Bruce Payne

Bruce Payne
Born	Bruce Martyn Payne 22 November 1958 (1958-11-22) (age 50) London, England, United Kingdom
Years active	1982-Present
Official website

Bruce Martyn Payne (born 22 November 1958) is an English actor and producer.^[1] Though better known for his villainous roles, Bruce Payne has played characters across the spectrum. His notable villains include Charles Rane in Passenger 57, Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame and Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God. His hero roles include Dr. Burton in Silence Like Glass, Major Baker in Britannic, and Jurgen in the television version of La Femme Nikita. His comic roles include Yellow in Keen Eddie, Dogger in Solarbabies, and the Devil in Switch. Payne has received many plaudits for his acting. A reviewer in Cosmopolitan once asserted that "saying that Payne is a good actor is like saying Fred Astaire is a good dancer."^[2]

Early life

Payne was born in London, England and grew up in Kilburn, North London. He developed an interest for acting at an early age. At the age of 14 he was diagnosed with a slight form of Spina Bifida^[3] which by age 16 required surgery to rectify. Payne was hospitalised for 6 months following this operation.

Payne continued school studies, despite a contact with a talent scout during that time. After his graduation, he enrolled in the National Youth Theatre for two seasons. Payne has described this experience as "Four hundred kids thrown together to work on 7 plays."^[4] In addition, Payne was occupied with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for one season.

He auditioned for several fringe acting companies but was told he was too young and lacked experience. However, in 1979 he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) acting program.^[5] Payne graduated from RADA in 1981 with seven major prizes for acting, comedy and physical presence.^[5] Payne was part of a 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh and Fiona Shaw. Whilst at RADA, Payne wrote and directed himself in an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth in which he wielded a baseball bat on stage instead of a sword. This was chosen by the Principal of RADA to be performed in front of the Queen in one of her rare visits to the academy^[6]. Payne would later appear on stage in Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Acting career

Payne's first major film role came in 1982 with Michael Blakemore's Privates On Parade in which he played the singing and dancing Flight Sergeant Kevin Cartwright, appearing alongside John Cleese, Denis Quilley and David Bamber. Payne would appear with Quilley again in Cleopatra. In 1983 he appeared in Michael Mann's The Keep. In the same year Steven Berkoff cast him in his production of West at the Donmar Warehouse which was followed by a role in Limehouse Films' television adaptation of the play.^[5] This was followed by a role in the 1984 film Oxford Blues.

In 1985 he was cast as a snooker manager known as The One in Alan Clarke's Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985), and played a threadbare undercover drug detective in Bob Mahoney's Operation Julie. In 1986 both Payne and Berkoff appeared in Julien Temple's Absolute Beginners. One reviewer argued that Payne was "the only actor to walk off Absolute Beginners with his reputation not only intact but enhanced" and that his portrayal of Flikker "was a headbutt of reality in a fantasmagoria of overkill."^[7]

In 1988, Berkoff directed Payne in Greek at the Wyndhams Theatre. Berkoff has stated that Payne "gave a vital and dynamic performance and trod on the edge of danger" performing as the main character, Eddy.^[5] Payne also performed in the stage musicals of The Rocky Horror Show, playing Frank 'N' Furter and had the lead male role in Nicholas Hytner's Alice. Payne's appearances on stage and television raised his profile and in 1989, he starred alongside Denzel Washington in For Queen and Country. Payne and other young British actors who were becoming established film actors such as Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Paul McGann were dubbed the 'Brit Pack'.^[8] Payne's performances endeared him to Warner Brothers who considered "Bruce Payne as Bruce Wayne" on their "one liner" press marketing PR campaign for the first of Tim Burton's Batman films. Ultimately Michael Keaton acquired the role.^[5] In the same year Payne received positive reviews for his role in the film Zwei Frauen which also featured George Peppard and Rip Torn.

In 1991 Payne played the vampire R. B. Harker in Howling VI: The Freaks. One reviewer stated that "H. B. Harker played by Bruce Payne is the one thing that makes this film watchable. His unrepentantly evil Harker is wonderful, aristocratic, neither over or underplayed."^[9] Payne has appeared in numerous horror films since, including Necronomicon in 1993 and Asylum of the Damned in 2003.

Payne first came to the public's attention as the violent, silk-smooth terrorist, Charles Rane in Passenger 57 (1992). Reviewer Marcus Trower, of Empire magazine, stated that Payne was "a brilliantly disconcerting madman. With his flowing blond Jesus locks, armour-piercing stare and casual sadism, he makes Hannibal Lecter look like a social worker - and like Sir Anthony Hopkins' serial killer, part of the man's menace is in the apparent contradiction between his articulate, well-spoken English and his off-hand brutality."^[10]

Payne's performance in Passenger 57 endeared him to American audiences. It was followed by further villainous roles in Full Eclipse and One Tough Bastard. In 1995 he starred alongside Lance Henriksen and Corbin Bernsen in Aurora: Operation Intercept. He appeared alongside Corbin Bernsen again in the 1996 film Kounterfeit. He would appear alongside Lance Henriksen twice again in Face the Evil in 1997 and in the dystopian classic Paranoia 1.0 in 2004. He also appeared in an episode of season six of the American television series Tales from the Crypt alongside Michael Ironside. Ironside had played the villain in Highlander II: The Quickening. Payne would later play the villain in Highlander: Endgame. In 1997 he starred in season two of the successful Canadian television series La Femme Nikita as Jurgen. His role created a long standing controversy amongst fans.^[11]

In 1999 he replaced Julian Sands as the Warlock in Warlock III: The End of Innocence. Payne and Sands were often mistaken for one another^[12] and had appeared together in both Privates on Parade and Oxford Blues. One reviewer said that "as the Warlock, Bruce Payne, an actor who has magnificently theatrical charisma and presence is actually better in the part than the perpetually overwrought Julian Sands."^[13]. In the same year, Payne was part of an all star cast, including Timothy Dalton, Billy Zane, Sean Pertwee, Owen Teale and David Schofield, in Cleopatra. This was followed by a role in Britannic in which he appeared alongside John Rhys Davies. Payne and Davies would appear together again in the 2001 film Never Say Never Mind: The Swedish Bikini Team.

In 2000 Payne portrayed the villains Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame and Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons alongside Jeremy Irons' Profion. Payne received favourable reviews for both films. One reviewer said of Highlander: Endgame that "the one in the cast that seems to be having the most fun is Bruce Payne. Traditionally Highlander villains give performances that go completely over-the-top and well into the stratosphere. Payne contrarily gives a performance where he enunciates every syllable with relish and dramatic weight, resulting in a performance that is entirely captivating whenever he is on screen."^[14] Another reviewer said of Dungeons and Dragons that "Bruce Payne (Damodar) as Profion's nefarious assistant in his power hungry schemes was the stand-out performance of all the actors in the film. Payne has a true lock on how to play a character that is menacing even without any show of power. His portrayal of Damodar calls to mind Doug Bradley's portrayal of Pinhead in the Hellraiser films, so coldly, coolly arrogant and confident is his character. Above and beyond the grade I give to this film, Payne has earned himself an A+ in my gradebook."^[15]

In 2001 Payne appeared in the horror film Ripper along with Jurgen Prochnow who had also performed with Payne in The Keep. The film reviewer John Fallon stated that "Bruce Payne brings a touch of class to the film. His performances are solid."^[16]. In 2002 Payne appeared with his friend Steven Berkoff in Steal. This was followed by guest appearances in television programmes such as Spooks, Charmed and Keen Eddie. In 2005 he returned to the role of Damodar in Dungeons & Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God. He has recently appeared in the films Messages and Carmen's Kiss. He is currently working on the films Dance Star and Disturbance.

Payne notes of his acting approach, "[i]f I'm allowed to in terms of time, I really like to get into the character."^[17]. Payne's commitment to his profession his led him to alter his physical appearance in order to augment his performances. For example, he shaved his head for his role in the Dungeons and Dragons films.^[18]

Filmography

Actor

• Disturbance (2010) as Priest
• Dance Star (2009) as Harry
• Carmen's Kiss (2009) as Michael
• Brothel (2008) as Thief
• Messages (2007) as Dr. Robert Golding
• Dungeons & Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005) as Damodar
• Paranoia 1.0 (a.k.a. One Point O) (2004) as The Neighbour
• Hellborn (a.k.a. Asylum of the Damned) (2003) as Dr. McCort
• Newton's Law (2003)
• Apocalypse Revelation (aka San Giovanni - L'apocalisse) (2002) (TV) as Domitian
• Steal (aka Riders) (2002) as Lt. Macgruder
• Ripper (2001) as Marshall Kane
• Never Say Never Mind: The Swedish Bikini Team (2001) as Mr. Blue
• Dungeons & Dragons (2000) as Damodar
• Highlander: Endgame (2000) as Jacob Kell
• Britannic (2000) (TV) as Maj. Baker, MD
• Warlock III: The End of Innocence (1999) (V) as The Warlock / Phillip Covington
• Cleopatra (1999) (TV) as Cassius
• Sweepers (1999) as Dr. Cecil Hopper
• Ravager (1997) as Cooper Wayne
• No Contest II aka Face the Evil II (1997) as Jack Terry
• Kounterfeit (1996) as Frankie
• Aurora: Operation Intercept (1995) as Gordon Pruett
• One Tough Bastard aka One Man's Justice (1995) as Karl Savak
• Necronomicon (1994) as Edward De Lapoer (part 1)
• The Cisco Kid (1994) (TV) as General Martin Dupre
• Full Eclipse (1993) (TV) as Adam Garou
• Passenger 57 (1992) as Charles Rane
• Switch (1991) as The Devil
• Howling VI: The Freaks (1991) as R.B Harker
• Pyrates (1991) (as Bruce Martyn Payne) as Liam
• Yellowthread Street (1990) TV Series as Det. Nick Eden
• Zwei Frauen aka Silence Like Glass (1989) as Dr. Burton
• For Queen and Country (1989) as Colin
• The Fruit Machine aka Wonderland (1988) as Echo
• Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987) (TV) as Michael Rafiel
• The Bell-Run (1987) (TV) as Pace
• Lost Belongings (1987) (Mini Tv Series) as Simon Hunt
• Solarbabies (1986) as Dogger
• Smart Money (1986) as Lawrance MacNiece
• Absolute Beginners (1986) as Flikker
• Operation Julie (1985) (TV) as DC Malcolm Pollard
• Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985) as T.O. (The One)
• Oxford Blues (1984) as Peter Howles
• The Keep (1983) as Border Guard #2
• Privates on Parade (1982) as Flight Sgt. Kevin Cartwright

Producer

• Lowball (1997) (executive producer)

TV appearances

• Charmed: "Prince Charmed" as Leader of the Order (2004)
• Spooks aka MI-5: "Smoke and Mirrors" as Mickey Kaharias (2003)
• Keen Eddie: "Horse Heir" as Yellow (2003)
• Dragnet: "All That Glitters" as Alex Karp (2003)
• La Femme Nikita: three episodes as Jurgen (1998)
• Bergerac: "The Messenger Boy" as Jake (1990)
• Yellowthread Street: The Series as Nick Eden (1990)
• Tales from the Crypt: "Comes the Dawn" as Sergeant (1989)
• The Equalizer: "Eighteen with a Bullet" as Greg Rivers (1985)
• Oscar Wilde Biography BBC (1985)

References

External links

• Bruce Payne at the Internet Movie Database
• The Official Bruce Payne Site