Ben Daniels

Early life

Daniels was born on 10 June 1964 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. His father was an engineer at Rolls-Royce and later a grocer, while his mother owned a children's clothes shop. He has recalled: "I was quite a shy child, but quite disruptive as well. I was very sneaky and underhanded."

Daniels was educated at Manor Park School, a state comprehensive school in Nuneaton, near Coventry, in Warwickshire (since closed). According to Daniels, drama lessons at O-levels gave him a voice, and when he attended sixth form studies at Stratford College between 1980 and 1982, doing A-levels in theatre studies and English literature, he attended Royal Shakespeare Company performances. A fellow student recalled that Daniels, whom he knew as Dave, "was very serious about his work, and struck me as incredibly intelligent... you got the sense his mind was working; the cogs were ticking over". Daniels subsequently trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) for three years.

Career

One of Daniels' earliest roles was as Justin Hayward, the lead singer of the Moody Blues, as a teenager in two of the band's music videos, "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986) and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (1988). In 1992, he made an appearance in the infamous plane crash episode "Cascade" of the television show Casualty, playing the co-pilot of the doomed plane. He has taken on parts in many British television dramas, such as Robin in The Lost Language of Cranes (1991), the Biblical character Jonathan in the 1997 Emmy-nominated TV film David, the philandering Finn Bevan in Cutting It (2002–2005), and Nicholas Brocklehurst in the BBC television miniseries The State Within (2006). The latter role was notable for an unexpected same-sex kiss between Daniels' character and another person. In 2008 he appeared in Lark Rise to Candleford, a BBC production based on three semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside written by Flora Thompson.

Daniels has also played a number of real-life characters, such as German State Secretary Dr. Josef Bühler in Conspiracy, a 2001 dramatisation of the Wannsee Conference at which the Final Solution was endorsed. He also played the author and journalist Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, in Ian Fleming: Bondmaker (2005), as well as Sir Francis Walsingham in The Virgin Queen (2005) and English writer Saki in Who Killed Mrs De Ropp? (2007). In addition, he has made guest appearances in a number of British TV drama series, including Soldier Soldier (1992), A Touch of Frost (1992), Outside Edge (1994), Spooks (2005), and Merlin (2011). In 2017, Daniels made a guest appearance as a priest in a Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons.

Daniels may be most recognisable to American audiences for appearing in the 1996 film Beautiful Thing. Daniels portrayed Tony, boyfriend of Sandra, the protagonist Jamie's mother. In an independent film directed by Lavinia Currier titled Passion in the Desert (1997), Daniels played a French soldier named Augustin Robert. The film was nominated for a Golden Seashell award. Other feature films that Daniels has starred in are The Bridge (1992), I Want You (1998), Madeline (1998), and Doom (2005). He was offered roles in the 2000 releases The Patriot and Vertical Limit, but turned them down and stated that "the money was good, but it wasn't for me". Daniels had a brief appearance as General Antoc Merrick in the Star Wars film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Daniels has said that he loves acting on stage because "it's tough and keeps you on your toes as an actor". He appeared in All's Well That Ends Well and As You Like It (1999–2000), and played Mercutio in a 1994 TV adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Other theatre credits include Waiting for Godot (1994) and 900 Oneonta (1994), which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards. He also acted in Martin Yesterday (1998), for which he was nominated as Best Actor in the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, Naked (1998), Tales From Hollywood (2001), Three Sisters (2003), Iphigenia at Aulis (2004), The God of Hell (2005), and The Wild Duck (2005–2006). In 2006, Daniels appeared in Thérèse Raquin as Laurent, for which a reviewer labelled his performance "riveting". On 1 April 2018, Daniels appeared as Pontius Pilate in the NBC live musical, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!.

Daniels won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards and the 25th Laurence Olivier Awards in 2001 for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons. He was first nominated for the latter award earlier in his career, in 1991, for his performance as murderer Richard Loeb in the play Never the Sinner at the Playhouse Theatre. In 2008, Daniels fulfilled a lifetime ambition when he made his Broadway début, headlining as the Vicomte de Valmont in a revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The show opened on 1 May 2008. Daniels was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his role.

Daniels played a recurring role as prominent photographer Adam Galloway in the Netflix series House of Cards (2013-2014). He played the role of lawyer Rory Murray in the second season of Passenger List, a fictional podcast produced by Radiotopia. He portrays thespian vampire Santiago on the series Interview with the Vampire.

Personal life

Daniels was in a relationship with actor Ian Gelder from 1993 until the latter's death in May 2024. They met during the production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane. The couple resided in South London. Daniels was already sure of his orientation in his teens (he once remarked: "Out? I've never been in") although he did not discuss the matter with his parents because they did not have a very close emotional relationship. He was "cautious about mentioning it when I left drama school, because AIDS was terrifying everyone and there was a huge homophobic backlash". He decided to reveal his homosexuality at the age of 24, while appearing in an all-star benefit performance of Martin Sherman's Bent.

Daniels said in an interview in 2001: "Homophobia is still shockingly prevalent in film and TV. I know I've lost work because of being gay, and it is always an issue. Even on a serious BBC Two drama, there will be some suit in some office going, "Hmmm, isn't he a poof?" I don't consider myself politically gay, but whenever I catch a whiff of that now, I'm on it like a ton of bricks." In 2007, Daniels was ranked number 79 in the annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian people in Britain published by The Independent on Sunday, down from number 47 in 2006.

In his spare time, he is an amateur painter and a practitioner of Ashtanga yoga. From a young age to his early forties, Daniels suffered from sleep paralysis.

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Katie Shimmon. (17 May 2005). "College days [Ben Daniels]". [[The Guardian]] (EducationGuardian).
2. [https://www.nbc.com/jesus-christ-superstar/credits/cast " ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' Cast"] nbc.com
3. (20 June 2018). "The Crown: Ben Daniels to Play Lord Snowdon in Time-Jumped Season 3".
4. (11 February 2019). "'Jupiter's Legacy': Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, Ben Daniels & Matt Lanter Among 7 Cast In Netflix Series".
5. (18 July 2023). "Ben Daniels on playing Bel Riose in Foundation season 2: 'He's based on a real-life Roman general'". Future Publishing.
6. {{IMDb name. 0199842. Ben Daniels. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
7. Nick Curtis. (17 June 2004). "Cutting it on stage". [[Evening Standard]].
8. Marion McMullen. (16 January 2010). "Nuneaton actor Ben Daniels in TV crime drama Law & Order". Coventry Telegraph.
9. (2005). "Ben Daniels – Augustin". [[Fine Line Features]].
10. Robert Urban. (15 February 2007). "Ben Daniels is our kind of gay actor". AfterElton.com.
11. "Who killed Mrs De Ropp?".
12. "Ben Daniels Credits". tvguide.com.
13. "Passion in the Desert".
14. (c. 2003). "Interview with Ben Daniels". [[Television New Zealand]] (TVNZ).
15. (2008). "Ben Daniels – Caiaphas". bbc.co.uk.
16. Heather Neill. (15 November 2006). "Therese Raquin [review]".
17. (2018). "Jesus Christ Superstar Live: Power's Brandon Victor Dixon Cast as Judas". [[Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!]], [[TVLine]].
18. "Ben Daniels". Markham & Froggatt.
19. "Awards database: Ben Daniels". The Envelope: The Awards Insider, [[Los Angeles Times]].
20. (23 February 2001). "Olivier award winners in full". BBC News.
21. "Ben Daniels". [[Television New Zealand]] (TVNZ).
22. (27 November 2007). "Laura Linney, Ben Daniels to headline Broadway revival of ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses''". Broadway.com.
23. (27 November 2007). "Roundabout Theatre Company: Les Liaisons Dangereuses". Entertainment, Cabaret, Broadway, Opera, Ballet & Concerts NYC.
24. (May 2008). "Meet the nominees: Who's nominated?". [[Tony Awards.
25. Denise Petski. (14 March 2023). "Ben Daniels joins Interview with a Vampire"".
26. "Ben Daniels". IMDb.
27. (8 May 2024). "Ian Gelder: Game of Thrones actor who played Kevan Lannister dies aged 74". BBC.
28. (6 May 2007). "The Pink List 2007: The ''IoS'' annual celebration of the great and the gay". [[The Independent.
29. Marc Shoffman. (3 July 2006). "Ian McKellen ranked most influential gay man". [[Pink News]].
30. (8 December 2016). "The Exorcist: Interview: Ben Daniels". scifibulletin.com.
31. (15 October 2016). "'Rogue One': New 'Star Wars' images revealed in Topps Trading Cards – exclusive'".
32. "Ben Daniels – Hamilton Hodell CV". Hamilton Hodell.
33. Busch, Caitlin. (1 February 2024). "Does Argylle Have a Post-Credit Scene?". [[NBC News]].
34. (16 April 2004). "Cutting It is back on BBC ONE: Ben Daniels is Finn Bevan [interview]". [[BBC.
35. (23 October 2006). "The State Within: Ben Daniels plays Nicholas Brocklehurst [interview]". [[BBC.
36. Ian Wylie. (23 February 2009}}; {{citation). "Law & Order gets UK makeover". BBC News.
37. "Never mind Oscar, here's the 2017 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Nominees Ballot!".
38. "The 2017 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Winners and Full Results!".
39. "Ben Daniels – Cine Awards".
40. "Ben Daniels Won Cine Award".
41. (15 August 2017). "Exorcist Director To Haunt The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror".
42. (February 2022). "'Foundation' Season 2 Adds 10 to Cast and Debuts First Look".
43. (March 2023). "'Ben Daniels Joins Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire'".
44. (December 2022). "'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Recasts Adar, Add 6 More Actors in Season 2".
45. Charles Spencer. (31 August 2002). "Top five theatrical sex scenes". The Daily Telegraph.
46. Michael Billington. (9 August 2001). "All My Sons, National Theatre, London". [[The Guardian]].
47. Lizzie Loveridge. (3 May 2001}}{{Dead link). "Tales from Hollywood [archive page]". Albemarle of London.
48. Philip Fisher. (1 June 2003). "''Three Sisters'' by Anton Chekhov, in the new version by Nicholas Wright, RNT Lyttelton". The British Theatre Guide.
49. Michael Billington. (23–27 June 2004). "NT: Archive: Iphigenia at Aulis [excerpts from reviews]". [[Royal National Theatre]].
50. Charlotte Loveridge. (27 October 2005}}; {{citation). "God of Hell [review]". CurtainUp.com: The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings.
51. Charles Spencer. (19 October 2005). "Casting update for The Wild Duck at The Donmar". London Theatre Guide.
52. CB. (21 August 2006). "National makes Waves with two new productions". Official London Theatre Guide.
53. Kimberley Kaye. (24 April 2008). "Ben Daniels". Broadway.com.
54. Mark Shenton. (14 July 2011). "Ben Daniels: An out and out success". The Stage.
55. Ben Brantley. (18 July 2011). "London Theater Journal: Amoral clarity". [[The New York Times]].
56. Ryan Schwartz. (22 February 2018). "Jesus Christ Superstar Live: Power's Brandon Victor Dixon Cast as Judas". TVLine.
57. (6 December 2018). "61st Annual GRAMMY Awards". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
58. (23 October 2020). "Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart Open at National Theatre". Royal National Theatre.
59. (9 December 2021). "22nd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards".
60. (8 March 2022). "Olivier Awards 2022".
61. (3 April 2022). "31st Critics Circle Theatre Awards".
62. (19 October 2022). "Sophie Okonedo and Ben Daniels to star in Medea in the West End".