Jamie Bell Andrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell is an English
actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot , King Kong , Jumper , and
The Adventures of Tintin , as well as starring as Abraham Woodhull in the TV series, Turn
. Early life and education
Bell was born in Billingham, County Durham, England, where he grew up with his mother,
Eileen (née Matfin), and older sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before
Bell was born. Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister
to her ballet lessons. He was a pupil at Northfield School and took performing arts classes at
the local franchise of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. He was a member of the National Youth
Music Theatre. In 1999, he was chosen from a field of over 2,000 boys for the role of
Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his working class widowed father and older
brother by taking up ballet. Career
Bell served as Honorary Jury President of the 2001 Giffoni Film Festival. Since his
film debut in Billy Elliot, he has appeared as the disabled servant Smike in an adaptation
of Nicholas Nickleby, a young soldier in Deathwatch, a teenager on the run in Undertow, a gun toting
pacifist in Dear Wendy, a disaffected Southern California teenager in The Chumscrubber, and
the young Jimmy in the 2005 film version of King Kong. He also appeared in Close and True,
an ITV legal drama shown in 2000, which starred Robson Green, James Bolam and Susan Jameson.
In 2007, he played the title character in Hallam Foe – for which he was nominated
for the best actor award at the British Independent Film Awards – and appeared as himself in
lonelygirl15 spin-off KateModern. In 2005, he starred opposite Evan Rachel Wood
in the Green Day video Wake Me Up When September Ends, directed by Samuel Bayer. He had roles
in two 2008 films: the sci-fi film Jumper and the World War II drama Defiance. In the
latter he plays Asael Bielski, the third of the Bielski Brothers – leaders of a partisan
group that saved some 1,200 lives during the Holocaust. Despite rumours to the contrary,
he did not appear in Thea Sharrock's West End production of Equus.
In 2009, it was announced Bell would play the title role in the motion capture film
The Adventures of Tintin, alongside British double act Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The
film received a U.S. release on 21 December 2011 and a U.K. release on 26 October 2011.
He also starred in the 2011 films The Eagle as Esca and Jane Eyre.
In 2013, he starred alongside James McAvoy in the film version of Irvine Welsh's Filth.
In 2014, he has been offered the role of Ben Grimm/Thing in the 2015 reboot of Fantastic
Four. Personal life
Bell began dating American actress Evan Rachel Wood in 2005 after they co-starred in the
music video for Green Day's song "Wake Me Up When September Ends". After a year together,
the couple broke up in 2006. Five years later, in the summer of 2011, it was reported that
Bell and Wood had rekindled their relationship. The couple married in a small ceremony on
30 October 2012. They have one son, born in July 2013.
Awards 2000—BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best
Young Performer 2000—National Board of Review of Motion
Pictures, Outstanding Young Actor (only the second time this has been awarded; the first
recipient was Christian Bale in 1987, when the award was titled Outstanding Juvenile
Performance) 2000—British Independent Film Award, Best
Newcomer (On-Screen) 2000—Las Vegas Film Critics Society, Sierra
Award for Youth in Film 2000—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading
Role (out of 4 Oscar-winning actors) 2001—Evening Standard British Film Award,
Most Promising Newcomer 2001—Young Artist Award, Best Young Actor
in an International Film 2001—Sony Ericsson Empire Award, Best Debut
2001—London Film Critics Circle, ALFS Award for British Newcomer of the Year
2001—Phoenix Film Critics Society, PFCS Award for Best Youth Performance
2005—Young Artist Award, Best Performance in a Feature Film–Leading Young Actor