Born in Salford, Lancashire. He often returns there to fight for local issues and is a patron of the arts for the area. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the 1991 film Let Him Have It. However, it was a regular role in the TV series Cracker (1993-94) culminating in his character's dramatic death in the second series, that ma ...
show all Born in Salford, Lancashire. He often returns there to fight for local issues and is a patron of the arts for the area. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the 1991 film Let Him Have It. However, it was a regular role in the TV series Cracker (1993-94) culminating in his character's dramatic death in the second series, that made him a recognisable figure in the UK.
He appeared in the low-budget film Shallow Grave in 1994 and in the same year won the part of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC drama serial Our Friends in the North. It was the transmission of this production on BBC Two in 1996 that perhaps really made him into a household name in the UK.
His film career has including parts in Elizabeth (1998), eXistenZ (1999), Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), The Others (2001), 24 Hour Party People (2002) and the horror movie 28 Days Later (2002). He has starred as a leading man alongside a number of Hollywood actresses e.g. Rene Zellweger in A Price Above Rubies and Cate Blanchette(1998),Cameron Diaz in The Invisible Circus and Nicole Kidman in The Others(2001).
Despite his successful film career, he has continued to appear in the most challenging and thought-provoking British television dramas of recent years. These have included Clocking Off (2000) and Flesh and Blood (2002) for the BBC and Hillsborough (1996), a modern version of Othello (2002, playing 'Ben Jago', the Iago character) and the religious epic The Second Coming (2003, playing Steve Baxter, the son of God.
Chris' stage career, while not as extensive as his film and television career, has nevertheless shown what a formidable actor he is. He's given intense focused performances in such plays as 'Hamlet', 'Electricity' and 'Miss Julie', which attracted excellent reviews.
A very highly-regarded actor, he has twice been nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards, the UK's premier TV awards ceremony. His first nomination came in 1997 for Our Friends in the North, and he was nominated again in 2004 for The Second Coming. He did, however, triumph in the Best Actor categories at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards, winning for Our Friends in the North. He won the RTS Best Actor award for a second time in 2003, this time for his performance in Flesh and Blood. In 2005 he received the Most Popular Actor award in the National Television Awards for Doctor Who.
He is due to return to the West End in February 2006.
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