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Stephen Rea

Academy Award-nominated Stephen Rea is one of today's leading actors, having delivered critically acclaimed performances in film, television and theater. His longstanding relationship with renowned director Neil Jordan has spanned seven films, most notably The Crying Game, for which he received an Academy Award nomination and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor in 1992. Other collaborations with Jordan include the much-acclaimed The Butcher Boy; Michael Collins with Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts; Interview with a Vampire with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt; and In Dreams with Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr. Rea reunited with Jordan for The End of the Affair opposite Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore.

Rea recently starred opposite Sarah Polley in Audrey Wells' directorial debut Guinevere, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His other films include Robert Altman's Pret-a-Porter, Trojan Eddie, Angie, Princess Carboo, Bad Behavior, and Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet. He will next be seen in Peter Hyams' D'Artargnan opposite Tim Roth, Catherine Deneuve, Mena Suvari and Justin Chambers.

Rea has also received praise for television work, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Crime of the Century in 1996. He starred in Chris Gerolmo's Citizen X and received Best Actor at the Catalonian International Film Festival in Spain in 1995. His other television credits include Shadow of a Gunman, Days of Hope, The Plough and the Stars and Four Days in July. Rea will soon be seen playing an Orthodox Rabbi in Snow in August for Showtime.

A native of Belfast, Ireland, Rea formed the Field Day Theatre Company with respected Irish playwright Brian Friel in 1980, performing in all the company's productions, including Translations, Double Cross, Pentecost, Saint Oscar and Uncle Vanya. He also directed Field Day's presentation of Three Sisters. Rea's other stage work includes Playboy of the Western World at London's National Theatre and Aristrocrats at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. The Hampstead Theatre's production of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me moved to Broadway and earned Rea a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. Lastly, Rea was seen in Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes at The Royal Court Theatre in London.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2002.

Stephen Rea Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayOctober 31, 1949 (74)
SignScorpio
BirthplaceBelfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Height5' 8" (1m73)  How tall is Stephen Rea compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Copenhagen (2002)
Evelyn (2002)
The Musketeer (2001) as Cardinal Richelieu (breakthrough)
The End of the Affair (1999)
Cold Comfort Farm (1996)
Michael Collins (1996)
Citizen X (1995)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
The Crying Game (1992)
The Company of Wolves (1985)
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