Best Known As: The precog Agatha in the movie Minority Report
A popular television and film actor in the United Kingdom, Samantha Morton is recognized internationally for her role as the precog, Agatha, in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002, starring Tom Cruise). Morton has been acting since she was a teenager, gaining acclaim for appearances in British series such as Band of Gold and Cracker, and in television movies such as 1997's Jane Eyre. In addition to co-starring in Minority Report, Morton has been nominated for an Oscar twice, for her role as a mute in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999, starring Sean Penn), and for her performance in In America (2002). After the initial flush of Hollywood success, Morton settled into steady work on screen characterized by leading roles in small, U.K. films and character roles in bigger U.S. productions. Her other films include Morvern Caller (2002), The Libertine (2004, starring Johnny Depp), Lassie (2005, with Peter O'Toole), Control (2007, about the band Joy Division), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007, starring Cate Blanchett) and Synecdoche, New York (2008, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Morton is reportedly a big fan of the band Joy Division.
Born: May 13, 1977 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Occupation: Actor
Active: '90s-2000s
Major Genres: Drama
Career Highlights: Jesus' Son, Sweet and Lowdown, Under the Skin
First Major Screen Credit: Band of Gold (1995)
Biography
With only a handful of film credits to her name, British actress Samantha Morton earned a reputation as one of the most critically lauded up-and-comers of the late '90s. Small-boned and possessed of almost elfin features, Morton, who was born in Nottingham in 1977, began acting on television at the age of 13. She appeared in a number of series, including the popular crime drama Cracker and such costume extravaganzas as Jane Eyre and Emma.
Morton became known to an international film audience in 1997, when she won wide acclaim for her wrenching, fearless portrayal of a young woman driven to promiscuous behavior by the death of her mother in Carine Adler's Under the Skin. The following year, she did starring work in The Last Yellow and Dreaming of Joseph Lees, playing the girlfriend of a small-time crook in the former and a dissatisfied young woman harboring romantic feelings for her long-absent second cousin (Rupert Graves) in the latter.
In 1999, Morton's name became an increasingly familiar one to American filmgoers, thanks to starring roles in two very different films. The first, Jesus' Son, cast the actress as a heroin addict, while the second, Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown, featured her as a shy, mute woman who gets used and abused by a legendary jazz guitarist (Sean Penn) whose musical talent runs in inverse proportion to his qualities as a human being. Heralded for both films, Morton scored a surprise Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for the latter. Not resting on the laurel, the actress immediately set to work with a pair of venerable cineastes, directors Julien Temple (in Pandemonium) and Amos Gitai (in his first English-language production, Eden).
Director Steven Spielberg soon followed Allen's lead, casting Morton in a small but pivotal role as a shivering, near-mute, clairvoyant "Precog" in his Blade Runner-esque mystery Minority Report, which premiered in the summer of 2002. Though the film would introduce Morton to her largest audience yet, it was a pair of independent features released in late 2002 and 2003 that would garner her even more significant critical attention. Teaming with the maverick Scottish director Lynne Ramsay, the actress would essay the enigmatic, directionless title character in Morvern Callar, a dreamy, elliptical adaptation of Alan Warner's cult novel. About a year later, Morton would see the release of In America, Jim Sheridan's acclaimed slice-of-life tale of an Irish family immigrating to New York City's Hell's Kitchen, for which she would receive her second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress.
Morton continued to take on challenging assignments such as the futuristic Code 46 opposite Tim Robbins and directed by British helmer Michael Winterbottom, and appearing opposite Johnny Depp in the little-seen The Libertine, and the period drama River Queen. Although Lassie may seem like a unusual film for Morton to appear in, she has a history of working in family friendly fare having provided the voice for Ruby in the Max and Ruby animated television series based on the popular children's books by Rosemary Wells. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
The third child born to Peter Morton and Pamela Freebury, a factory worker,[4][5] Morton has a brother and a sister — Marcus (born 1971) is a Royal Marine,[5] Penny (born 1972) works with children with learning disabilities[5] — and six half-siblings from her parents' relationships subsequent to their 1979 divorce.[6] At the age of seven, Morton was made a ward of court and never lived with her natural parents again.[3] The next nine years were spent in and out of foster care and children's homes. She attended West Bridgford Comprehensive School,[2] and, for a while, Haywood Comprehensive School, and was known for always getting in trouble.[citation needed] Under the effects of drugs, she threatened an older girl who had been bullying her.[7] She was convicted of making threats to kill.[8] She served 18 weeks in an attendance centre.[8][7] Morton said in an interview, "as a child I had a serious anger problem, but from the age of 16 I've been trying to turn bad things into positives".[3] She had an abortion at age 16.[7] After leaving care, she lived in a hostel for the homeless and worked on a Youth Training Scheme in hairdressing.[3]
Career
Morton took up acting as a child. She joined the Central Junior Television Workshop when she was thirteen and was soon being offered small-screen roles. In 1991 she was cast as Clare Anderson in the first series of Lucy Gannon's Soldier Soldier and also made a guest appearance, as Mandy, in an episode of Boon — both were Central TV productions.
Moving to London at sixteen,[2] Morton applied to numerous drama schools, including RADA, without success.[2] As a result she received no further formal acting training.[9] Despite this she made her stage debut at the Royal Court Theatre,[2] and continued her television career with a guest appearance on Peak Practice and an impressive performance in a memorable episode of Cracker: "The Big Crunch".
A controversial role in the second series of Kay Mellor's successful Band of Gold (1995) resulted in a lot of tabloid interest, some of which focused on Morton's upbringing and personal life. Further television roles followed, including parts in period dramas including Emma, Jane Eyre and The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Morton's reputation was growing fast and she was now able to move into films. The well-received Under the Skin (1997) continued to raise her profile and impressed Woody Allen enough for him to cast her in Sweet and Lowdown (1999). Morton gave an acclaimed performance and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2000.[10] In 2002 Morton won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress for her work in Morvern Callar, followed by a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for In America in 2004.
Morton played the Moors MurderessMyra Hindley in a television film Longford (2006). Set between 1967 and 1997, the film depicts the relationship between the infamous child killer and Lord Longford, the politician who spent years campaigning for her release. Morton was severely criticised by the relatives of the children who were killed by Hindley and Ian Brady but she insisted, "It is my duty as a performer to raise issues...we're afraid to look at".[11] Morton received a 2007 Emmy nomination and won a Golden Globe for her performance in the film, both for Best Supporting Actress.
Her directorial debut, the semi-autobiographical Channel 4 drama The Unloved, written in collaboration with Tony Grisoni, was first broadcast on 17 May 2009.[12][13]
Personal life
Morton has two daughters: Esme (born 5 February 2000 in London),[6] with actor Charlie Creed-Miles; and Edie (born 4 January 2008 in London), with filmmaker Harry Holm.[2] Morton is engaged to Holm, the son of actor Ian Holm. She lives in Spitalfields, East London.[14]
In March 2008 it was reported that Morton had suffered a stroke two years earlier. As a result she was said to have been close to death and had to relearn how to walk and talk.[15][16][17]
In January 2009, whilst attending a fundraiser for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) she vowed to never work for the BBC again after the broadcaster refused to broadcast an emergency charity appeal for the victims of Israel’s attack on Gaza on 27 December 2008.[18]
In March 2009 Morton protested in Nottingham against the closure of some children's homes due to job cuts made by Nottingham City Council.[19]
