Ed Speleers

Ed Speleers

Ed Speleers at 2006 San Diego Comic-Con promoting Eragon
Born Edward John Speleers
(1988-04-07) 7 April 1988
Chichester, Sussex, England
Nationality English
Occupation Actor, producer
Years active 2006–present
Notable work Eragon, 'Downton Abbey
Spouse(s) Asia Macey
Children 1

Edward John "Ed" Speleers (born 7 April 1988)[1] is an English actor and producer. He is best known for playing the title role in the 2006 film Eragon, as well as starring in Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning TV series Downton Abbey.

Early life

Speleers was born at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex. His parents divorced when he was three.[2] His mother, Gill, lives in Spain;[3] his father, John, is a financial consultant and lives in London.[3] He has two older half brothers.[2] In 2006, he left Eastbourne College to portray Eragon.[3]

Career

Acting

Prior to Eragon, Speleers appeared in school productions, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream when he was 10,[4] Peter Pan, A Streetcar Named Desire, Richard III and Hamlet. While at Eastbourne College, Speleers wrote a play, Retribution, with his friend Rob Curran, which investigated the subjects of child abuse and paedophilia.[5] Speleers also acted in a short film by Charlie Bleakley, called Metropolis.

He then landed the lead role of the 20th Century Fox screen version of Eragon in 2006.[6] In 2008, he appeared in the British prime time series Echo Beach as Jimmy Penwarden.

In mid 2010, Speleers was cast as one of the lead roles in British thriller film A Lonely Place to Die directed by Julian Gilbey, a feature film, starring Melissa George, Sean Harris and Eamonn Walker, released in September 2011 in Britain.[7]

In 2012, Speleers was part of the comedy horror film Love Bite, in the lead role of Jamie, with Jessica Szohr and Timothy Spall. He was also cast in the film A Dead Man in Deptford, based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess,[8] and in the Golden Globe award winning series Downton Abbey, where he played the regular role of Jimmy Kent.[9][10]

He got a lead big-screen role as Sam in thriller film Plastic, written and directed by Julian Gilbey for Gateway Films. Production was shot in Britain, Miami and Brunei from January 2013.[11]

On 12 March 2014 it was reported that Speleers was among five actors being considered for a lead role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[12]

Personal life

Speleers is married to Asia Macey and has one child with her, born in January 2015.[13][14]

Filmography

Cine
Year Title Role Director
2006 Eragon Eragon Stefen Fangmeier
Deathless (short) John Ray Aimee Powell
2011 A Lonely Place to Die Ed Julian Gilbey
The Ride (short) Student Marion Pilowsky
2012 Love Bite Jamie Andy De Emmony
Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 (short) Acteon Luke White
2013 Turncoat (short) Nathan Reece Will Gilbey
2014 Plastic Sam Julian Gilbey
2015 Howl Joe Paul Hyett[10]
Remainder Unknown Omer Fast[10]
2016 Alice Through the Looking Glass James Harcourt James Bobin[10]
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Moving Wallpaper Ed Speleers (Desacreditado) TV series
Moving Wallpaper: The Mole Ed Speleers (Desacreditado) TV Short
Echo Beach Jimmy Penwarden TV series
2009 Shirasu Jiro Robin Cecil Byng TV series
2010 Witchville Jason Grint TV film
2012
2014
Downton Abbey Jimmy Kent TV series
(15 episodes)
2015 Wolf Hall Edward Seymour[10] TV miniseries
Agatha Christie's: Partners in Crime Carl Denham TV series
(3 episodes of N or M)
2016 Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands Slean TV series

References

  1. "Ed Speleers profile". Official Facebook Page.
  2. 1 2 Hiltbrand, David (15 December 2006). "'Eragon' star Edward Speleers is on quite the ride". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ed Speleers biography". Tribute.ca.
  4. Freeman, Suzanne (6 December 2006). "Edward Speleers". Scholastic News. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  5. Jones, Aled (1 July 2011). "FrightFest Week – A Lonely Place To Die: Ed Speleers Interview". Filmwerk. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  6. "Eragon". Scholastic News Online. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  7. "First look at UK quad for FrightFest flick 'A Lonely Place to Die'". Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  8. Franklin, Garth (13 September 2010). "Sam Riley is Marlowe in 'Dead Man'". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  9. Sperling, Daniel (22 March 2012). "'Downton Abbey' recruits 'Eragon' actor Ed Speleers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 MacNaghten, Holly (25 September 2014). "An Interview with Ed Speleers". The Gentleman's Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  11. Rosser, Michael (6 December 2012). "Speleers, Poulter and Allen to star in Plastic". Screen Daily. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  12. Kroll, Justin (12 March 2014). "‘Star Wars Episode VII’: Actors Battle for Lead Role". Variety. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  13. "Ed Speleers to be a dad". Express. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  14. Griffiths, Charlotte (16 November 2014). "Downton Ed falls for Asia". Daily Mail. Retrieved 18 February 2016.

External links

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