Matthew Marsden
| Matthew Marsden | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 March 1973 West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actor, singer, model |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse(s) | Nadine Marsden; 3 children (plus one child by prior relationship) |
Matthew Marsden (born 3 March 1973) is an English actor, martial artist, model and singer. In the United States he is best known as a film actor, having appeared in Helen of Troy, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Tamara, Resident Evil: Extinction, Rambo, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Atlas Shrugged.
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Early life [edit]
Marsden was born in Sandwell General Hospital, West Bromwich, Staffordshire and brought up on the Yew Tree Estate, Walsall.[1] His father abandoned the family when Matthew was ten years old[2] and he and his sister were brought up by their mother, Ann.[3][4] He was a pupil of Manor High School, Wednesbury, before leaving to go to Dartmouth High School in Great Barr.[3] After leaving school he took up acting and joined the National Youth Theatre.
He later found work as a model in London with "Models 1", Paris with "Men of Karin" and Milan with "Beatrice" and featured in commercials for products such as Jacobs Coffee, Punica, Vimto and Impulse body spray.[5] Marsden has since commented "I was at college in London and when you're a struggling student it doesn't take a genius to work out that it's easier to model for a few hours each week and earn thousands of pounds than work in a bar for a pittance. But I hated doing it really."[5] After nearly two years of modelling he decided to get an agent, and found work as an actor.[5]
Career [edit]
His acting break came in 1995 when he joined the cast of the ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, playing the upper crust Daniel Weir, lover of Linda Glover. He remained in the role for three months before the character was written out.[5] He went on to play the role of surfer Philip Kennedy in Island — a Jersey-based ITV mini series.[5] Marsden also dressed in drag when he appeared in the Jeannot Szwarc French film Les Soeurs Soleil (The Sun Sisters).[6] opposite Jean Reno, Christian Clavier and Thierry Lhermitte.
On 3 March 1997, he joined the cast of Coronation Street as mechanic Chris Collins and he remained with the series until 29 March 1998. Marsden quickly became one of the soap's top pin-ups and during this time he was besieged by fan mail and was also voted Best Newcomer at the National Television Awards. Following his departure from Coronation Street, Marsden decided on a change of direction and a fleeting career as a pop star followed.[7] He signed a £500,000 record deal with Columbia Records and released his debut single in July 1998 called The Heart's Lone Desire, which reached number 13 in the UK singles chart.[8] He followed with a second single, She's Gone (a cover of Hall & Oates's soul classic) with his label-mates Destiny's Child providing backing-vocals, which reached number 24 in the UK singles chart.[8] A third single and an album were also recorded, however Marsden's career as a singer stalled when he parted company with his record label due to creative differences.
He returned to acting, portraying Paris in the USA networks mini-series Helen of Troy; Army Ranger Dale Sizemore in Ridley Scott's blockbuster film Black Hawk Down.
He starred opposite Michael Caine in John Irvin's feature Shiner for Miramax Films. He went on to star in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (the sequel to Anaconda). He also starred in Tamara, a supernatural thriller by Final Destination screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick. He made appearances in the films DOA: Dead or Alive and Resident Evil Extinction. He co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (2008), and with Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Recently[when?] Marsden won the "Best Actor" award at the Doorpost Film festival for his performance in the short film "Eyes to See" opposite Garcelle Beauvais.[citation needed]
Personal life [edit]
Marsden lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Nadine Micallef, a Maltese former ballerina and pilates instructor, whom he married in 2005.[9][10] He is father to four children: a son (from a pre-marital relationship) and three children with his wife.[3][4][10]
Marsden trained with United States Army Rangers prior to filming his role in Black Hawk Down. In 2008, he teamed up again with the technical adviser on that film, former United States Navy SEAL and Silver Star recipient Harry Humphries on the set of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He is an active supporter of the military and has parachuted with the world famous United States Army Parachute Team.
He is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a PADI divemaster, and an avid fan of West Bromwich Albion.[11][12]
Religion [edit]
Marsden was born to a family of Irish descent and is a practising Roman Catholic. He appeared in Rosary Stars Praying the Gospel (2009), alongside Ali Landry, Jeff Suppan and others.[13][14]
Music [edit]
Albums [edit]
| Year | Information | UK Album Chart Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Say Who
|
|
Singles [edit]
| Year | Single | UK Singles Chart Position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "The Hearts Lone Desire" |
|
|
| "She's Gone" (featuring Destiny's Child) |
|
||
| 1999 | "Walk My Way" |
|
Filmography [edit]
Films [edit]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Young Americans | Mayfair Party | Uncredited |
| 1996 | Les Soeurs Soleil | Lawrence | |
| 2000 | Shiner | Eddie "Golden Boy" Simpson | |
| 2001 | Black Hawk Down | Specialist Dale Adonis Sizemore | |
| 2004 | Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid | Dr. Jack Byron | |
| 2005 | Tamara | Bill Natolly | |
| 2006 | DOA: Dead or Alive | Maximilian Marsh | USA Release: 2007 |
| 2007 | Resident Evil Extinction | Captain Alexander Slater | |
| 2008 | Rambo | Schoolboy | |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Captain Graham | |
| 2010 | Eyes to See | Ray | Short film |
| 2011 | Atlas Shrugged: Part I | James Taggart | |
| 2013 | Bounty Killer | Drifter | |
| Rise Again | Hilde |
TV [edit]
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Emmerdale | Daniel Weir | Series regular |
| 1996 | Island | Philip Kennedy | Series regular |
| 1997–1998 | Coronation Street | Chris Collins | Series regular |
| 2000 | North Square | Stuart Pound | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Demontown | Marc Tyler | Unaired pilot |
| The Legacy | Sam Maddux | Unaired pilot | |
| 2003 | Helen of Troy | Paris | 2 part mini-series |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami | Morgan Coleman | 1 episode: Addiction |
| 2006 | Emily's Reasons Why Not | Vincent | 1 episode: Why Not to Date a Twin |
| 2007 | NCIS | Lt. Roy Sanders | 1 episode: Dead Man Walking |
| Ghost Whisperer | Sgt. Matt Murphy | 1 episode: Haunted Hero | |
| 2010 | Madso's War | Mike "Madso" Madden | Unaired pilot |
| 2011 | Nikita | Voss | 1 episode: The Next Seduction |
| 2012 | "Two And A Half Men" | Nigel | 2 episodes |
References [edit]
- ^ "First Blood to Matthew in Rambo blockbuster". http://www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ "Childhood anguish of Corrie star". The People. 1999. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ a b c Gurdip Thandi. "Marsden's ready to roll with Rambo". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b "Hollywood here I come". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b c d e Hyland, Ian (1997-03-30). "New kid on The Street". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Pisa, Nick (1997-04-06). "WHO'S A PRETTY BOY?". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Hyland, Ian (1999-03-28). "The diary: Showbiz gossip". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (editor) (2005). British Hit Singles & Albums (18 ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 324. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
- ^ Actor Matthew Marsden and wife Nadine Marsden at the Las Vegas premiere of "Rambo."
- ^ a b Rollings, Grant (2008-03-22). "From Corrie to Hollywood". The Sun (London). Retrieved 2008-05-31.
- ^ Laws, Roz; "Matthew's spreading word on West Brom" BirminghamMail.net, 19 June 2009 (Retrieved: 28 July 2009)
- ^ Bishop, Rob (1999-06-10). "Top three back Hale to carry Albion flag". Birmingham Post.
- ^ Rosary Stars Praying the Gospel"
- ^ Matthew Marsden's religious background
