Biography

Rufus Frederik Sewell (born 29 October 1967) is a British actor who has appeared in films and on stage.

He is one of the celebrated movie stars, having starred in Carrington, Hamlet, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight’s Tale, The Legend of Zorro, and more.

He is one of the Best Actors in Play award holders in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell: History, Bio, Photo
Wiki Facts & About Data
Full Name:	Rufus Frederik Sewell
Stage Name:	Rufus Sewell
Born:	29 October 1967 (age 56 years old)
Place of Birth:	Twickenham, United Kingdom
Nationality:	American
Parents:	Jo Sewell, William Sewell
Children:	William Douglas Sewell, Lola Sewell
Height:	1.83 m
Siblings:	Caspar Sewell
Wife • Spouse:	Amy Gardner (m. 2004–2006), Yasmin Abdallah (m. 1999–2000)
Girlfriend • Partner:	Ami Komai, Alice Eve (2006-2008), Donna Air (2000), Helena Bonham Carter (1999), Kate Winslet (1995-1996), Catalina Guirado, Helen McCrory
Occupation:	Actor • TV Personality
Net Worth:	US$5 million

Early Life

Rufus Frederik Sewell was born on October 29, 1967, in Hammersmith.

He is the son of Jo Sewell, a Welsh artist, a classically trained pianist, and waitress, and William John Frederick Sewell (1924–1978), an Anglo-Australian animator and former construction worker.

His father worked on the animation for The Beatles‘ Yellow Submarine film’s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” part.

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Rufus Sewell‘s parents split when he was five years old. His father died when he was ten years old, and his mother raised him and his older brother, Caspar Sewell as a single mother, working in a pub and selling vegetables to support her boys.

Education

Rufus Sewell attended Trafalgar Junior School in Twickenham, a state junior high school where he graduated in 1978.

He was a member of the drama club at Trafalgar Junior School, where he played the lead in Rumpelstiltskin, which he performed entirely on his knees.

Rufus Sewell continued to Orleans Park School, a state comprehensive school in Twickenham, which he left in 1984, and then to West Thames College, where a theater instructor recommended him for drama school auditions.

Later, he enrolled at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

Judi Dench, who had directed him in a play while at the Central School of Speech and Drama, helped Rufus Sewell get an agent after he graduated. His breakthrough year was 1993 when he acted in Michael Winner‘s film, Dirty Weekend as the obnoxious Tim.

Then, after witnessing him in a play at the Criterion Theatre, the winner chose him. In 1993, he appeared on stage in Tom Stoppard‘s play Arcadia at The Royal National Theatre and a BBC serial adaptation of George Eliot‘s Middlemarch (Lyttelton).

Cold Comfort Farm, directed by John Schlesinger in 1995, John Murdoch in the science fiction picture Dark City in 1998, Amazing Grace, The Illusionist, and Nancy Meyers‘ romantic comedy The Holiday are among his films credits.

Amazing Grace is a film about William Wilberforce‘s political battle to abolish slavery in the United Kingdom, and it stars Rufus Sewell as Wilberforce‘s co-campaigner Thomas Clarkson. He is recognized for his nasty portrayals in films like A Knight’s Tale, The Legend of Zorro, Bless the Child, Helen of Troy, and The Illusionist.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with this, saying that “I don’t want to be a horrible guy ever again. Everyone has something they need to get around with,” Rufus Sewell observes.
“It’s like, okay, how can I make this upper-class bad guy in the nineteenth century unusual and interesting?” says the actor.

Rufus Sewell played Alexander Hamilton in the HBO drama, John Adams in 2008. In the BBC’s Charles II: The Power and The Passion, he won great acclaim for his depiction of Charles II. Ian McDiarmid, Helen McCrory, Rupert Graves, and Shirley Henderson starred in the series, chronicling the king’s life from exile to death. In the controversial film, Downloading Nancy, which was released on June 5, 2009, he co-starred.

Audiences stormed out of the screening at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, and a theatrical distribution was still questionable as of summer 2008. Despite the backlash, Rufus Sewell remains an ardent supporter of the film. “Whether you think it succeeds or fails, whether you like it or don’t like it, it’s a film I’m proud of. I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Rufus Sewell recited Russell Thorndike‘s Doctor Syn stories on BBC Radio between 2006 and 2009, portraying an 18th-century clergyman, adventurer, smuggler, and pirate.

Despite his reputation for costume dramas, Rufus Sewell favors “cravat-less” characters in contemporary works, such as Petruchio in the BBC’s 2005 adaptation of Shakespeare‘s The Taming of the Shrew. This was part of the ShakespeareRe-Told series, and he was nominated for Best Actor at the 2006 BAFTA Television Awards for his performance. The action shifts from 17th century Padua, Italy, to 21st century London in this modern rendition of the event.

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Since becoming a professional actor, Rufus Sewell has acted in four works based on Shakespeare plays: Hotspur in Henry IV, Part 1 in 1995, Fortinbras in Hamlet in 1996, and the title role in Macbeth in 1999. He was reunited with his Charles II co-star Shirley Henderson for the part.

From June to July 2006, he performed in the Royal Court Theatre’s premiere, the initial run of Tom Stoppard‘s new drama, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and at the Duke of York’s Theatre from July to November 2006. The play was a critical and economic triumph, with full houses and numerous accolades and nominations, including Best Actor honors for Rufus Sewell at The Evening Standard Awards, The Critics’ Circle Awards, and The Olivier Awards.

Fort Collins, he recorded eleven of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels on 36 CDs. In addition, he works in film, television, and theater, most recently in the CBS TV series Eleventh Hour as Dr. Jacob Hood. In November 2009, he wrapped production for the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth, which aired on television in 2010.

In 2010, he starred in the BBC One drama series Zen as Italian detective Aurelio Zen, based on Michael Dibdin‘s best-selling novels. The three episodes were shot in Rome and premiered in early January 2011 on BBC One. Unfortunately, the BBC canceled the series after one season.

He also appeared in the 2010 film The Tourist, which starred Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp and was released in theaters. Finally, in the movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which was shot in New Orleans and released in June 2012, he played Adam, the lead vampire.

In Darkside, Tom Stoppard‘s 2013 radio drama based on Pink Floyd‘s record The Dark Side of the Moon, Rufus Sewell plays Ethics Man.

Rufus Sewell co-starred in the film Hercules with Dwayne Johnson as Autolycus, which was released in July 2014. In 2015, Rufus Sewell voiced Sir Claude, a feral cat, in the animated film Blinky Bill the Movie.

Rufus Sewell‘s most recent roles were John Smith, a high-ranking American who became a Nazi official, in The Man in the High Castle, and Lord Melbourne in Victoria.

Filmography

Movies

• Twenty-One (1991) – This was his first-ever movie role, and he played Bobby.
• Citizen Locke (1994) – Midshipman Clarke
• Cold Comfort Farm (1995) – Seth Starkadder
• Victory and Hamlet (1996) – He played the characters Martin Ricardo and Fortinbras, respectively.
• Dark City (1998) – John Murdoch
• The Very Thought of You (1998) – Frank
• A Knight’s Tale (2001) – Count Adhemar
• The Legend of Zorro (2005) – Armand
• The Illusionist (2006) – Crown Prince Leopold
• The Holiday (2006) – Jasper
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) – Adam
• Restless (2012) – Lucas Romer
• All Things to All Men (2013) – Jonathan Parker
• Hercules (2014) – Autolycus
• Killing Jesus (2015) – Caiaphas
• Gods of Egypt (2016) – Urshu

TV Series

• Gone to Seed – He had the part of Billy.
• Middlemarch – He played Will Ladislaw.
• Screen Two – Rufus appeared twice in this series; as Mike Costain and again as Clive.
• The Last King – Sewell portrayed Charles II.
• Eleventh Hour – as the main character, Dr. Jacob Hood.
• The Pillars of the Earth – as Tom Builder.
• Zen – as Reverend Duchemin.
• Victoria – as Lord Melbourne
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – as Declan Howell.
• The Man in the High Castle – as John Smith
• The Pale Horse – The show is in its post-production phase and is set to be released sometime this year. He shall be portraying the character, Mark Easterbrook.

Personal Life

Rufus Sewell has had two marriages. His first wife, Australian fashion journalist Yasmin Abdallah, was his long-term lover; they married in 1999 and divorced in 2000.

In 2004, he married Amy Gardner, a scriptwriter, and producer, for the second time. They divorced in 2006 after having a son, William Douglas Sewell (born in 2002).

Rufus Sewell and Ami Komai have a daughter, Lola Sewell, who was born in 2013. He has dated celebrities like Alice Eve (2006-2008), Donna Air (2000), Helena Bonham Carter (1999), Kate Winslet (1995-1996), Catalina Guirado, and Helen McCrory.

Net Worth

The beautiful actor, Rufus Sewell has a net worth of US$5 million, according to sources.

He is a generous individual who donates both his time and money to charity.