Jamie Bell
Jamie Bell
Andrew James Matfin Bell is an English actor and dancer who rose to prominence for his debut role in Billy Elliotfor which he won the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He is also known for his roles in the films King Kong, Jumper, The Adventures of Tintin, and Snowpiercer, as well as starring as Abraham Woodhull in the TV series, Turn: Washington's Spies. He portrayed The Thing in the 2015 film Fantastic Four...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth14 March 1986
CityBillingham, England
Saying "muff" to someone and trying to be romantic is incredibly difficult.
I think a mantra I always told myself is, "No matter how many times somebody pitches the ball at you, if you swing every time, eventually one of them is going to connect." Being yourself and persistence are two things that became my daily mantras, I suppose.
The reason I do small, independent movies is because I want to keep my soul intact and maintain some kind of integrity within this industry.
Any time you can completely immerse yourself in something it's fun.
I love anything that kind of removes me from myself and employs something else. So, I love accents and I love pretending.
It must be hard to be a female in a David Mackenzie movie. I feel like women in his films are portrayed a certain way - like broken people.
New York is great for people watching and there's a bunch of amazing rooftops.
As a kid I never had the impulse to climb anything. I think that most kids who live in small towns or rural areas outside of the city, that's what they do - climb walls, or trees, or whatever. To me, it was more dance classes and not being very boyish.
I have a problem with heights in general - and climbing!
It's weird how an actor can read a script and think 'it's really good, it's really funny, that's going to be really dramatic...' and then you get there and say: "Oh, I have to get in it? I have to get in the water?! Are you kidding?"
I never realised that the Edinburgh skyline was so interesting - it's gothic and very urban and there's a lot of church spires and old brownstone buildings.
That's just a much more enjoyable and motivating experience for me, when I can see people who are just as obsessed with the idea as I am.
I'm proud of my works. But there's not one thing that I can put my finger on and say, "That is my greatest achievement. That's my proudest moment." That's so tricky to me.
It's hard to define somebody by one movie. I mean, unfortunately, my entire life was basically made by Billy Elliot. It was kind of created by that one catalytic moment.