Max Pirkis (born 6 January 1989) is an English actor. After appearing in two stage productions during the mid-2000s, Pirkis made his film debut in '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (2003), after the film crew recruited him at his school,

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. In a critically praised performance, he won the

Evening Standard British Film Award The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by London's ''Evening Standard'' newspaper. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony ...

for Most Promising Newcomer and the

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

for Best Young Actor in an International Film. Two years later, he was cast in the

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. ...

...

Early life and education

and he has a sister. After being educated at

, Pirkis began attending

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

, where he read

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and was captain of the college's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team, in 2009.

Career

''Master and Commander''

Pirkis started his acting in school plays while attending Eton, though he never took them seriously. Although unsure what he wanted to do with his life, Pirkis was cast for his first professional role in 2002, when he appeared in the successful film, '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''. The hire occurred after production staff visited Eton to hire boys for the ship's teenage crew. Pirkis attended a workshop and auditions as "a joke", ultimately securing the part of the 13-year-old, eventually one-armed midshipman Lord Blakeney of HMS ''Surprise''. Director

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...

thought Pirkis "stood out very early on, but not to the extent that you see in the film. That was a complete surprise." According to Pirkis, he was at first "nervous" about acting with

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

, but changed his mind when he realised that Crowe was "a pretty normal guy." One of four teenage actors chosen for the film, Pirkis began researching the history of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

to prepare himself for the role, before ultimately spending six months shooting the film. Weir soon discovered that Pirkis had "an old actor's soul in his body," and consequently gave him more acting challenges. Because his character loses an arm, Pirkis wore a prosthetic stump on set; tucking his real arm to the side, he practised how to write and eat using only his left arm. Pirkis completed the amputation scene in two takes, thinking of the death of a family friend for inspiration. Soon after being cast in ''Master and Commander'', Pirkis was contracted to be represented by Hollywood talent agency ICM. The income he earned for the film was placed into a bank, making him wait until he turned eighteen. For his role, Pirkis received critical acclaim and won the

for Most Promising Newcomer and the

for Best International Performance by a Young Actor at the 25th Young Artist Awards. Pirkis was also nominated for Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role – Male at the 4th Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards. Jeremiah Kipp of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' praised Pirkis, writing that he "makes a winning impression as midshipman Lord Blakeney, a pugnacious one-armed lad who imitates the masculine bravado of Crowe and the bookish reserve of Bettany."

''Rome''

In 2005, Pirkis made his television debut. Until 2007, Pirkis played Gaius Octavian (later to become

Caesar Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

) 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 ...

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 ...

''. Many critics highlighted Pirkis and his character for praise. At the beginning of the first season, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' columnist

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...

remarked: "Played both knowingly and innocently by Max Pirkis, he gives the audience something it desperately needs... a character to root for, or at least care about." During the second series, Pirkis was replaced by

Simon Woods Simon Woods (born 7 January 1980) is an English actor and playwright best known for his role as Octavian in Season 2 of the British-American television series ''Rome'' and the 2005 '' Pride & Prejudice'' as Charles Bingley. Personal life Woods ...

in order for the show to depict an older version of the character.

''Embankment Films''

In February 2016, Pirkis was appointed head of acquisitions and distribution at Embankment Films.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirkis, Max 1989 births Living people People educated at Eton College English male film actors English male television actors English male child actors Male actors from London Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge