Those who watched the Harry Potter epic and the Paddington Bear series should remember the English actor Jim Broadbent. In the epic about a young wizard, he played Horace Slughorn, and Paddington the bear speaks in his voice. Adult audiences have seen him in many historical films.
Jim Broadbent is often referred to as a "supporting actor", but he received an Oscar and several other prestigious awards for his work, because supporting roles are also important in films.
Biography
The future actor was born in the English city of Lincoln in 1949. His parents were creative people: they were educated as sculptors. My father was also a good craftsman in the manufacture of designer furniture. However, their work was not limited to these activities - they also organized a rural acting troupe, in which they played with friends. The band was called Lindsay's Country Actors and was very popular with the locals.
As a child, Jim often attended rehearsals of performances and remembered and absorbed a lot. He liked the atmosphere of preparation for the premiere, the excitement and joy that everything worked out. When he became a schoolboy, Jim also took part in small productions.
After leaving school, Broadbent decided to go to study at an art college in his city, but this seemed to him not enough for an actor's work. And he entered the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in London.
After graduating from the Academy, Jim entered the Brent National Theater, where his mentor Patrick Barlow worked. He noticed a talented student at the university and took him under his wing, making him an assistant. Under the auspices of an experienced colleague, Broadbent began to play his first roles, and they were not easy and frivolous. Barlow did not regret that he invited Jim to the theater, because he was truly a universal: he could play both a man and a woman; thanks to him, the ascetic, deprived of vices John the Baptist or the frivolous and dissolute Marie Antoinette could appear on the scene.
Film career
Broadbent played his first role in The Scream (1978). It is clear that this was a cameo role, but the actor liked the filming process, and he realized that, in addition to the theater, he also wanted to work in the cinema.
He was also invited to television. One of the famous projects, where the actor was filmed, was the series "Black Viper", which became very popular with British audiences. Jim in this project was a partner of the famous showman Rowan Atkinson.
After "The Scream", he starred in three more films, also on the sidelines, until the main role came to him. It was the painting "The Sweets of Life" (1990) and the role of an aspiring entrepreneur. He went through a lot of hardships until his business started to make a profit. This topic is relevant to many English people, so the film was a huge success. And Broadbent finally became famous.
The next picture - the musical drama "Trouble" - aroused even greater interest of the audience and the approval of critics. Here Jim played the role of a playwright who creates the libretto of the opera and does not find understanding on the part of the composer, constantly conflicts with him. However, there is no other, and this is the whole tragedy of the scriptwriter. It is also interesting that the film tells a real story about the playwright Gilbert and the composer Sullivan. At one time, they made a splash in England with the comic opera Thespis. Later they created fourteen more operas.
The film was so successful that Broadbent was awarded the Volpi Cup in the Best Actor nomination for his role as a playwright. The film itself received two Oscars for the makeup and hairstyles of the characters.
After that, a "white streak" began in the actor's career - he starred a lot and successfully and received awards for his skills. So, for the role in the film "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) he was awarded the BAFTA. In this film, he created the image of Harold Ziedler.
The film "Iris" (2001) brought the actor an Oscar and a Golden Globe as a supporting actor. Surprisingly, even the brilliant Kate Winslet and Judy Dench could not outshine Jim Broadbent. Some viewers even noted that the duet of Judy and Jim was the most striking and memorable in this film.
According to Kinopoisk, Jim Broadbent is one of the most sought-after English actors: he has more than one hundred and forty films in his portfolio, and plans for shooting are planned for several years in advance. And the list of the best films in which the actor starred is very impressive. This includes: "Moulin Rouge!" (2001), Gangs of New York (2002), Cloud Atlas (2012), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Damn United (2009).
The list of the most famous TV series with the participation of Broadbent is also impressive: "The Heart of Every Man" (2010), "London Spy" (2015), "Game of Thrones" (2011-2019), "War and Peace" (2016), "Black Viper" (1982-1983).
As for the actor's skill, critics praised his work in Woody Allen's film Bullets Over Broadway (1994). The actor himself was just happy to star in this great director in such an atmospheric picture.
Actor Jim Broadbent has two other notable characteristic roles in cinema - historical films and children's. Filmmakers often chose him for the role of historical characters because of his suitable type. Jim looks great in costume paintings - as if he really is in the seventeenth or eighteenth century.
And since 2009, he has become famous among the children's audience - after playing Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter. Also in his filmography there is a children's film "The Chronicles of Narnia", and he participated in one of the film stories about Indiana Jones.
Personal life
Jim Broadbent is married - his chosen one was Anastasia Lewis, a designer of theatrical costumes. They have been together for thirty years, the couple lives permanently in London. True, Jim often travels to Hollywood to shoot.
