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James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series ''
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
'', Nick Jenkins in ''
A Dance to the Music of Time
''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power and passivity in Eng ...
'', college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series ''
The Following
''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
The first season follows former FBI agent Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Bacon) ...
'',
Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane is a fictional character created by the pulp magazine, pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. A late-16th-to-early-17th century Puritan, Solomon Kane is a somber-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanqu ...
in the
film of the same name, and Hap Collins in the
Sundance series ''
Hap and Leonard
Hap and Leonard are two fictional amateur investigators and adventurers created by American author Joe R. Lansdale. They are the main characters in a series of twelve novels, four novellas, and three collections of stories and excerpts. They are ...
''. In 2018, he starred as Laurens Bancroft in ''
Altered Carbon
''Altered Carbon'' is a 2002 cyberpunk novel by the English writer Richard K. Morgan. Set in a future in which interstellar travel and relative immortality is facilitated by transferring consciousnesses between bodies ("sleeves"), it follows t ...
'', a
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
original series. Following an uncredited role as
V in the 2006 film ''
V for Vendetta
''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthol ...
'' (replaced and
dubbed over by
Hugo Weaving
Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English actor. Born in Colonial Nigeria to English parents, he has resided in Australia for the entirety of his career. He is the recipient of six Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts ...
), he was cast as
Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy / Captain Blighty in the 2020–2021
second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
and 2022
third season of the ''
Gotham''
prequel television series, ''
Pennyworth'', in a main role.
He was born in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
and attended
Sherborne School
(God and My Right)
, established = 705 by Aldhelm,
re-founded by King Edward VI 1550
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent, boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, chair_label = Chairman of the governors
, ...
before training at the
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
.
Early life
Purefoy was born in
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, the eldest son of Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy and Shirley, ''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Taylor. The Purefoy family were
landed gentry
The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...
, of
Shalstone
Shalstone is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the north of the county, about four miles north west of Buckingham. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and mean ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
; the family name passed in the female line through Anthony Chetwynd Purefoy's mother, Mary Lilias Geraldine, daughter of Admiral Richard Purefoy (who had changed his surname from Fitzgerald as his mother was the heir and niece of the politician
George Purefoy-Jervoise
George Purefoy-Jervoise (10 April 1770 – 1 December 1847) was an English politician.
He was the eldest son of Rev. George Hudleston Jervoise Purefoy Jervoise of Britford, Wiltshire. He was educated at Westminster School in 1781–1786 and Co ...
, head of the family); she married Rev. Brian Mews, vicar of
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...
, who changed his name to Purefoy.
Purefoy
boarded at
Sherborne School
(God and My Right)
, established = 705 by Aldhelm,
re-founded by King Edward VI 1550
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent, boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, chair_label = Chairman of the governors
, ...
, which he left with only one
O-level
The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-dept ...
. He later went to night school and received 11 more O-levels, before taking his A-levels at
Brooklands College
__NOTOC__
Brooklands College is a further education college in Weybridge and Ashford, England.
In August 2007 Brooklands merged with Spelthorne College in Ashford. The Weybridge campus is in the grounds of Hugh F. Locke King's historic mansio ...
in
Weybridge
Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...
. He worked as a porter at
Yeovil District Hospital
Yeovil District Hospital is a healthcare facility in Yeovil, Somerset, England. It is managed by Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital has its origins in a general dispensary established at the suggestion of Dr El ...
before studying acting at the
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
.
["When in Rome..."](_blank)
interview with Hannah Pool. ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. 6 January 2007.
Career
Stage work
Purefoy's early professional roles included Romeo in ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' in
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...
, Walter in ''Mary Morgan'' at the
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.
Having closed for redevelopment i ...
and Alan Strang in ''
Equus'' on tour. He subsequently joined the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
(RSC) in 1988 and appeared in ''
The Constant Couple
''The Constant Couple'' is a 1699 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar. It is part of the Restoration comedy tradition, and is often described as a sentimental comedy. It marked the first major success of Farquhar's career. A series of comic ...
'', ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'', ''
The Tempest'', ''
The Man Who Came to Dinner
''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of N ...
'' (Gene Saks, Barbican) and ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
'' as Edgar.
Elsewhere, he has also appeared as Laertes in ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' at the
Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...
(1991), Brian in
William Gaminara
William Gaminara (born 1956) is a Rhodesian-born British actor, screenwriter and playwright, probably best known for playing pathologist Professor Leo Dalton on the television series ''Silent Witness'', from 2002 to 2013. His plays include ''Acco ...
's ''Back Up the Hearse and Let them Sniff the Flowers'' at the
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
(1992), Roland Maule in
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
's ''
Present Laughter
''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...
'' at the
Globe Theatre (1993), Biff in ''
Death of a Salesman
''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...
'', alongside
Ken Stott
Kenneth Campbell Stott (born 19 October 1954) is a Scottish stage, television and film actor who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 in the play '' Broken Glass'' at Royal National Theatre. He portrayed th ...
and
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary Césa ...
, at the
West Yorkshire Playhouse in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
(1994), Tony in ''The Servant'' at the
Birmingham Rep
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...
(1995). He returned to the RSC for
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View (1985 ...
's stage adaptation of the film classic, ''
Les enfants du paradis'' at the
Barbican. He also played Hugh de Morville in Paul Corcoran's ''
Four Nights in Knaresborough'' at the
Tricycle Theatre
The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as ...
, (1999) and Loveless in
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...
's production of ''
The Relapse
''The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger'' is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's '' Love's Last Shift, or, The Fool in Fashion''.
In Cibber's ''Love's Last Shift'', a free-living Rest ...
'' at the
National Theatre in 2001.
Between March and June 2011 he starred as Peter in
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...
's production of ''
Flare Path
''Flare Path'' is a play by Terence Rattigan, written in 1941 and first staged in 1942.Darlow, Michael"Terence Rattigan, Biography – War", ''Official Terence Rattigan website''. Retrieved 2011-02-22. Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command ...
'' at the
Theatre Royal, Haymarket
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...
, alongside
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), '' Two Pints ...
and
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rosie Diana Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian '' Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli c ...
, as part of the playwright
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...
's centenary year celebrations.
He appeared as part of the ensemble cast of the 2019 West and Middle Chinnock Christmas Show, as well as singing several sea shanties from
Fisherman's Friends
The Fisherman's Friends are a folk music group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. Whilst essentially an a cappella group, ...
.
Film and television
In 1991, Purefoy played James McCarthy, a young man accused of murdering his father, in "
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
"The Boscombe Valley Mystery", one of the fifty-six short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fourth of the twelve stories in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in the ''Strand Magazine'' ...
," in
Granada's ''
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' is the final set of twelve (out of a total of fifty-six) Sherlock Holmes short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle first published in the ''Strand Magazine'' between October 1921 and April 1927.
Ti ...
''. One of his notable roles was as Nicholas Jenkins in the four-part miniseries ''
A Dance to the Music of Time
''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power and passivity in Eng ...
'' for
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in 1997. He played
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, su ...
in the film ''
A Knight's Tale
''A Knight's Tale'' is a 2001 American medieval adventure comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film stars Heath Ledger as William Thatcher, a peasant squire who poses as a knight and competes in tournaments, win ...
'', Rawdon Crawley in
''Vanity Fair'' with
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...
and Tom Bertram in the 1999 production of ''
Mansfield Park
''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...
''. He has played major roles in several television costume dramas, including ''
Sharpe's Sword
''Sharpe's Sword'' is a historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. It is the fourth in the series, being first published in 1983, though the fourteenth chronologically. Set in the summer of 1812 including the Battle of ...
'', ''
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' is the second and final novel written by English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, it had an instant and phe ...
'', ''
The Prince and the Pauper
''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...
'', ''
The Mayor of Casterbridge
''The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character'' is an 1886 novel by the English author Thomas Hardy. One of Hardy's Wessex novels, it is set in a fictional rural England with Casterbridge standing in for Dorchester in ...
'', ''
Blackbeard: Terror at Sea'', ''
Beau Brummell: This Charming Man'', ''The Tide of Life'', ''
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...
'' and ''
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
''.
Purefoy was
screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...
ed for the role of
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
in 1995 for ''
GoldenEye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the ser ...
'', but ultimately lost the role to
Pierce Brosnan. Throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as Bond in future films. Speculation suggested that his departure was due to an opportunity to play James Bond in the 2006 film ''
Casino Royale''. He was originally the actor for V in the 2006 film ''
V for Vendetta
''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthol ...
'' but had creative differences with the production team and left the film six weeks into filming. Parts of the film contain (dubbed) scenes of Purefoy.
Purefoy played
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
/
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
original television series, ''
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
''. At the time there were rumours that at least one nude body in the show had been digitally enhanced. When his Wikipedia entry, which at that time referred to the rumours, was brought up in an interview with Alastair McKay, published in the January 2007 issue of
''Out'' magazine, Purefoy said, "I won't say whose it was, but there was a penis in the series that may have been slightly enhanced. But it wasn't mine. Mine's all mine."
Producer
William J. MacDonald announced that James Purefoy would play
Simon Templar
''The Saint'' is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books un ...
in a new TV series of ''
The Saint
The Saint may refer to:
Fiction
* Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations:
** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...
''. The new series was scheduled to start shooting in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in April 2008. However, production ultimately did not occur and in August Purefoy was reported as negotiating with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
to star in another series, ''
The Philanthropist''. He starred as Teddy Rist in the summer television series, which aired on NBC beginning in June 2009. His character is a billionaire playboy who decides to use his wealth and power to
help others in need.
In 2009 Purefoy played the titular character in an adaptation of
Robert E. Howard's
Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane is a fictional character created by the pulp magazine, pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. A late-16th-to-early-17th century Puritan, Solomon Kane is a somber-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanqu ...
. In 2013, ''
The Following
''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
The first season follows former FBI agent Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Bacon) ...
'' debuted, starring Purefoy as the lead antagonist of the series. He portrays Joe Carroll, a former professor who becomes a serial killer and leads a cult of followers, all of whom help create Carroll's "story".
It was announced in June 2014 that Purefoy would join the cast of the film ''
High-Rise'' with
Tom Hiddleston
Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with ''Thor'' in 2011 and most recently in the Disney+ series ''Loki'' in 2021 ...
and
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
. Later in 2014, Purefoy co-starred in the
Formula 1-themed music video for
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
's song "
Dangerous
Dangerous may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Dangerous'' (1935 film), an American film starring Bette Davis
* '' Dangerous: The Short Films'', a 1993 collection of music videos by Michael Jackson
* ''Dangerous'' (2021 film), a Canadian-Ameri ...
".
From 2016 to 2018 Purefoy starred as Hap Collins in
Sundance's adaptation of
Hap and Leonard
Hap and Leonard are two fictional amateur investigators and adventurers created by American author Joe R. Lansdale. They are the main characters in a series of twelve novels, four novellas, and three collections of stories and excerpts. They are ...
, alongside
Michael Kenneth Williams
Michael Kenneth Williams (November 22, 1966 – September 6, 2021) was an American actor. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. He has been described as a "singular pre ...
. In 2018 he starred as Laurens Bancroft in ''
Altered Carbon
''Altered Carbon'' is a 2002 cyberpunk novel by the English writer Richard K. Morgan. Set in a future in which interstellar travel and relative immortality is facilitated by transferring consciousnesses between bodies ("sleeves"), it follows t ...
'', a
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
original series. In February 2019,
Hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
(who provided the score to
Interlude in Prague) released a short film to accompany their single "Hold Your Breath" from the album ''
Light of the Fearless
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 ter ...
''. The film starred Purefoy as the brooding "Mr Black".
In 2020, Purefoy joined the cast of the
second season of the ''
Gotham''
prequel television series ''
Pennyworth'' in a main role, portraying
Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy, a former SAS captain and the leader of a crew of criminals consisting of former soldiers, who later becomes the enhanced super-soldier Captain Blighty in the 2022
third season.
Personal life
Purefoy has a son, Joseph (born 1997), with the actress
Holly Aird
Imogen Holly Aird (born 18 May 1969) is an English television actress known for playing forensic pathologist Frankie Wharton in the BBC1 drama series '' Waking the Dead'', having previously starred in productions such as ''Soldier Soldier'' a ...
. He also has a daughter, Rose (born 2012) and another two sons, Ned and Kit, (born 2017) with documentary director and producer Jessica Adams. He married Adams in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
in July 2014.
Purefoy is a supporter of both
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
and
Manchester United.
Filmography
Film
Television
Radio
References
External links
*
James Purefoy as BlackbeardJames Purefoy as Beau BrummellInterviewwith James Purefoy, BBC Somerset, September 2005
Interviewwith James Purefoy, BBC Somerset, January 2006
Interviewwith James Purefoy, BBC Somerset, February 2007
in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 6 January 2007
''Men's Vogue'' profileHold your breath short film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purefoy, James
Living people
1964 births
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
English male film actors
English male Shakespearean actors
English male stage actors
English male radio actors
English male television actors
Male actors from Somerset
People educated at Sherborne School
People from Taunton
Royal Shakespeare Company members