Rhys Ifans

Rhys Ifans
Ifans in 2011
Born	Rhys Owain Evans 22 July 1967[1][2] Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Partner(s)	Sienna Miller Anna Friel (2011–present)[3]
Relatives	Llŷr Ifans (brother)

Rhys Ifans (Welsh pronunciation: [r̥ɨːs ˈivans]; born Rhys Owain Evans;^[4] 22 July 1967)^[4][5][6] is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill, Jed Parry in Enduring Love and Eyeball Paul in Kevin & Perry Go Large. He is also known as a member of the rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, and as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man. He played Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, in Anonymous. Ifans also has a recurring role as Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary. Ifans gained fame in the United States for playing Nigel Gruff, a footballer-turned-American football player with a gambling addiction, in the 2000 film The Replacements.

Early life

Ifans was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1967, the son of Beti-Wyn (née Davies), a nursery school teacher, and Eirwyn Evans, a primary school teacher.^[7][8] His first language is Welsh.^[9] Ifans grew up in Ruthin, North Wales,^[10] and received his primary education at Ysgol Pentrecelyn, before attending Ysgol Maes Garmon, a Welsh language secondary school in Mold, Flintshire, where he sat his O levels and A levels. He also attended youth acting schools at Theatr Clwyd, Mold and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Career

In 1990, Ifans presented Stwnsh (Welsh for "Mash"), an anarchic children's quiz programme. A total of 31 fifteen-minute programmes were broadcast on Welsh-language TV channel S4C.^[11]

Ifans appeared in many Welsh-language television programmes before embarking on his film career, as well as performing at the Royal National Theatre, London and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

He was briefly lead vocalist of the rock band Super Furry Animals before they released any records.^[12]

After his role as Jeremy Lewis in the Swansea-based movie Twin Town (1997), he gained international exposure in his role as the slovenly housemate Spike in the British film Notting Hill (1999). According to the DVD's commentary, Ifans did not wash or brush his teeth, in preparation for the role. He played Adrian, the pompous eldest brother in Little Nicky (2000).

His film roles include: Eyeball Paul in Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000), Nigel in The Replacements (2000), Iki in The 51st State (2001), William Dobbin in Vanity Fair (2004), and Vladis Grutas in Hannibal Rising (2007). He played Jed Parry in the film version of Ian McEwan's Enduring Love and the lead role in Danny Deckchair (2003) as Danny Morgan.

He also narrated the children's animated series Sali Mali for S4C in 2000.

In 2002 he gained some controversy in the British media for his alleged support of Welsh nationalist group Meibion Glyndŵr, a militant group who burnt more than a hundred empty, second homes in the Welsh heartlands in the 1980s. This was mainly because of comments he made in an interview conducted by Mariella Frostrup for The Observer newspaper.^[9]

In 2005, Ifans won a BAFTA for his portrayal of comedian Peter Cook in the TV film Not Only But Always. Later that year he made a guest appearance for the rock band Oasis in the video for their single "The Importance of Being Idle" for which he accepted their award for Video of the Year at the 2006 NME Awards. He has also made appearances in the music videos for "God! Show Me Magic", and "Hometown unicorn" by Super Furry Animals, "Mulder & Scully" by Catatonia, and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Tom Jones and Stereophonics.

In December 2006, he returned to the London stage in Michael Grandage's production Don Juan in Soho at the Donmar Warehouse (run ended 10 February 2007). He had appeared previously at the Donmar in 2003's Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Earlier stage work includes Hamlet at Theatre Clwyd, A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Regent's Park Theatre and Under Milk Wood and Volpone at the Royal National Theatre.

On 16 July 2007, he received an Honorary Fellowship of Bangor University, for services to the film industry.^[13]

Since 2007, Ifans has sung with the psychedelic rock band The Peth (peth is Welsh for "thing"), featuring Super Furry Animals' Dafydd Ieuan, which played a number of concert dates in south Wales and in London in the autumn of 2008. The band played its first date outside London or Wales on 28 September 2008 at the Southampton Soul Cellar.

In 2008, he appeared in Six Days One June, one of three episodes of the TV series The Last Word Monologues, written by Hugo Blick, and broadcast on BBC Two. He played a lonely Welsh farmer trying to free himself from a dominating mother.

Ifans revealed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, on 27 March 2009, that he was to appear in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. He played Xenophillius Lovegood, editor of the wizarding magazine "The Quibbler" and father of the eccentric Luna Lovegood. In the same interview, he also announced that he would play the title role in the film Mr. Nice, based on the life of Howard Marks who was released from prison for helping illiterate criminals to read and write, so they could get an education behind bars. He played Nemo Nobody's father in Mr. Nobody, starring Jared Leto and Diane Kruger. He played a villain in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, which also starred Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

On 11 October 2010, Associated Press confirmed that Ifans would portray the villain in the Spider-Man reboot movie, The Amazing Spider-Man. The villain was revealed as the Lizard a few days later, and the film was released in July 2012.^[14]

In 2015, he starred with Jennifer Aniston in She's Funny That Way, directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

In September 2012 Ifans became patron of the Welsh language Wikipedia: (Wicipedia Cymraeg), together with The Most Reverend Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales.

Personal life

Ifans's brother, Llŷr Ifans, is also an actor. They starred together in the Welsh produced film Twin Town. Rhys was romantically linked to actress Sienna Miller,^[15] and has a swallow tattoo on his right wrist to match hers.^[16] In June 2008 it was reported that Miller had ended the relationship with Ifans just a few months after they had become engaged.^[17]

Since 2011, he has been in a relationship with English actress Anna Friel.

During 2011 Comic Con, Ifans was arrested for misdemeanour battery, by San Diego police, after allegedly pushing a guard prior to speaking on a guest panel.^[18] In August 2011, the local District Attorney's office announced that Ifans would not be charged due to lack of evidence.^[19]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Streetlife	Kevin
1996	August	Griffiths
1997	Twin Town	Jeremy Lewis
1997	Trial & Retribution	Michael Dunn
1998	Dancing at Lughnasa	Gerry Evans
1999	Heart	Alex Madden
1999	You're Dead	Eddie
1999	Notting Hill	Spike
1999	Janice Beard	Sean
2000	Rancid Aluminium	Pete Thompson
2000	Love, Honour and Obey	Matthew
2000	Kevin And Perry Go Large	Eyeball Paul
2000	Sali Mali	Narrator
2000	The Replacements	Nigel Gruff
2000	Little Nicky	Adrian
2001	Hotel	Trent Stoken
2001	Christmas Carol: The Movie	Bob Cratchit	Voice
2001	The Shipping News	Beaufield Nutbeem
2001	Human Nature	Puff
2001	The 51st State	Iki
2002	Once Upon a Time in the Midlands	Dek
2003	Danny Deckchair	Danny Morgan
2004	Vanity Fair	William Dobbin
2004	Enduring Love	Jed
2005	Midsummer Dream	Lysander	Voice: English version
2005	Chromophobia	Colin
2005	"The Importance of Being Idle"	Lazy Man	Music video
2006	Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties	McBunny	Voice
2007	Four Last Songs	Dickie
2007	Hannibal Rising	Grutas
2007	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	Robert Reston
2008	Come Here Today	Alex
2008	A Number	Benard (B2)
2009	The Informers	Roger
2009	The Boat That Rocked	Gavin Kavanagh
2009	Mr. Nobody	Nemo's Father
2010	Mr. Nice	Howard Marks
2010	Greenberg	Ivan Schrank
2010	Passion Play	Sam Adamo
2010	Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang	Uncle Phil
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Xenophilius Lovegood
2010	Exit Through the Gift Shop	Narrator
2011	Anonymous	Edward de Vere
2011	Neverland	James Hook	TV movie
2012	The Corrections	Unknown	Unaired Pilot
2012	The Five-Year Engagement	Winton Childs
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard[14]	Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain
2013	Another Me	Don
2013	Gifted	Chris
2013	Elementary	Mycroft Holmes	7 episodes
2014	Serena	Galloway
2014	Madame Bovary	Monsieur Lheureuse
2015	Dominion[20]	Dylan Thomas	Post-production
2015	She's Funny That Way	Seth Gilbert
2015	Under Milk Wood
2016	Snowden		Filming
2016	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Zanik Hightopp	Filming
2016	Berlin Station	Hector DeJean	Filming

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
1999	Notting Hill	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
1999	Notting Hill	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Nominated
2005	Enduring Love	Empire Award for Best British Actor	Nominated
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain	Nominated

References

1. "Rhys Ifans: Greasy Locks Posed Some Problems". Herald-Journal. 18 June 1999. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
2. "Today in History". The Seattle Times. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
3. Interview: Anna Friel on her love for Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett and partner Rhys Ifans - Celebrity News - Showbiz - London Evening Standard
4. Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.; at ancestry.com
5. Wloszczyna, Susan (3 June 1999). "Undies and all, 'Hill' is heaven for the flatmate from hell". USA Today. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
6. http://www.clickonline.com/movies/uncut-interview--rhys-ifans-(the-amazing-spider-man)/11254/
7. "Rhys Ifans Biography (1968–)". filmreference.com.
8. "Rhys Ifans' parental pride". Boston Globe. 17 March 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
9. "Rhys's pieces". The Observer. 1 September 2002. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
10. "Rhys Ifans". moono.com.
11. "Sdwnsh". antena.co.uk.
12. "Super Furry Animals FAQ". BBC Wales.
13. "Film actor, Rhys Ifans among University's Honorary Fellows!". Bangor University. 17 July 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
14. "Rhys Ifans Will Play the Lizard in 'Spider-Man'". /film. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
15. Louise Ford (9 March 2008). "Sienna Miller to marry lover Rhys Ifans". Sunday Mirror.
16. "people.aol.com".
17. "Sienna Miller Dumps Rhys Ifans". MTV UK. 4 June 2008.
18. "'Spider-Man' Villain Rhys Ifans Cited at Comic-Con". TheWrap. 23 July 2011.
19. "Rhys Ifans in the clear over arrest". 15 August 2011.
20. "Saint John movie shoot attracts 250 actors from region". CBC News New Brunswick (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). CBC News. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.

External links

• Rhys Ifans at the Internet Movie Database
• Rhys Ifans biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline