Christian Cooke

Early life and education

Cooke was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He attended St Mary's Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy. He has an older brother, Alexander, a younger sister, Gabrielle, and is a first cousin to Mel B from the Spice Girls through his mother, Di, who is sister to Mel's mother, Andrea Brown.

Cooke began his acting career at the age of 10 when he appeared in a production of Bedazzled at the Bingley Arts Centre. His first television appearance was in a commercial for Birds Eye beef burgers, shortly followed by his first lead role as Wilmot Tanner in Granada Television series Wilmot. His career progressed from there.

Career

Cooke played the role of Luke Kirkwall from 2000 to 2006 in the ITV drama Where the Heart Is and guest starred in Doctors, Barking!, The Royal, Casualty & Inspector George Gently. In 2007, he starred in one episode of BBC's Robin Hood as Will Scarlett's younger brother Luke and made his film debut in the short film Wish.

Cooke also appeared in BBC One's The Chase and played Brae Marrack in the ITV1 soap opera Echo Beach. He guest-starred in the Doctor Who episodes "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky", playing UNIT soldier Ross Jenkins, in 2008.

During 2009, he played the lead roles of Luke Rutherford in ITV1's supernatural drama Demons & Lord Dorian Gaudain in ITV2's eight-part drama Trinity, where he had several rear nude scenes in its first episode, and appeared in Syfy's television film Dark Relic the following year. He went on to play the lead role of Freddie Taylor in Cemetery Junction and starred in the critically acclaimed Channel 4 four-part drama The Promise, directed by Peter Kosminsky in 2011. That same year, Cooke made his directorial debut in Chandide, an independent short film based in London written & produced by Trinity co-star Arnab Chanda, who also starred in the lead role, before completing Paramount Pictures' romantic comedy Drunk Wedding. The following year, he featured in 1950s Miami-set drama series, Magic City, which came to a close after two seasons in August 2013.

Cooke's film career has since grown in the form of two collaborations with director Bryn Higgins, titled Unconditional and Electricity, starring alongside Charlie Cox in British independent Hello Carter, playing Mercutio in Carlo Carlei's Romeo and Juliet and starring alongside Lily Collins in British-American romantic comedy Love, Rosie. He also made a return to short films, starring in Nativity-inspired Anomaly before taking the lead in Fare with Maimie McCoy, and has since featured regularly throughout the second season of American television series Witches of East End before Lifetime announced the show's cancellation in November 2014.

Spring 2015 saw Cooke return to British television in BBC two-part book-adaptation drama Stonemouth, the first adaptation of Iain Banks' work since his death in 2013, opposite Sharon Small, Gary Lewis & Peter Mullan, as well as the announcement of Magic Citys movie adaptation starring alongside Bruce Willis & Bill Murray, reprising his role as Danny Evans. On top of his return to British television, his role as Stewart Gilmour in Stonemouth marked his return to a lead role, and towards the summer of 2015 came the announcement of a return to directing with Peter Mullan & Michelle Fairley taking the lead roles in short film Edith; news that was followed by the release of Crackle original drama The Art of More, leading alongside Dennis Quaid & Kate Bosworth, where Cooke starred as ex-soldier Graham Connor.

The start of 2016 brought in a reunion with Hello Carter director Anthony Wilcox, starring alongside Example, for Instagram-exclusive Shield 5, the first short film to be distributed across this platform. A year later, and Cooke's career grows in the form of a role in the premiere theatre production of Experience by Dave Florez at Hampstead Theatre, appearing in Yaël Farber's production of Knives In Hens by David Harrower at the Donmar Warehouse and collaborating with Edith producers Sara Huxley & April Kelley to co-produce comedy series Annie Waits.

In April 2018 Cooke played the part of Mickey Argyll in Ordeal by Innocence, a role initially portrayed by Ed Westwick, who was replaced by Cooke amid allegations of sexual assault.

Projects currently under way for Cooke include short film Everything You Didn't Say alongside Magic City co-star Olga Kurylenko, a Netflix adaptation of Point Blank and a feature film adaptation of Knives In Hens, titled Embers.

Filmography

Television

Film

Director

Producer

Theatre

References

References

1. "Christian Cooke Profile".
2. Barnett, David. (19 December 2008). "Christian is fired up for star TV role". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
3. Hardaker, Andrea. (2 January 2009). "Christian Cooke stars in prime time ITV show". Ilkley Gazette.
4. (2 February 1998). "Scary's Cousin Alex fits The Bill". Ilkley Gazette.
5. "Christian Cooke – TV.com".
6. "Christian Cooke Spotlight".
7. [https://vimeo.com/13689362 "Wish"] [[Vimeo]]
8. "The Sontaran Strategem".
9. "The Poison Sky".
10. Wilkes, Neil. (11 December 2008). "2009 TV Preview: ITV2's ''Trinity''". [[Digital Spy]].
11. [http://www.syfy.co.uk/movies/dark-relic "Syfy Movies – Dark Relic"] [[Syfy]]
12. "Ricky Gervais talks ''Cemetery Junction''". Indie London.
13. [https://vimeo.com/87100584 "Chandide"] [[Vimeo]]
14. link. (24 March 2012 Business of Cinema. 3 June 2011)
15. [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/starz-series-magic-city-full-196563 Starz series ''Magic City'' full cast announced] ''The Hollywood Reporter''. 9 June 2011
16. [http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/magic-city-cancelled-by-starz-no-season-three-29365/ ''Magic City'' cancelled by Starz] tvseriesfinale. 5 August 2013
17. [https://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/115329271 "Vimeo Staff Pick – Anomaly"] [[Vimeo]]
18. [http://tvline.com/2014/05/07/witches-of-east-end-season-2-premiere-date-lifetime/ ''Witches of East End'' Season 2 premiere date] {{Webarchive. link. (17 January 2022 tvline. 7 May 2014)
19. [http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/11/04/witches-of-east-end-canceled/ ''Witches of East End'' cancelled by Lifetime] insidetv. 4 November 2014
20. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/stonemouth-casting "Stellar cast announced for BBC adaptation of Iain Banks’ ''Stonemouth''"] ''[[BBC Television]]''. 21 October 2014
21. [http://www.cityam.com/210730/christian-cooke "Christian Cooke is one of the UK’s hottest new actors"] ''[[City AM]]''. 5 March 2015
22. [http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/tv-news/news/christian-cooke-i-was-waiting-for-a-role-like-stonemouth "Waiting for a role like ''Stonemouth''"] ''[[What's on TV]]''. 4 June 2015
23. [http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/tv-radio/stonemouth-s-christian-cooke-soldiers-on-1-3795101 "Christian Cooke Soldiers On"] ''[[The Scotsman]]''. 7 June 2015
24. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/stonemouth/christian "Stonemouth Media Pack"] ''[[BBC Television]]''. 19 June 2015
25. [https://www.instagram.com/shieldfive/ "Shield 5"] [[Instagram]]
26. [http://miniproductions.co.uk/portfolio/annie-waits/ Mini Productions presents Annie Waits] [http://miniproductions.co.uk/ Mini Productions]
27. "Ordeal by Innocence – Who is starring in the Agatha Christie adaptation? Meet the cast and characters". bt.com.
28. (31 March 2018). "Ordeal By Innocence: The Christie Mystery that almost got away". The Times.
29. Keslassy, Elsa. (February 28, 2024). "Chess Thriller 'Rematch,' Bought by HBO Europe and Disney+, Sets Milestone for French Banners Arte, Unité and Federation (EXCLUSIVE)".
30. Kamathi, Denis. (22 March 2024). "Russell Tovey and Tom Blyth Strike a Pose in 'Plainclothes' Set Images".