Ben Daniels

Ben Daniels
Born	10 June 1964 Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987–present

Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964)^[1] is an English actor. Initially a celebrated stage actor, Daniels was nominated for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards for Best Supporting Actor in the Laurence Olivier Awards for Never the Sinner (1991), 900 Oneonta (1994), Best Actor in the M.E.N. Theatre Awards for Martin Yesterday (1998), and won the Olivier award in 2001 for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons.

In 2008, Daniels made his Broadway début in a revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. In more recent years, Daniels has appeared on popular television series including Cutting It (2002–05), The Virgin Queen (2005), Law & Order: UK (2009–11), The Paradise (2013) and House of Cards (2013–14).

Early life

Daniels was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.^[2] His father was an engineer at Rolls-Royce and later a grocer, while his mother owned a children's clothes shop. He has recalled: "I was quite a shy child, but quite disruptive as well. I was very sneaky and underhanded."^[3]

Education

Daniels was educated at Manor Park School, a state comprehensive school in Nuneaton, near Coventry, in the English Midlands (since closed).^[4] According to Daniels, drama lessons at O-levels gave him a voice, and when he attended sixth form studies at Stratford College between 1980 and 1982, doing A-levels in theatre studies and English literature, he attended Royal Shakespeare Company performances.^[3] A fellow student recalled that Daniels, whom he knew as Dave, "was very serious about his work, and struck me as incredibly intelligent... you got the sense his mind was working; the cogs were ticking over".^[1] Daniels subsequently trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) for three years.^[2][5]

Career

One of Daniels' earliest roles was as Justin Hayward, the lead singer of the Moody Blues, as a teenager in two of the band's music videos, "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986) and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (1988). In 1992, he made an appearance in the infamous plane crash episode "Cascade" of the television show Casualty, playing the co-pilot of the doomed plane. He has taken on parts in many British television dramas, such as Robin in The Lost Language of Cranes (1991), the Biblical character Jonathan in the 1997 Emmy-nominated TV film David, the philandering Finn Bevan in Cutting It (2002–2005), and Nicholas Brocklehurst in the BBC television miniseries The State Within (2006). The latter role was notable for an unexpected same-sex kiss between Daniels' character and another person.^[6] In 2008 he appeared in Lark Rise to Candleford, a BBC production based on three semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside written by Flora Thompson.

Daniel has also played a number of real-life characters, such as German State Secretary Dr. Josef Bühler in Conspiracy, a 2001 dramatisation of the Wannsee Conference at which the Final Solution was endorsed. He also played the English author and journalist Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, in Ian Fleming: Bondmaker (2005), as well as Sir Francis Walsingham in The Virgin Queen (2005) and English writer Saki in Who Killed Mrs De Ropp? (2007).^[7] In addition, he has made guest appearances in a number of British TV drama series, including Soldier Soldier (1992), A Touch of Frost (1992), Outside Edge (1994), and Spooks (2005).

Charlotte Emmerson and Ben Daniels as Thérèse and Laurent in Zola's Thérèse Raquin (2006).

Daniels may be most recognisable to American audiences for appearing in the 1996 gay film Beautiful Thing. Daniels portrayed Tony, boyfriend of Sandra, the protagonist Jamie's mother. In an independent film directed by Lavinia Currier titled Passion in the Desert (1997), Daniels played a French soldier named Augustin Robert.^[8] The film was nominated for a Golden Seashell award. Other feature films that Daniels has starred in are The Bridge (1992), I Want You (1998), Madeline (1998), and Doom (2005). He was offered roles in the 2000 releases The Patriot and Vertical Limit, but turned them down and stated that "the money was good, but it wasn't for me".^[9]

Daniels has said that he loves acting on stage because "it's tough and keeps you on your toes as an actor".^[10] He appeared in All's Well That Ends Well and As You Like It (1999–2000), and played Mercutio in a 1994 TV adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Other theatre credits include Waiting for Godot (1994) and 900 Oneonta (1994), which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards.^[2] He also acted in Martin Yesterday (1998), for which he was nominated as Best Actor in the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards,^[2] Naked (1998), Tales From Hollywood (2001), Three Sisters (2003), Iphigenia at Aulis (2004), The God of Hell (2005), and The Wild Duck (2005–2006). In 2006, Daniels appeared in Thérèse Raquin as Laurent, for which a reviewer labelled his performance "riveting".^[11]

Daniels won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards^[12] and the 25th Laurence Olivier Awards^[13][14] in 2001 for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons. He was first nominated for the latter award earlier in his career, in 1991, for his performance as murderer Richard Loeb in the play Never the Sinner at the Playhouse Theatre.^[13] In 2008, Daniels fulfilled a lifetime ambition^[9][15] when he made his Broadway début, headlining as the Vicomte de Valmont in a revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.^[16] The show opened on 1 May 2008.^[17] Daniels was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his role.^[18] Ben Daniels played Alex Harrington in Richard Harris Outside Edge

Personal life

Daniels is openly gay and lives in south London.^[19] He remarked: "Out? I've never been in."^[3] He lives with actor Ian Gelder.^[3] They began seeing each other during a 1993 production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane.^[20] Daniels was already sure of his sexuality in his teens, although he did not discuss the matter with his parents because they did not have a very close emotional relationship. He was "cautious about mentioning it when I left drama school, because AIDS was terrifying everyone and there was a huge homophobic backlash". He decided to come out at the age of 24, while appearing in an all-star benefit performance of Martin Sherman's Bent.

Daniels said in an interview: "Homophobia is still shockingly prevalent in film and TV. I know I've lost work because of being gay, and it is always an issue. Even on a serious BBC Two drama, there will be some suit in some office going, "Hmmm, isn't he a poof?" I don't consider myself politically gay, but whenever I catch a whiff of that now, I'm on it like a ton of bricks."^[3] In 2007, Daniels was ranked number 79 in the annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian people in Britain published by The Independent on Sunday,^[21] down from number 47 in 2006.^[22]

In his spare time, he is an amateur painter and a practitioner of Ashtanga yoga.^[9]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Wish You Were Here	Policeman
1991	The Lost Language of Cranes	Robin
1992	The Bridge	Rogers
1993	Rwendo	Unknown	Short film
1995	Beautiful Thing	Tony
1998	Passion in the Desert	Augustin Robert
	I Want You	DJ Bob
	Madeline	Leopold
1999	Fanny and Elvis	Andrew
2001	Married / Unmarried	Danny
	Conspiracy	Dr. Josef Bühler
2002	Fogbound	Leo
2005	Doom	Eric "Goat" Fantom
2013	Jack the Giant Slayer	Fumm
2014	Locke	Gareth
2016	The Kaiser's Last Kiss	Colonel Sigurd von Ilsemann

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Wall of Tyranny	Streimer
1989	The Paradise Club	DC Webster	Episodes: "Family Favours" and "Unfrocked in Babylon"
1989–1990	Capital City	Colin
1990	Drop the Dead Donkey	Jack Davenport	Episode: "Old Father Time"
1992	Casualty	First Officer Graham Marda	Episode: "Cascade"
	Soldier Soldier	Capt. Andy Wright	Episode: "The Last Post"
	A Touch of Frost	Roger Massie	Episode: "Conclusions"
1993	The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries	Norman Cubitt	Episode: "Death at the Bar"
1994	Romeo and Juliet	Mercutio
	Outside Edge	Alex Harrington	5 episodes
1996	Truth or Dare	Ben
1997	David	Jonathan
1998	Silent Witness	Owen Johnson	Episode: "Brothers in Arms"
1999	Aristocrats	Lord Kildare
2000	Britannic	Townsend
2002–2005	Cutting It	Finn Bevan[23]
2003	Real Men	DI Matthew Fenton
2004	Agatha Christie's Marple	Alfred Crackenthorpe
2005	Ian Fleming: Bondmaker	Ian Fleming
	Spooks	Oleg Korsakov	Episode: "The Russian"
	The Virgin Queen	Francis Walsingham
2006	The State Within	Nicholas Brocklehurst[24]
2007	Who Killed Mrs De Ropp?	Saki
2008	Lark Rise to Candleford	Rushton	1 episode
	The Passion	Caiaphas
2009–2011	Law & Order: UK	James Steel[25]
2011	Women in Love	Will Brangwen
	Merlin	Tristan	2 episodes
2013–2014	House of Cards	Adam Galloway	7 episodes
2013	The Paradise	Tom Weston	8 episodes
2014	Jamaica Inn	Francis Davey
2015	Casanova	Francois-Joachim de Bernis	TV Pilot
2015	Flesh and Bone	Paul Grayson	8 episodes
2016	The Hollow Crown	Duke of Buckingham	Episodes: "Henry VI, Part Two" & "Richard III"
2016	The Exorcist	Father Marcus Lang	TV Pilot

Theatre

Year(s) of appearance	Performance	Role	Awards and nominations
1991	Never the Sinner by John Logan Playhouse Theatre, London	Richard Loeb	Best Supporting Actor, 15th Laurence Olivier Awards (nominated) (1991)
1993	Entertaining Mr Sloane[12] (1964) by Joe Orton Greenwich Theatre, London	Sloane
1994	Waiting for Godot (1948–1949) by Samuel Beckett Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London	Lucky
	900 Oneonta by David Beaird Old Vic and Ambassadors Theatre, London	Tiger	Best Actor, Evening Standard Awards (nominated) (1994)
1998	Martin Yesterday Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester	Matt	Best Actor, M.E.N. Theatre Awards (nominated) (1998)
	Naked Almeida Theatre and Playhouse Theatre, London	Franco
1999–2000	As You Like It[26] (1599 or 1600) by William Shakespeare Crucible Theatre, Sheffield; and Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London	Orlando
2001	All My Sons[27] (1947) by Arthur Miller Cottesloe and Lyttelton Theatres, Royal National Theatre, London	Chris Keller	Best Supporting Actor, 25th Laurence Olivier Awards (2001)[13][14] Best Supporting Actor, Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards (2001)[12]
	Tales from Hollywood[28] (1984) by Christopher Hampton Donmar Warehouse, London	Ödön von Horváth
2003	Three Sisters[29] (1900) by Anton Chekhov Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London	Lt. Col. Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin
2004	Iphigenia at Aulis[30] (410 BC) by Euripides, translated by Don Taylor (1990) Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London	Agamemnon
2005	The God of Hell[31] (2004?) by Sam Shepard Donmar Warehouse, London	Welch
2005–2006	The Wild Duck[32] (1884) by Henrik Ibsen Donmar Warehouse, London	Gregers Werle
2006	Thérèse Raquin[11][33] (1873) by Émile Zola, adapted by Nicholas Wright Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London	Laurent
2008	Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons)[16][34] (first produced 1985) by Christopher Hampton American Airlines Theatre, New York City	Vicomte de Valmont	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Tony Awards (nominated) (2008).[18]
2011	Luise Miller[20][35] (1782–1784) by Friedrich Schiller Donmar Warehouse	The Chancellor
Unknown	All's Well That Ends Well (1601–1608)[12] by William Shakespeare Leicester	Bertram
	1985:	The Brontës of Haworth[12] by ?Alan Ayckbourn Scarborough, North Yorkshire	James Feather
	Cracks[12] The King's Head Theatre, London	Gideon
	Electra (probably after 413 BC)[12] by Euripides Leicester	Pylades
	Family Circles[12] (1970) by Alan Ayckbourn Scarborough, North Yorkshire	James
	The Hypochondriac[12] Leicester	Cleante
	Pride and Prejudice[12] based on Jane Austen's 1813 book Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester	George Wickham
	The Tutor[12] (1774) by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz Old Vic, London	Bollwerk

Notes

1. Katie Shimmon (17 May 2005), "College days [Ben Daniels]", The Guardian (EducationGuardian)
2. Ben Daniels at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
3. Nick Curtis (17 June 2004), "Cutting it on stage", Evening Standard, retrieved 28 December 2007
4. Marion McMullen (16 January 2010). "Nuneaton actor Ben Daniels in TV crime drama Law & Order". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
5. Ben Daniels – Augustin, Fine Line Features, 2005, archived from the original on 7 November 2007, retrieved 28 December 2007
6. Robert Urban (15 February 2007), Ben Daniels is our kind of gay actor, AfterElton.com, retrieved 28 December 2007
7. "Who killed Mrs De Ropp?", TV & Satellite Week, retrieved 28 December 2007
8. Passion in the Desert at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
9. Interview with Ben Daniels, Television New Zealand (TVNZ), c. 2003, retrieved 28 December 2007
10. Ben Daniels – Caiaphas, The Passion, BBC, 2008, retrieved 11 May 2008
11. Heather Neill (15 November 2006), "Therese Raquin [review]", The Stage
12. Ben Daniels, Markham & Froggatt, archived from the original on 27 May 2009, retrieved 28 December 2007
13. Awards database: Ben Daniels, The Envelope: The Awards Insider, Los Angeles Times, retrieved 28 December 2007
14. "Olivier award winners in full", BBC News, 23 February 2001
15. Ben Daniels, Television New Zealand (TVNZ), retrieved 28 December 2007
16. Laura Linney, Ben Daniels to headline Broadway revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Broadway.com, 27 November 2007, retrieved 28 December 2007; Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Ben Daniels to star alongside Laura Linney in Roundabout's revival of Christopher Hampton's dark comedy, New York Theatre Guide, 27 November 2007, retrieved 28 December 2007; Stars line up for 'Dangereuses' revival, United Press International (UPI), 17 December 2007, retrieved 28 December 2007
17. Roundabout Theatre Company: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Entertainment, Cabaret, Broadway, Opera, Ballet & Concerts NYC, 27 November 2007, archived from the original on 24 February 2008, retrieved 29 December 2007
18. Meet the nominees: Who's nominated?, The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, May 2008, retrieved 13 May 2008
19. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199842/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
20. Mark Shenton (14 July 2011), Ben Daniels: An out and out success, The Stage, retrieved 26 July 2011.
21. "The Pink List 2007: The IoS annual celebration of the great and the gay", The Independent on Sunday, 6 May 2007
22. Marc Shoffman (3 July 2006), "Ian McKellen ranked most influential gay man", Pink News, retrieved 28 December 2007
23. Cutting It is back on BBC ONE: Ben Daniels is Finn Bevan [interview], BBC Press Office, 16 April 2004, retrieved 29 December 2007
24. The State Within: Ben Daniels plays Nicholas Brocklehurst [interview], BBC Press Office, 23 October 2006, retrieved 29 December 2007
25. Law & Order gets UK makeover, BBC News, 23 February 2009; Ian Wylie (6 March 2009), "Law & Order UK: Ben Daniels", Manchester Evening News
26. Charles Spencer (31 August 2002), "Top five theatrical sex scenes", The Daily Telegraph; Lyn Gardner (4 March 2000), "Ravishing Rosalind: As You Like It, Lyric, Hammersmith", The Guardian
27. Dominic Cavendish (9 August 2001), "Family at war thrives on a bigger stage", The Daily Telegraph; Michael Billington (9 August 2001), "All My Sons, National Theatre, London", The Guardian
28. Tales from Hollywood [archive page], Albemarle of London, 2001, retrieved 28 December 2007; Lizzie Loveridge (2001), Tales From Hollywood, CurtainUp: The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings, retrieved 28 December 2007; Charles Spencer (3 May 2001), "Exodus to the Hollywood hills", The Daily Telegraph; Michael Billington (3 May 2001), "Christopher Hampton's Hollywood horrors, Donmar Warehouse, London", The Guardian
29. Philip Fisher (2003), Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, in the new version by Nicholas Wright, RNT Lyttelton, The British Theatre Guide, retrieved 28 December 2007; Summer at the National: THREE SISTERS – Lyttelton Theatre, The British Theatre Guide, 1 June 2003, retrieved 28 December 2007; Charles Spencer (14 August 2003), "Magnificent, moving masterpiece", The Daily Telegraph; Liz Hoggard (17 August 2003), "Twisted sisters: A dead-end job in the post office? That's no way to treat a lady...", The Guardian
30. NT: Archive: Iphigenia at Aulis [excerpts from reviews], National Theatre, 23–27 June 2004, retrieved 28 December 2007; Michael Billington (23 June 2004), "Iphigenia at Aulis, National Theatre, London", The Guardian; Gerald Berkowitz (24 June 2004), "Iphigenia at Aulis", The Stage, retrieved 28 December 2007; Charles Spencer (24 June 2004), "At war with Euripides", The Daily Telegraph
31. Charlotte Loveridge (2005), God of Hell [review], CurtainUp.com: The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings, retrieved 28 December 2007; Michael Billington (27 October 2005), "The God of Hell, Donmar, London", The Guardian; Charles Spencer (27 October 2005), "Hell is right-on, Left-wing claptrap", The Daily Telegraph
32. Casting update for The Wild Duck at The Donmar, London Theatre Guide, 19 October 2005, retrieved 28 December 2007; Charles Spencer (13 December 2005), "A masterpiece of truth", The Daily Telegraph; Michael Billington (14 December 2005), "The Wild Duck, Donmar Warehouse, London", The Guardian; Ben Brantley (2 January 2006), "On London's stages, wrestling with belief and its discontents", The New York Times, retrieved 28 December 2007
33. "CB" (21 August 2006), National makes Waves with two new productions, Official London Theatre Guide, archived from the original on 24 August 2006, retrieved 28 December 2007; Philip Fisher (2006), Thérèse Raquin by Emile Zola, adapted by Nicholas Wright, RNT Lyttelton, The British Theatre Guide, retrieved 28 December 2007; The First Night Feature: Thérèse Raquin, Official London Theatre Guide, 14 November 2006, archived from the original on 18 November 2006, retrieved 28 December 2007; Nicholas De Jongh (14 November 2006), "Love sealed with a kill", Evening Standard; Charles Spencer (15 November 2006), "Dim shadows of Zola's hellish vision", The Daily Telegraph; Michael Billington (15 November 2006), "Thérèse Raquin, Lyttelton, London", The Guardian; Ruth Scurr (22 November 2006), "Émile Zola's pool of filth", The Times Literary Supplement (London)
34. Kimberley Kaye (24 April 2008), Ben Daniels, Broadway.com, retrieved 13 May 2008; Elysa Gardner (1 May 2008), "'Liaisons' revival is dangerously good, seductive", USA Today; Clive Barnes (2 May 2008), "Hooking up with 'Liaisons' a safe bet", New York Post; Ben Brantley (2 May 2005), "What lurks beneath the ruffles", The New York Times; Linda Winer (2 May 2008), "Sexual humiliation is the best revenge", Newsday, archived from the original on 5 May 2008
35. Ben Brantley (18 July 2011), "London Theater Journal: Amoral clarity", The New York Times, retrieved 26 July 2011.

External links

• Ben Daniels at the Internet Movie Database
• Ben Daniels at bbc.co.uk Drama
• Ben Daniels at the Royal National Theatre
• "Ben Daniels on IRC, the logfile..." – transcript of an online chat with Ben Daniels from the Official Dutch Beautiful Thing Fanclub