Stephen Beresford

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Stephen Beresford
Born1972 (age 48–49)
London, England
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActor, writer
Notable work
The Last of the Haussmans
Pride

Stephen Beresford (born c. 1972)[1] is an English actor and writer. He is best known for writing the play The Last of the Haussmans, produced by the National Theatre in 2012,[2] and the 2014 motion picture Pride, which won the Queer Palm award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[3][4]

Early life[]

Beresford was born in London and raised in Dartmouth.[5][6] He began acting with a local children's drama group when he was nine years old, and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[7]

Career[]

In a 2012 review, Kate Kellaway of The Observer wrote: "It is with disbelief that one discovers that The Last of the Haussmans is actor Stephen Beresford's first play. It is a knockout – entertaining, sad and outrageous. If he has more of this quality to write, he is going to be a major name."[8]

He was a new entry in 2014 to The Independent on Sunday's Rainbow List at number 17.[9]

Beresford has also worked on screenplays. He said that when working on screenplays, he always looks for projects with an "element of subversion" in them, so that he can find ways to smuggle in messages and meaning.[10]

In 2018, Beresford's stage adaptation of Fanny and Alexander opened at The Old Vic.

He co-wrote Tolkien, a 2019 biopic of the author J.R.R. Tolkien.[11] The film, starring Nicholas Hoult, touches on many different themes in Tolkien's early life, including his friendships, love of languages, religion, and romance with Edith Bratt.[12] The Tolkien Estate, without viewing the film, stated that it does not endorse the film or its content.

In 2020, Beresford's new play The Southbury Child was due to open at the Bridge Theatre however due to the COVID-19 pandemic the run has been postponed. He wrote a new play Three Kings as part of The Old Vic's Old Vic: In Camera series.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Spring Awakening TV film
2000 Where There's Smoke Joe TV film
2003 She Stoops to Conquer Mr. George Hastings
2010 The Thing You Drew Boy Short

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1999 The Bill Priest Episode: "Lock In"
2000 Casualty Mr. Samuals Episode: "Life Support"
2004 Midsomer Murders Marcus Poole Episode: "The Maid in Splendour"
He Knew He Was Right Richard Mini-series
Peep Show Dancer Episode: "Dance Class"
The Last Chancers David 2 episodes
2005 Nathan Barley Ivan Plapp Mini-series

Awards and nominations[]

Films

References[]

  1. ^ Kellaway, Kate (30 August 2014). "When miners and gay activists united: the real story of the film Pride". The Observer. Now 42, Beresford started out as an actor but is also author of The Last of the Haussmans, an exuberantly accomplished debut at the National in 2012.
  2. ^ "The Last of the Haussmans, a new play by Stephen Beresford". National Theatre. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012.
  3. ^ von Metzke, Ross (26 September 2014). "Pride & Glory: An unlikely alliance between a group of gay and lesbian activists and striking miners makes for one of the year's most inspiring films". The Advocate.
  4. ^ Mainwaring, Rachel (6 September 2014). "Love and Pride; When Writer Stephen Beresford Heard about an Unlikely Alliance between a Gay and Lesbian Group and a South Wales Mining Community during the Miners' Strike, He Was Determined to Share Their Remarkable Story. He Tells Rachel Mainwaring How Proud He Is of His Latest British Film, Pride". Western Mail.[dead link]
  5. ^ Shulman, Randy (9 October 2014). "Pride Rising: Screenwriter Stephen Beresford on the exhilarating new film that celebrates an historic event which paved the way for the rights of gays and lesbians in Britain", Metro Weekly,
  6. ^ Abbott, HEC (12 September 2014). "Star-studded movie written by Dartmouth man hits cinema screens". Herald Express.
  7. ^ "Stephen Beresford – Playwright", By The Dart magazine, May 2013.
  8. ^ Kellaway, Kate (23 June 2012). "The Last of the Haussmans; The Match Box; Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker – review". The Observer.
  9. ^ "Rainbow List 2014, 1 to 101 – The Rainbow list – People", The Independent (9 November 2014)
  10. ^ "Stephen Beresford meets Islay Bell-Webb". BAFTA Guru. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  11. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (24 July 2017). "Dome Karukoski To Helm J.R.R. Tolkien Biopic". Deadline. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  12. ^ Ernie Estrella (30 March 2019). "Tolkien biopic promises to explore the author's love of friends, Edith Bratt, and language". SYFY.com. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Bafta Film Awards 2015: Winners". BBC News. Retrieved 8 February 2015.

External links[]

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