- Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire - Video game
- Babel - Video game
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/ritsonb/f-ftd.html
- ^ a b c http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest/view/item108853/
- ^ a b http://www.dolphinschool.com/Old_Ds_headlines/Blake_Ritson.php
- ^ Company Pictures: Mansfield Park
- ^ ITV Home
- ^ http://www.con-can.com/PreviewRoom_1st/en/director/index.html?director_id=10033
- ^ http://www.con-can.com/festival/first/final_review/
- ^ "Hayley Atwell Web". http://hayley-atwell.net/career/. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/modern-miss-hattie-morahan-is-ditching-bonnets-in-favour-of-cuttingedge-theatre-work-878561.html
- ^ doughodge.com Cowley Road Songs Credits
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hodge
- ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article3758016.ece
[edit] External links
- Jane Austen and Performance
- Blake Ritson Interview, ITV.com, 2007
- Breaking the Code: Alan Turing Scrapbook
- Blake Ritson at the Internet Movie Database
- God on Trial: Blake Ritson Plays Idek
- More More More website
- Out of Time: Watch a scene of Ritson's film
- Review of Arcadia, Bristol and Birmingham, 2004
- Voice Overs Blake Ritson
- The Big Interview: Blake Ritson, 2009
