Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester |
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Adrian Lester (born August 14, 1968) is a British actor.
Biography
Personal life
Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company.[1][2][3][4] He began performing in youth choirs at the age of ten.[5] He began acting with the Birmingham Youth Theatre, attended Joseph Chamberlain VI Form College and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Lester is married to actress Lolita Chakrabarti. They live in South East London with their two daughters, Lila and Jasmine.
Career
Lester is known in the United Kingdom as the character of a big-time con artist Michael "Mickey Bricks" Stone in the first three series BBC TV series Hustle between 2004 and 2006. The character was written out of the fourth series and replaced by Ashley Walters, although he may yet return in the as-yet-unconfirmed fifth series. In the United States he plays a campaign manager Henry Burton in Mike Nichols' 1998 film Primary Colors, based on the novel by Anonymous (Joe Klein). His character is believed to represent George Stephanopoulos. This part earned him a Chicago Film Critics Association award nomination for "Most Promising Actor".
Lester appeared in Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost, an adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, set in the 1930s. The film itself was poorly received, but Lester received a British Independent Film Awards nomination for his performance.
He has appeared on stage in the musical Company, in the title role of Hamlet and as Rosalind in Cheek by Jowl's 1991 production of As You Like It. Also, in The Day After Tomorrow, Lester has a minor role as Simon, one of the three researchers who drink a toast of "Twelve-year-old Scotch" shortly before freezing to death. Lester also appeared as Ellis in the hit sitcom Girlfriends from 2002 to 2003. He played a movie star who dated Tracee Ellis Ross' character, Joan.
In late 2005, Lester had a major guest starring role in Channel 4's hard hitting police drama, The Ghost Squad. Lester also filmed scenes for 2007's Spider-Man 3, as a research scientist who is sought after by the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) to find a cure for his ailing daughter. He was seen in one teaser trailer for the movie; however, his scenes were cut from the final theatrical version.
Filmography
- Doomsday (2008)
- Being Human (2008)
- Case 39 (2007)
- Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
- Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)
- As You Like It (2006)
- Hustle (2004–2006), as Mickey
- The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
- The Final Curtain (2002)
- The Tragedy of Hamlet (2002)
- Dust (2001)
- Born Romantic (2000)
- Maybe Baby (2000)
- Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
- Best (2000)
- Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
- Storm Damage (1999)
- Primary Colors (1998)
- Les Soeurs Soleil (1997)
- [Up On the Roof (1997)
- Company (1996)
- The Affair (1995)
- Touch and Die (1991)
References
- ^ "Touch of Color takes Brum star Adrian to Hollywood". Sunday Mercury. 1998-10-11. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ MacDonald, Marianne (2006-02-03). "The player; Not only is Adrian Lester the National Theatre's Henry V, he's also the chief con man in Hustle. It's a sparkling career forged on a penniless childhood with an absent father and a struggling mother. Marianne Macdonald meets a man driven to succeed". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Leitch, Luke (2002-08-16). "NATIONAL'S NEW CHIEF CATS BLACK ACTOR AS HENRY V." The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_8_34/ai_111203600
- ^ Adrian Lester Biography - Yahoo! Movies