Ben Barnes (actor)
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| Ben Barnes | |
|---|---|
 Barnes at the UK premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian |
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| Born | Benjamin Barnes August 20, 1981 London, England |
| Other name(s) | Ben Barnes |
| Occupation | actor |
| Years active | 2006 - present |
Benjamin "Ben" Barnes[1] (born August 20, 1981) is an English actor. He has appeared in the television series Doctors and Split Decision, and in the films Stardust, Bigga Than Ben, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
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[edit] Early life
Barnes was born in London, England to Tricia, a psychotherapist, and Thomas Barnes, a professor of psychiatry.[2][3] He has a younger brother, Jack, and is an alumnus of Kings College School, Wimbledon, where he was a contemporary of film actor Khalid Abdalla and comedian Tom Basden. He studied Drama and English literature at Kingston University.
[edit] Career
Barnes began his acting career in theatre in 2004.[citation needed]
It was revealed in the June/July 2008 issue of CosmoGIRL! magazine that he was a singer in the boyband Hyrise, who were in the running to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Barnes began working in television in 2006. He made his film debut in the 2007 film Stardust, portraying Young Dunstan Thorn. He later starred in Suzie Halewood's Bigga Than Ben, which will be released in August 2008.
In February 2007, it was announced Barnes would play the role of Caspian in the film adaption of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, directed by Andrew Adamson.[4] Adamson said "Caspian is a coming of age and, to some degree, a loss of innocence story, with Caspian starting out quite naïve, then craving revenge and finally letting go of the vengeance."[5] While many readers interpret Caspian as a child, a passage in the novel mentions his age to be near that of Peter's, so an older actor was sought to match William Moseley. Barnes had read the novel as a child, and was cast in two-and-a-half weeks after meeting with the filmmakers. He spent two months in New Zealand horse riding and stunt training to prepare for shooting.[6] Barnes modelled his Spanish accent on Mandy Patinkin's performance as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride.[7] Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, and said Barnes fitted well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors playing the Pevensies.[8] When cast, Barnes was appearing in the National Theatre's West End production of The History Boys: producer Mark Johnson joked Barnes "probably isn't the National [Theatre]'s favorite actor right now", although Barnes has stated in interviews that he gave the theatre good notice.
Barnes worked his way around the world in June to promote Prince Caspian. He is also set to reprise his role (this time as King Caspian) in the third film in the Narnia series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Filming is expected to begin in January 2009[9] with locations in Rosarito, Mexico, Prague & Australia, with a release date still listed of May 7, 2010.
In Spring 2008 he finished filming the role of John Whittaker for Noël Coward's romantic comedy, Easy Virtue opposite Jessica Biel. Written and directed by Australian Stephan Elliott the film is due to premier at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8th, 2008.[10]. It's also scheduled for the Rio Film Festival and London Film Festival prior to its November 7th release world wide.
As of October 2008, Barnes has just finished filming the title role in the latest version of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray for Ealing Studios directed by Oliver Parker.[11]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Doctors | Craig Unwin | TV series |
| 2006 | Split Decision | Chris Wilbur | TV series |
| 2007 | Stardust | Young Dunstan | |
| 2008 | Bigga Than Ben | Cobakka | |
| 2008 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | Prince Caspian | |
| 2008 | Easy Virtue | John Whittaker | Completed |
| 2009 | Dorian Gray | Dorian Gray | Post Production |
| 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader | King Caspian | Pre-Production |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ TeenHollywood.com - Ben Barnes: Chatting with "Caspian"
- ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/article1359917.ece
- ^ Stated on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, May 13, 2008
- ^ "In brief: Barnes skips History for Caspian", The Guardian (2007-02-06). Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ Tom Johnson (2008-04-11). "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Character Guide", Moviefone. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ Edward Douglas (2007-10-19). "Ben Barnes is Prince Caspian", Comingsoon.net. Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
- ^ Dan Jolin (April 2008). "Ben Barnes is Prince Caspian", Empire, pp. 96.
- ^ "Orchestrating Magic in Narnia All Over Again". Disney Insider. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
- ^ "UPCOMING FEATURE FILMS -- CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, THE", My Entertainment World (July 9 2008).
- ^ Cameron Bailey. "A film that is as clever and hilarious as it is well crafted".
- ^ Stuart Kemp (May 18 2008). "Ben Barnes to shine as Dorian Gray", The Hollywood Reporter.
[edit] External links
- Ben Barnes at the Internet Movie Database
- Ben Barnes Photo Shoot and Interview at factory-publishing.com
- Ben Barnes Article on Kiwibox.com
