William Kemp (born 29 June 1977) is an English actor and dancer. His stage names are Will and James Dean of Ballet.

Life and career

Kemp was born in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. The eldest of three, Will has two younger sisters. His father, Barry, an architect and mother, Rosalind. Will grew up in King’s Langley and schooled at Rudolf Steiner. Trained at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

, at age 17 he was accepted at dance company Adventures in Motion Pictures (AMP). He won the lead role of The Swan in

Matthew Bourne Sir Matthew Christopher Bourne (born 13 January 1960) is a British choreographer. His productions contain many classic cinema and popular culture references and draw thematic inspiration from musicals, film noir and popular culture. Popular ...

's ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' from 1997 to 2000 in both

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Broadway. In 2002 he could be seen dancing to " Stuff Like That" in a

Peter Lindbergh Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director. He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to phot ...

-directed commercial for Gap's "For Every Generation" campaign and in 2004, he appeared alongside

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both Sarah Jessica Parker filmography, screen and stage. List o ...

in two

Francis Lawrence Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thriller ''Constantine ...

-directed spots, "Color" and "Shine", for Gap's "How Do You Share It" campaign. He famously turned down a lucrative modelling contract with

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

, citing not wanting to be confused as a model as opposed to an actor as the reason for his decision. Kemp made his acting debut as Velkan Valerious, a gypsy-prince-turned-

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

in the 2004 action horror film ''

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'', opposite

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

and

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress. The only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted in the series premiere of the 1975 daytime drama ''Couples.'' In 1993, she made her theatrical film deb ...

. He played the horse Nugget as well as The Young Horseman in the 2007 West End revival of '' Equus'' starring

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...

. The part of Nugget required him to don a wire horse mask and metal hooves/horseshoes, and carry Radcliffe on his back while galloping. He had a role in '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' as Blake Collins, director of the Maryland School of the Arts (MSA) and brother of Chase Collins. Kemp played a dress up Mr Darcy at an academic conference in the

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

's "Loveuary" month-long series featuring Jane Austen adaptations.

Personal life

Kemp and his wife, Gaby Jamieson, have a daughter, Thalie born in 2005, and a son, Indigo born in 2008.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Will 1977 births 21st-century English male actors Actors educated at the Royal Ballet School English male ballet dancers English male film actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from Hertfordshire