Born December 1, 1961, in Cambridge, England, Jeremy Northam got his first — albeit unexpected — big break when, as an understudy in a production of Hamlet, he took over at the last minute for Daniel Day-Lewis, who suffered a nervous breakdown one night during his performance as the title character. Northam's performance won accolades and a role in the Royal National Theatre's production of The Voysey Inheritance. This role won him a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Newcomer. A few years later, Northam decided to try his luck in Los Angeles, and he landed the role of the villian in the film, The Net, which starred Sandra Bullock.
Starring in films like, Emma, The Winslow Boy, and An Ideal Husband, Northam became known as a gentrified leading man. But he has been praised for his portrayals of completely different types of characters as well, in movies such as, Mimic, Amistad, Happy, Texas, and Enigma.
Career Highlights: The Winslow Boy, An Ideal Husband, Emma
First Major Screen Credit: A Village Affair (1994)
Biography
Possessing the kind of tall, dark good looks that could easily get him mistaken for David Duchovny's British brother, Jeremy Northam has impressed transatlantic audiences as the type of actor who can make everything from giant cockroaches to Jane Austen look sexy.
The fourth child of two Cambridge University professors, Northam was born in Cambridge on December 1, 1961. Following his family's move to Bristol in 1972, he got his first taste of the theatrical world when he took a backstage job at a local playhouse. He went on to study English at London University, but after deciding that acting was his true vocation, left school to pursue his career. Drama studies at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, a stint as a singing waiter, and a role in the 1987 TV movie Suspicion followed. In 1989, Northam got his first -- albeit unexpected -- big break when, as an understudy in a production of Hamlet, he took over at the last minute for Daniel Day-Lewis, who suffered a nervous breakdown one night during his performance as the title character.
Receiving positive notices for his impromptu portrayal, the actor found further acclaim the following year, with his performance as Edward Voysey in the Royal National Theatre's production of The Voysey Inheritance. Northam won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his work, and after appearing in 1992's Wuthering Heights and the 1995 Canadian feature Voices, he traveled to Los Angeles, where he landed a leading role in The Net (1995) within five days of his arrival. Playing Jack Devlin, Northam managed to make a mark on audiences as the charismatic villain who tries to off heroine Sandra Bullock while still finding time to sleep with her. Later that year, the actor appeared as a ne'er-do-well of a different sort, when he played one of Dora Carrington's army of lovers in Carrington. Although his role was essentially limited to a brief maritime seduction of the illustrious lady (played by Emma Thompson), Northam had already landed the considerably more substantial part of Mr. Knightley in Douglas MacGrath's 1996 adaptation of the Austen novel Emma. Starring opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, Northam won both critical praise and the distinction of being that year's thinking woman's luxury import.
The following year, the actor played a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's Amistad and then went on to explore completely different territory with a turn as Mira Sorvino's husband in the big-budget giant cockroach thriller Mimic. In 1998, Northam played another married man when he starred as Parker Posey's husband in the romantic comedy The Misadventures of Margaret. He then returned to the world of corsets and BBC English, first as a lawyer in David Mamet's 1999 adaptation of Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy and then as An Ideal Husband in Oliver Parker's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play. Having gotten the gentrified leading man role down to an science, Northam next went in an entirely different direction as a con man forced to pose as accomplice Steve Zahn's gay lover in a small Texas town in Happy, Texas, which had its premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Northam performed at the Royal National Theatre — he replaced Ian Charleson in the role of Hamlet (1989), and won the Olivier Award in 1990 for "most promising newcomer" for his performance in The Voysey Inheritance.
His audiobook work includes The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis for Harper Audio and A Death Divided by Clare Francis for Macmillan.[2]. For SilkSoundBooks, he recorded The Real Thing and Other Short Stories and The Aspern Papers, both written by Henry James. In Gosford Park Soundtrack, Jeremy sings the songs And her mother came too, What a Duke Should Be, Why Isn't It You, The Dancing Years, and The Land of Might Have Been.
