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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Bruce Payne
| name = Bruce Payne
| image = PayneKounterfeit.jpg
| image = | caption = Bruce Payne as Frankie in ''[[Kounterfeit]]''
| caption = Bruce Payne as Frankie in ''[[Kounterfeit]]''
| birthname = Bruce Martyn Payne
| birthname = Bruce Martyn Payne
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1958|11|22}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1958|11|22}}

Revision as of 14:43, 3 February 2011

Bruce Payne
Born
Bruce Martyn Payne

(1958-11-22) 22 November 1958 (age 65)
London, England, United Kingdom
OccupationActor/Producer
Years active1982–present
Websitehttp://www.brucepayne.co.uk

Bruce Martyn Payne (born 22 November 1958) is an English actor and producer.[1] Though better known for his villainous roles, Bruce Payne has played characters across the spectrum. His notable villainous roles include Charles Rane in Passenger 57, Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame and Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God. His notable heroic roles include Frankie in Kounterfeit, Dr. Burton in Silence Like Glass and Major Baker in Britannic. His notable comic roles include Yellow in Keen Eddie, Dogger in Solarbabies, and the Devil in Switch. Payne has received many plaudits for his acting. A reviewer in Cosmopolitan once asserted that "saying that Payne is a good actor is like saying Fred Astaire is a good dancer."[2]

Early life

Payne was born in London, England and grew up in New Haw, Surrey. He developed an interest for acting at an early age. In an interview with Impact magazine in 2001, Payne revealed that 'I know that my immediate family tell me that when I was very young I saw a play that my brother was in - probably a Peter Pan pantomime because it involved a crocodile - and I apparently shouted out 'That crocodile is going to eat my brother' and ran up on the stage. I don't remember that myself, but if it really happened, I think it shows that from an early age I loved that suspension of disbelief'.[3] At the age of 14 he was diagnosed with a slight form of Spina Bifida[4] which by age 16 required surgery to rectify. Payne was hospitalised for 6 months following this operation.

Payne continued school studies, despite a contact with a talent scout during that time. After his graduation, he enrolled in the National Youth Theatre for two seasons. Payne has described this experience as "Four hundred kids thrown together to work on 7 plays."[5] In addition, Payne was occupied with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for one season.

He auditioned for several fringe acting companies but was told he was too young and lacked experience. However, in 1979 he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) acting program.[6] Payne graduated from RADA in 1981 with seven major prizes for acting, comedy and physical presence.[6] Payne was part of a 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh and Fiona Shaw. Whilst at RADA, Payne wrote and directed himself in an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth in which he wielded a baseball bat on stage instead of a sword. This was chosen by the Principal of RADA to be performed in front of the Queen in one of her rare visits to the academy.[7] Payne would later appear on stage in both Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Before being accepted at RADA, Payne worked as a carpenter, a salesman and a landscape gardener.

Acting career

File:BillyandTO.jpg
Bruce Payne as The One and Phil Daniels as Billy the Kid in Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire

Payne's first television role was in the Tales Out of School series which also featured Tim Roth and Jim Broadbent. Payne's first major film role came in 1982 with Michael Blakemore's Privates On Parade in which he played the singing and dancing Flight Sergeant Kevin Cartwright, appearing alongside John Cleese, Denis Quilley and David Bamber. The film was an adaptation of the Peter Nichols play of the same title about a fictional military entertainment group, the "Song and Dance Unit, Southeast Asia", assembled to entertain the troops in the Malayan jungle in the years after World War II. Payne's character, Cartwright, is part of the group whose performances include imitations of The Andrews Sisters.[8] One of the units members, Sergeant Major Reg Drummond (played by Michael Elphick), provides the enemy with both ammunition and information which is the catalyst for a 'terrible battle'[9] in which Cartwright is shot causing him to lose the use of his legs. Payne would appear with Quilley again in Cleopatra.

In 1983 he appeared in Michael Mann's horror film The Keep, alongside Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson and Ian McKellen, as a border guard. In the same year Steven Berkoff cast him in his production of West at the Donmar Warehouse. The play also featured Ralph Brown, Rory Edwards, Ken Sharrock and Stella Tanner.[10] Payne played Les, a member of an East End London gang intent on gaining revenge against the rival Hoxton Mob for the slaying of one of their number. Richard Corliss of Time magazine stated that Payne bestowed 'a frighteningly dynamic performance' in the play.[11] Payne also appeared in Limehouse Films' television adaptation of the play.[6] This was followed by a role in the 1984 comedy film Oxford Blues which starred Rob Lowe, Cary Elwes and Michael Gough. Payne also appeared in the third episode of the first series of ITV's long running police drama The Bill as Paul March. Sean Bean also appeared in the first series of the drama.

In 1985 Payne was cast as a snooker manager known as 'The One' (also known as T.O.) in director Alan Clarke's snooker musical Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire. T.O. was the manager of Billy the Kid (played by Phil Daniels) and employer of Egypt (played by Richard Ridings). In the film T.O. comes to owe money to a loan shark known as the Wednesday Man (played by Don Henderson) and is forced to arrange a snooker match between Billy the Kid and the World Champion, the Green Baize Vampire (played by Alun Armstrong), with the condition that the loser never plays professional snooker again. T.O. sang three of the songs in the film ("Poker Song", "I'm the One" and "White Lines Black Cadillac") and also participated in the songs "Kid to Break" and "It's the Fame Game". The story was written by Trevor Preston and the music was composed by George Fenton. A reviewer for the British Film Institute (BFI) stated that Payne gave the 'stand out performance' in the film.[12] In the same year Payne played a threadbare undercover drug detective in Bob Mahoney's Operation Julie, which also starred Colin Blakely and David Swift. He also appeared with Michael Gambon in a biography drama about Oscar Wilde on the BBC and in an episode the American action Drama The Equalizer (alongside fellow British actor Edward Woodward) as an avaricious and immoral music manager named Greg Rivers, who attempts to exploit a young female rock singer (played by Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick).

In 1986 both Payne and Berkoff appeared in Julien Temple's musical Absolute Beginners along with David Bowie, Eddie O'Connell, James Fox, Lionel Blair and Edward Tudor-Pole. Payne played a 'pompous and pathetic racist'[13] named Flikker who participates in the 1958 Notting Hill race riots. One reviewer argued that Payne was "the only actor to walk off Absolute Beginners with his reputation not only intact but enhanced" and that his portrayal of Flikker "was a headbutt of reality in a fantasmagoria of overkill."[14] The film also starred Patsy Kensit who would appear with Payne again in Full Eclipse. In the same year Payne appeared in the Mel Brooks film Solarbabies, along with fellow Brit Alexei Sayle, as filthy bounty hunters named Dogger and Malice with their own saying, 'i stink therefore i am' (a humorous corruption of René Descartes' famous saying). Payne also appeared in the Bernard Rose directed film Smart Money as a villain named Lawrance MacNiece, who frames the main character Leon (played by Spencer Leigh) for a computer fraud.

In 1987 Payne appeared in two episodes of the Thames Television Drama Lost Belongings, which was set in Ulster, as a journalist named Simon Hunt. The drama also starred Stephen Rea, Harry Towb and Lynn Farleigh. He also appeared alongside Neil Pearson in The Bell Run as a racing driver and as Michael Rafiel in a television adaptation of the Miss Marple novel Nemesis. In 1988 Payne played a 'knife-wielding martial-arts murderer'[15] named Echo in the Philip Saville directed film, The Fruit Machine, which also starred Robbie Coltrane and Robert Stephens. In the film Echo brutally murders someone but is seen doing so by Eddie (played by Emile Charles) and Michael (played by Tony Forsyth) who are two gay teenagers on the brink of adulthood. Eddie and Michael spend the rest of the film attempting to evade Echo, who is intent on killing them, and eventually end up at a Dolphinarium in Brighton. The film's screenwriter, Frank Clarke, has stated that 'Echo the murderer signifies HIV/AIDS, and the dolphinarium is the sanctuary from it'.[16]

In the same year Payne also appeared as Eddy in the Steven Berkoff directed play, Greek (a retelling of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex), at the Wyndhams Theatre along with Georgia Brown, Gillian Eaton and Berkoff himself. Berkoff has stated that Payne "gave a vital and dynamic performance and trod on the edge of danger" .[6] Martin Hoyle, writing for The Independent, stated that Payne's 'Eddy is vital, intelligent and physically disciplined in the best Berkoff style'.[17] Charles Osbourne, writing for The Daily Telegraph, stated that Payne brought 'a cheerful zest to the role of Eddy'.[17] Payne directed the same play in 1993 with Adam Ant playing the lead role. Payne also performed in the stage musicals of The Rocky Horror Show, playing Frank 'N' Furter (he would later appear alongside the writer of the play, Richard O'Brien, in the film Dungeons & Dragons) and had the lead male role, the Mathmagician, in Nicholas Hytner's Alice. Alice also featured Sally Ann Triplett (in the title role), Femi Taylor, David Easter, Stanley Fleet and Isabelle Lucas. Mike Priestley, writing for the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, stated that Payne gave 'a nicely controlled performance' in the play. Payne also appeared alongside Tilda Swinton in the Joanna Hogg directed Drama Caprice. Payne's appearances on stage and television raised his profile and whilst he was in Greek he was 'visited backstage by people such as Dustin Hoffman, David Bowie, Jeff Goldblum [and] Sir Ian McKellen'.[3]

In 1989 he starred alongside Denzel Washington, Dorian Healy, Graham McTavish, Craig Fairbrass, Ken Stott and Amanda Redman in the Martin Stellman directed film For Queen and Country as a drug dealer named Colin who offers the main character, Reuben (played by Washington), work after he leaves the army. Payne and other young British actors who were becoming established film actors such as Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Paul McGann were dubbed the 'Brit Pack'.[14] Payne's performances endeared him to Warner Brothers who considered "Bruce Payne as Bruce Wayne" on their "one liner" press marketing PR campaign for the first of Tim Burton's Batman films. Ultimately Michael Keaton acquired the role.[6] Payne has commented that 'Warner were fascinated by the similarity' between his name and that of Bruce Wayne. Payne has said that 'they drew up a very short shortlist and there I was on it. Obviously, I lost out in the end to Michael Keaton'.[18] In the same year Payne appeared as Doctor Burton in the dramatic film Zwei Frauen along with Jami Gertz, Martha Plimpton, George Peppard and Rip Torn. The film concerned two young women who are diagnosed with cancer and form a friendship.

In 1990 Payne appeared in the ITV detective series Yellowthread Street which was set in Hong Kong and was based on the novels by author William Leonard Marshall. The series also starred Robert Taylor (who would later appear in The Matrix), Mark McGann (brother of Paul McGann), Tzi Ma and Ray Lonnen. Bruce Payne played a detective named Nick Eden in the series, a sleuth who often throws 'away the rule book' and 'walks on the wild side'.[19] The Sunday Magazine stated that Payne 'was Britain's answer to Miami Vice heart-throb Don Johnson'.[18] The series cost £8 million and was the most expensive programme ever funded by ITV at the time. Payne also appeared in an episode of the BBC Drama series Bergerac which starred John Nettles.

File:Garou.jpg
Bruce Payne as Adam Garou in Full Eclipse

In 1991 Payne was cast as the Devil in Switch which was the penultimate film directed by Blake Edwards. The film concerns a man named Steve Brooks (played by Perry King) who is a notorious womanizer murdered by three upset women. God gives Steve a chance to redeem himself by finding one woman who loves him for who he really is, otherwise he becomes the property of the Devil. However, the Devil suggests making it more difficult for Steve by forcing him to return as a woman. This idea is embraced by God and Steve is thus sent back to Earth as a woman, Amanda Brooks (played by Ellen Barkin). Barkin was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the film. Payne also played the vampire R. B. Harker in Howling VI: The Freaks. In the film Harker captures and forces a young man named Ian (played by Brendan Hughes) to work for his carnival of travelling freaks. One reviewer stated that "H. B. Harker played by Bruce Payne is the one thing that makes this film watchable. His unrepentantly evil Harker is wonderful, aristocratic, neither over or underplayed."[20] Payne has appeared in numerous horror films since, including Necronomicon in 1993 and Asylum of the Damned in 2003. In the same year he appeared as Kevin Bacon's lothario 'best chum'[21] in the comedy Pyrates which also starred Kyra Sedgwick. John Ferguson, writing for the Radio Times, stated that Payne gave a 'solid' performance in the film.[21] Whilst working on the film, Payne told cinematographer Janusz Kamiński on set that he was talented enough to win an Oscar. This prediction was subsequently vindicated as Kaminski has won two Oscars for his work on Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.

In 1992 Payne was cast in his most famous role, opposite Wesley Snipes, as the violent, silk-smooth terrorist, Charles Rane in Passenger 57. In the film it is revealed that the character Charles Rane (also known as the 'Rane of Terror') had masterminded four terrorist attacks and with the help of his associates including Sabrina Ritchie (played by Elizabeth Hurley) and Forget (played by Michael Horse), he hijacks a plane escorting him from one prison to another. Wesley Snipes' character, John Cutter, attempts to stop him before he kills the passengers. Writing about the film, the reviewer Marcus Trower, of Empire magazine, stated that Payne was "a brilliantly disconcerting madman. With his flowing blond Jesus locks, armour-piercing stare and casual sadism, he makes Hannibal Lecter look like a social worker - and like Sir Anthony Hopkins' serial killer, part of the man's menace is in the apparent contradiction between his articulate, well-spoken English and his off-hand brutality."[22] The Radio Times stated that Payne and Snipes both gave 'charismatic turns' in the film.[23] The New York Times stated that Payne brought a 'tongue-in-cheek humor to the psychopathic fiend'.[24] A reviewer for People Magazine stated that 'Bruce Payne steals the plane—and the movie'.[25]

File:BruceNecro.jpg
Bruce Payne as Edward De Lapoer in HP Lovecraft's Necronomicon

In 1993, Payne turned 'total wolf'[26] playing a werewolf named Adam Garou, opposite Mario Van Peebles and Patsy Kensit, in Full Eclipse, which was directed by Anthony Hickox. In the film a Los Angeles detective named Max Dire (played by Van Peebles) who is mourning the death of his partner, Jim Sheldon (played by Anthony Denison), and who is experiencing marital problems attends a counselling session at the penthouse of detective and crisis counsellor Garou. Dire learns that those attending the counselling sessions regularly have been injecting themselves with a serum which greatly enhances their physical capabilities and conducting raids on criminals. Dire also learns that the serum emanates from Garou himself and that he is a werewolf. Joseph Savitski, who reviewed the film for Beyond Hollywood, stated that 'Bruce Payne is masterful as Detective Garou, a seductive and evil villain with arrogance and confidence to spare. When he’s onscreen, Payne demands the attention of the audience, and you’re hard pressed to resist his performance. Payne is also the perfect adversary, the kind you’re supposed to hate, but who has the charisma to draw you in nonetheless'.[27]

In 1994 Payne appeared as Edward De Lapoer in HP Lovecraft's Necronomicon which also featured fellow British thespian David Warner . Edward is a man who is distraught about the death of his wife in a car accident who realises that he as inherited an abandoned family hotel from his ancestor Jethro De Lapoer (played by Richard Lynch) who committed suicide years before. Edward finds the book, the Necronomicon, which contains a description of a ritual to bring people back from the dead. Edward performs the ritual to resurrect his wife but soon realises that it is a ploy by a gigantic monster with tentacles, one eye and a large mouth which intends to eat him. One reviewer said of his performance that 'Payne is especially effective because of his suppression of his tortured grief, adding considerable power to his scenes'.[28] The film won the award for the best special effects at the 1994 Fantafestival. In 1994, Payne played General Martin Dupre in The Cisco Kid which also starred Jimmy Smits, Sadie Frost and Ron Perlman.

In 1995 he starred alongside Lance Henriksen, John Stockwell and Corbin Bernsen, as Major Gordon Pruett, in Aurora: Operation Intercept. In the film, Pruett is a proficient pilot of the revolutionary high-altitude fighter-bomber Aurora, who is tasked with stopping Francesca Zaborszin (played by Natalya Andreychenko), who believes that the U.S. government murdered her father (played by Curt Lowens), and who has established a base in the deserts of Kazakhstan. From her base she is wielding powerful electromagnetic pulses channelled though orbiting navigation satellites to attack and bring down civilian aircraft. Payne has appeared alongside Lance Henriksen on another two occasions, in No Contest II in 1997 and in the dystopian classic Paranoia 1.0 in 2004.[29]

Payne appeared alongside Corbin Bernsen again in the 1996 film Kounterfeit as Frankie. The film also featured Hilary Swank and Andrew Hawkes and was directed by John Mallory Asher. In the film, Frankie, who is the owner of a strip club, and his best friend, Tommy 'Hopscotch' Hopkins (played by Hawkes), come into possession of counterfeited money which they arrange to exchange for real money. The exchange goes wrong and an undercover cop called Danny (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is killed. Frankie and Hopscotch are forced to hide the money to evade being killed while Danny's sister, Colleen (played by Swank), mistakenly believes that Frankie murdered her brother and seeks revenge. A reviewer for the TV Guide stated that 'Frankie's slablike features and seedy-cool demeanor initially makes him just one outsized thug among many, but Payne gradually warms up the protagonist and balances nicely against Hawkes's scenery-chewing Joe Pesci act'.[30] Payne also appeared in an episode of season six of the American television series Tales from the Crypt alongside Michael Ironside. Ironside and Payne played big game hunters who become hunted themselves by vampires. Ironside had played the villain in Highlander II: The Quickening. Payne would later play the villain in Highlander: Endgame. He was also an executive producer for the action film Lowball which starred Peter Greene.

Payne also played a corrupt FBI Agent named Karl Savak, who has been described as a 'cool wacko cop',[31] in One Tough Bastard which also featured Brian Bosworth and M.C. Hammer and was directed by Kurt Wimmer. In the film Savak is intent on stealing prototype military weapons to sell to crime boss Dexter Kane (played by M.C. Hammer). In the process one of Savak's underlings, Marcus (played by Jeff Kober) kills the wife and daughter of military combat expert John North (played by Brian Bosworth) who becomes intent on revenge. The film is not dissimilar to the 2009 film Law Abiding Citizen for which Wimmer wrote the story and in which the main character, Clyde Shelton (played by Gerrard Butler), attempts to avenge the murder of his wife and daughter.

In 1997 Payne starred in season two of the successful Canadian television series La Femme Nikita. The series was based on the French action film Nikita, which was directed by Luc Besson, and the remake in English, Point of No Return. It concerned a lady named Nikita (played by Peta Wilson) who is falsely accused of killing a police officer and sentenced to life in prison. Whilst in prison she is recruited by a government organisation, known as Section One, which fakes her suicide. She is trained by Michael (Roy Dupuis) to become an assassin. Payne's character, Jurgen, who made three appearances in the second series, was 'a training specialist who becomes Michael's rival'.[32] The character was 'a mysterious man with a very checkered past involving specialised training and Special Ops/Undercover work'.[11] As a consequence of the intimacy between Nikita and Jurgen, and the 'love trialgle'[32] which developed between Nikita, Michael and Jurgen, Payne's character created a long standing controversy amongst fans of the series.[33] In the same year Payne had a lead role in the Horror/Science Fiction film Ravager which also featured Yancy Butler, Juliet Landau and Robin Sachs. Payne's character, Cooper Wayne, was the captain of a spaceship which is forced to land in desolate territory. Whilst there, one of the passengers is infected by military bio-weapons and attempts to kill the others. Wayne struggles to get the ship ready to fly again as passengers and crew are murdered. He also appeared alongside Shannon Tweed and Lance Henriksen in No Contest II as a film director who attempts to stop a villain unleashing a lethal nerve gas bomb which threatens the safety of the world.

File:PayneCleopatra.jpg
Sean Pertwee as Brutus, Bruce Payne as Cassius, Timothy Dalton as Caesar and David Schofield as Casca in Cleopatra

In 1998, Payne played Cecil Hopper in the film Sweepers, a Doctor who teams up with Dolph Lundgren's character, Christian Erickson, to disarm mine fields in a humanitarian minesweeping operation in Angola. The Radio Times stated that Payne gave a 'solid' performance in the film.[34] In 1999, Payne replaced fellow British actor Julian Sands as the Warlock in Warlock III: The End of Innocence. Payne and Sands were often mistaken for one another[35] and had appeared together in both Privates on Parade and Oxford Blues. In the film the Warlock plots to sacrifice a young woman named Kris (played by Ashley Laurence), who is staying at an abandoned house owned by her ancestors, as he intends to exchange her soul with a consort from hell to mother a race of evil. Richard Scheib, writing for The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review Database said that "as the Warlock, Bruce Payne, an actor who has magnificently theatrical charisma and presence is actually better in the part than the perpetually overwrought Julian Sands.".[20] The film critic John Fallon stated that Payne gave 'a charismatic, subdued scary performance' in the film and the he 'couldn’t take' his 'eyes off him' as he was 'all charm'.[36]

In the same year, Payne was part of an all star cast, including Timothy Dalton, Leonor Varela, Billy Zane, Sean Pertwee, Owen Teale, Rupert Graves and David Schofield, in Cleopatra which was based on the Margaret George book The Memoirs of Cleopatra. Payne played Cassius, who conspired with Brutus (Pertwee) and Casca (Schofield) to assassinate Caesar (Dalton). This was followed by another television role, as Doctor Baker, in Britannic, which was directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith. In the film Doctor Baker attempts to foil a plot by a German Spy (played by Edward Atterton) to sink the HMHS Britannic, the sister ship of the RMS Titanic, but is ultimately killed. The film also starred Amanda Ryan, John Rhys Davies, Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Daniels and Alex Ferns. Payne appeared alongside John Rhys Davies again in the 2001 spoof film Never Say Never Mind: The Swedish Bikini Team.

In the year 2000, Payne portrayed the villain Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame. In the film, Kell is described as the most powerful ever immortal with 661 immortal kills compared to 262 for Connor MacLeod (played by Christopher Lambert), and 174 for Duncan MacLeod (played by Adrian Paul). Kell is so powerful that he has assembled a group of immortals loyal to him (including Cracker Bob, played by Ian Paul Cassidy, Carlos Jones, played by Damon Dash, Kate, played by Lisa Barbuscia and Jing Ke, played by Donnie Yen) in contravention of the rules of the game. Kell is intent on killing all of Connor's friends and lovers in an attempt to avenge the death of his adopted father, Father Rainy (played by Donald Douglas). Billy Idol, David Bowie and Jean Claude Van Damme had all been considered for the role but ultimately Payne was cast. One reviewer said of Highlander: Endgame that "the one in the cast that seems to be having the most fun is Bruce Payne. Traditionally Highlander villains give performances that go completely over-the-top and well into the stratosphere. Payne contrarily gives a performance where he enunciates every syllable with relish and dramatic weight, resulting in a performance that is entirely captivating whenever he is on screen."[37] Andrew O'Hehir, who reviewed the film for Salon.com, stated that 'playing Kell as a cockney thug with triple crucifixes embedded in the heels of his Doc Martens, Payne is more fun than either of the stars'.[38] A reviewer for Trash City stated that 'Endgame is pretty good, largely thanks to Bruce Payne's efforts as the bad guy, who is right up there with Clancy Brown's original decapitator', the Kurgan.[39] Marke Andrews, writing for The Vancouver Sun, stated that Payne provided the 'focal point' in the film and that he dived 'into his role with gusto'. Andrews also stated that Payne's 'facial expressions rival Jim Carrey's in The Mask'.[40]

In the same year Payne played Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons, henchman of the malevolent Profion (played by Jeremy Irons) who is attempting to overthrow young Empress Savina (played by Thora Birch). Profion tasks Damodar with locating a rod which will allow him to control Red Dragons and defeat the Empress. However two thieves (Ridley, played by Justin Whalin) and Snails, played by Marlon Wayans), a Dwarf (Elwood Gutworthy, played by Lee Arenberg) and a young Mage (Marina Pretensa, played by Zoe McLellan) acquire the map revealing the location of the rod before Damodar and attempt to foil Profion's plot. Although the film, which was directed by Courtney Solomon, was criticised, Payne's performance was reviewed favourably. One reviewer said that "Bruce Payne (Damodar) as Profion's nefarious assistant in his power hungry schemes was the stand-out performance of all the actors in the film. Payne has a true lock on how to play a character that is menacing even without any show of power. His portrayal of Damodar calls to mind Doug Bradley's portrayal of Pinhead in the Hellraiser films, so coldly, coolly arrogant and confident is his character. Above and beyond the grade I give to this film, Payne has earned himself an A+ in my gradebook."[41] Another reviewer stated that Payne's performance proved that he is 'one of Hollywood's more reliable villains'.[42]

File:IronsPayne.jpg
Jeremy Irons as Profion and Bruce Payne as Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons

In 2001, Payne appeared in the horror film Ripper as a University lecturer, Marshall Kane, whose students are targeted by a serial killer attempting to emulate Jack the Ripper. The film also starred A. J. Cook, Kelly Brook and Jürgen Prochnow, who had also performed with Payne in The Keep. The film reviewer John Fallon stated that "Bruce Payne brings a touch of class to the film. His performances are solid.".[20] The film won a DVD Premiere Award for its special effects. Payne also appeared as Mr Martin Chatsworth Bluestone, also known as the mysterious Mr. Blue, in Never Say Never Mind: The Swedish Bikini Team, a film which was described by The Daily Telegraph as a 'cross between Austin Powers, Charlie's Angels and James Bond.[43] In the film it is revealed that Mr Blue is the founder and CEO of Blue Sky Limited, a think-tank for NATO countries. He is shown to be a logistics expert who coordinates the activities of the Swedish Bikini team, a group of special agents. One reviewer stated that the film was 'enormous fun and full of Bondian touches, a must-see.[44]

In 2002 Payne appeared with his friend Steven Berkoff in Gerard Pires' first English Language film Steal as a corrupt cop, Lieutenant Macgruder, who attempts to pressurise a group of bank robbers led by Slim (played by Stephen Dorff) into sharing the money that they have appropriated with him, but is subsequently caught by his colleague Karen (played by Natasha Henstridge). He also appeared with Richard Harris in the Christian film Apocalypse Revelation as the Roman Emperor Domitian, whom he is regarded as depicting with 'ample dementia'.[45] The film is set in 90 AD and concerns Jesus' last surviving disciple, John of Patmos (played by Harris), and his writings and visions of the Apocalypse. Payne also appeared in the final episode of second season of the BBC drama Spooks as an assassin named Mickey Karharias (the name Karharias was chosen because it is the Greek word for Shark[46]) who is ostensibly hired to kill the main character Tom Quinn (played by Matthew Macfayden). Payne also made guest appearances in the police drama Dragnet as a member of the Russian Mafia and in the second episode of Keen Eddie (a comedy-drama directed by Simon West and starring Mark Valley and Sienna Miller) as an asthmatic criminal named Yellow. The latter saw him appear alongside Alexei Sayle, his co-star from Solarbabies, for the second time. Payne was considered for the role of Albert Wesker in the first Resident Evil film.[47] Ultimately the character did not appear in that film and was subsequently played by Jason O'Mara in Resident Evil: Extinction and Shawn Roberts in Resident Evil: Afterlife.

In 2003 Payne appeared in the horror film Asylum of the Damned, which was directed by Philip J Jones and also starred Matt Stasi, Tracy Scoggins and Bill McKinney. Payne played Doctor McCort who specialises in treating mentally ill patients at an asylum. A new recruit at the asylum, James Bishop (played by Stasi), comes to realise that McCort is sacrificing patients to a harvester of souls and decides to intervene. Payne also appeared in Peter Antico's directorial debut, a short entitled Newton's Law, which also featured Allan Rich and María Conchita Alonso. In 2004 Payne appeared as the Neighbour in the dystopian film Paranoia 1.0, which also featured Jeremy Sisto, Lance Henriksen, Deborah Kara Unger and Udo Kier. The film was nominated in the best film category at the Catalonian International Film Festival and at the Sundance Film Festival. It won the best film award at the Malaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema. John Fallon stated that as the Neighbour, a director of porn films, Payne 'laid on the charisma and the macho-ness thick'.[48] Alexandra Nakelski, who reviewed the film for Fangoria, stated that 'Bruce Payne clad in S&M leather is so sexy it's no surprise all the women he comes in contact with want to be a part of his virtual reality porn game'.[49] Payne also made a guest appearance in the twelfth episode of the sixth season of The WB Television Network supernatural drama Charmed as the leader of a nefarious order which attempts to kidnap Wyatt Halliwell, the son of one of the main characters, Piper Halliwell (played by Holly Marie Combs).

In 2005, Payne returned to the role of Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God. Payne was the only member of the original cast in the sequel which was reviewed more favourably than the original.[50] The film was directed by Gerry Lively and also starred Mark Dymond, Clemency Burton-Hill and Roy Marsden. The events of the film take place approximately 100 years after the first film. Damodar intends to take revenge against the inhabitants of Ismir by waking a Black Dragon. However a group of heroes led by Berek (Dymond) and including Dorian (played by Steven Elder), Lux (played by Ellie Chidzey) and Ormaline (played by Lucy Gaskell) endeavour to stop him. One reviewer stated that Payne's 'performance is still the highlight of this one'.[51] In 2006 Payne helped to launch the National Youth Theatre's 50th anniversary programme along with Sir Ian McKellen, Timothy Spall, Diana Quick, Paula Wilcox, Jonathan Wrather, newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Little Britain’s Matt Lucas and David Walliams.[52]

In 2007 Payne played a forensic pathologist named Doctor Robert Goldring in the psychological thriller Messages. The film was written by Ivan Levine and a consultant pathologist named Wayne Kinsey[53] and also starred Jeff Fahey, Martin Kove, Kim Thomson and Jon-Paul Gates and was directed by David Fairman. In the film Goldring assists another pathologist, Doctor Richard Murray (played by Fahey), and a detective, DCI Collins (played by Kove), in tracking down a serial killer who has been targeting women. Payne worked with Fairman, Kove and Gates again on The Scam (an adaptation of the Georges Bizet opera Carmen) which also stars Hugo Speer and is to be released in 2011. Payne and Gates have also appeared together in the musical Dance Star and the horror film Disturbance which were both produced by Greenway Entertainment and written and directed by Steven M Smith. Payne is set to work with Steven M Smith again on the film Infamous which is currently in development.

In 2008 Payne appeared alongside Serena Scott Thomas, Grace Zabriskie and Brett Cullen in the psychological drama Brothel, which was directed by Amy Waddell. In the film, a young couple buy and old house in Jerome which used to be a brothel. The husband commits suicide and the wife, Julianne (played by Thomas), attempts to come to terms with her loss and modernise the house. In doing so, she finds an old photograph of the brothel's inhabitants, and is then visited by apparitions including the madam, Sadie (played by Zabriskie) and a thief (played by Payne) and fantasy and reality become blurred. The film was shown at the fourteenth Sedona Film Festival. John Reid, who reviewed the film for the Sedona Red Rock News, noted 'the density of atmosphere and the intensity of the actors and crew palpable on the set'.[54] David Kanowsky, who reviewed the film for Kudos, stated that it was 'a very fine ghost story without horror'.[55]

In 2010 Payne appeared in two horror films for After Dark Films: Prowl and Re-Kill. Prowl, which also stars Courtney Hope, Ruta Gedmintas and Saxon Trainor, is a film about a young woman named Amber (played by Courtney Hope) who in an attempt to escape her problems unwittingly becomes the prey of vampires. It was directed by Patrik Syversen and shown out of competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Payne played a 'blatantly untrustworthy truck driver' named Bernard in the film, who promises to give Amber and her friends a lift to Chicago when their vehicle breaks down but who actually takes them to a warehouse inhabited by vampires [56]. Re-Kill, which is also stars Roger Cross, Scott Adkins and Daniella Alonso, is a film about a military unit, known as R-Division, whose task is to dispose of zombies. Payne has also been cast as Aristoi Charon in Secret Stone, the directorial debut of Sean Stone (son of Oliver Stone), which is set to be released in 2011. Payne was one of the attendants at the private screening of Oliver Stone's South of the Border in Los Angeles in June 2010.[57]

Payne notes of his acting approach, "[i]f I'm allowed to in terms of time, I really like to get into the character.".[58] Payne's commitment to his profession his led him to alter his physical appearance in order to augment his performances. For example, he shaved his head for his role in the Dungeons and Dragons films.[6] The director of Highlander: Endgame, Douglas Aarniokoski, has stated that 'Bruce Payne is the consummate professional. Bruce was just a great guy and a truly hard worker'.[59] His co-star in the same film, Ian Paul Cassidy, said that 'working with Bruce Payne was the ultimate pleasure for an actor. He is wonderfully talented and the consummate professional'.

Work

Filmography

Actor

Producer

  • Lowball (1997) (executive producer)

TV appearances

Stage

Actor

Director

  • Greek (1993)
  • Macbeth (1982)

References

  1. ^ IMDB
  2. ^ http://www.brucesangels.com/actor.htm
  3. ^ a b http://www.brucepayne.de/press/articles/impact2001.html
  4. ^ Cosmopolitan UK Magazine Feb 1987
  5. ^ "Truth or Damodar" in Dragon magazine, Jan.1, 2001
  6. ^ a b c d e f http://www.brucepayne.co.uk/bpbio.swf
  7. ^ http://www.agwlbp.com/stage.html
  8. ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7hgQRVaWL-gC&pg=PA186&dq=privates+on+parade+bruce+payne&hl=en&ei=tb_VTLDIOJ2AhAflkv2vBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=privates%20on%20parade%20bruce%20payne&f=false
  9. ^ http://www.allmovie.com/work/39338
  10. ^ http://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-premieres.html
  11. ^ a b http://www.brucepayne.co.uk/biography.html
  12. ^ http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/471094/index.html
  13. ^ http://www.agwlbp.com/faceinterview.html
  14. ^ a b http://www.brucepayne.de/press/articles/facearticle1987.html
  15. ^ http://www.tvgen.com/movies/mopic/pictures/16/16560.htm
  16. ^ Catherine Jones. "Liverpool screenwriter Frank Clarke recalls the creation of his 1988 movie The Fruit Machine".
  17. ^ a b http://www.agwlbp.com/greekjune2002.html
  18. ^ a b http://www.agwlbp.com/sunday.html
  19. ^ http://www.agwlbp.com/yellow.html
  20. ^ a b c http://brucesangels.com/brucereviews1.html
  21. ^ a b http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/com.icl.beeb.rtfilms.client.simpleSearchServlet?frn=13344&searchTypeSelect=5
  22. ^ http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=16898
  23. ^ http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/com.icl.beeb.rtfilms.client.simpleSearchServlet?frn=12690&searchTypeSelect=5
  24. ^ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE0DC1438F935A35752C1A964958260
  25. ^ http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20109253,00.html
  26. ^ http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=13565&offset=25
  27. ^ http://www.beyondhollywood.com/full-eclipse-1993-movie-review/
  28. ^ http://www.sffworld.com/movie/457.html
  29. ^ http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/the-top-50-dystopian-movies-of-all-time/
  30. ^ http://movies.tvguide.com/kounterfeit/review/132356
  31. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113999/
  32. ^ a b http://lfnforever.tripod.com/id117.htm
  33. ^ http://www.brucepayne.co.uk/television.html
  34. ^ http://live.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/com.icl.beeb.rtfilms.client.simpleSearchServlet?frn=33835&searchTypeSelect=5
  35. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0668271/
  36. ^ http://www.joblo.com/arrow/reviews.php?id=691
  37. ^ http://www.moria.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1820Itemid=1
  38. ^ http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/review/2000/09/01/highlander_endgame
  39. ^ http://www.trashcity.org/BLITZ/BLIT0919.HTM
  40. ^ http://www.agwlbp.com/highlander2.html
  41. ^ http://csc.aix.cc/profj/dnd.htm
  42. ^ http://www.tnmc.org/batcave/dandd.html
  43. ^ http://www.agwlbp.com/never2.html
  44. ^ 'http://www.ianfleming.org/007news/articles3/cannes2001b.shtml
  45. ^ http://www.thebibleguy.com/Bible_DVD_Libraries.html
  46. ^ Brenton, Howard. Episode 10 Audio Commentary (Spooks DVD (series 2) Disc 5). Contender Entertainment Group.
  47. ^ http://www.agwlbp.com/bpapril2002.html
  48. ^ http://jo-blo.com/arrow/reviews.php?id=478
  49. ^ http://www.koolbrucepayne.com/houseofpayne.html
  50. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0406728/
  51. ^ http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11959.phtml
  52. ^ http://www.whatsonstage.com/photos/theatre/london/E8821143644917/Photos:+NYT+Celebrates+50+Years+of+Star+Support.html
  53. ^ http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews.php?id=5954
  54. ^ http://www.brothelthemovie.com/Press/article3.htm
  55. ^ http://kudosaz.com/mainInterior.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=25407&SectionID=29&SubSectionID=39&S=1
  56. ^ http://www.fearnet.com/news/reviews/b21608_after_dark_originals_prowl_movie_review.html
  57. ^ https://secure.wireimage.com/ItemListings.aspx?igi=440245&nbc1=1
  58. ^ "Pleasure and Payne" in Impact magazine, April, 2001
  59. ^ http://brucesangels.com/kell.html

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