David Morrissey

DAVID MORRISSEY

Date of Birth: June 21, 1964

Born and raised in Liverpool, David Morrissey started acting at Everyman's Youth Theatre. At the age of 19, he played a starring role in the Channel 4 TV series One Summer. While studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he took a break from television work, but since graduation, has performed many roles on stage, including in productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Returning to television work, he appeared in the TV movie Cause célebre (1987) and made his motion picture debut in Drowning by Numbers (1988), starring Joan Plowright.

In 1997, he received a Royal Television Society Best Actor nomination for his work in the mini-series Holding On and went on to win an RTS award for his role in Stephen Frear’s controversial drama The Deal (2003).

Morrissey earned a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor for his work in the BBC drama State of Play (2003). He starred in the Channel 4 miniseries Cape Wrath, which aired in the U.S. on Showtime under the title Meadowlands.

Behind the camera, he was BAFTA-nominated for Best New Director for the 2001 telefilm Sweet Revenge, and later directed the BBC drama Passer By (2004).

Already well-known to British viewers, Morrissey began to capture the attention of North American audiences with roles in movies such as Derailed (2005) starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston; Basic Instinct 2 (2006) co-starring Sharon Stone and The Reaping (2007), co-starring Hilary Swank.

He next stars opposite Emily Watson in the fantasy adventure The WaterHorse (2007) and the historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl (2007) with Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana.

He and his wife, writer/actress Esther Freud, have two children.

Filmography:

Is Anybody There? (2009)
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) The Water Horse (2007)
The Reaping (2007)
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Derailed (2005)
Stoned (2005)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
Born Romantic (2000)
Some Voices (2000)
The Suicide Club (2000)
Fanny and Elvis (1999)
Hilary and Jackie (1999)
The Commissioner (1998)
Being Human (1993)
Waterland (1992)
Drowning by Numbers (1988)