Jeremy Irvine

Early life

Irvine was born Jeremy William Fredric Smith in Gamlingay on 18 June 1990, the son of Liberal Democrat councillor Bridget Smith and engineer Chris Smith. He has two younger brothers, one of whom portrayed a younger version of his character in Great Expectations (2012). His great-grandfather was Ralph Lilley Turner.

Irvine took his stage surname from his grandfather's first name. He started acting at age 16 after his drama teacher inspired him: "I never fitted in, which led me to acting. I was looking for something different." He played Romeo and other main roles in plays at Bedford Modern School, followed by a run with the National Youth Theatre.

After completing a one-year foundation course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Irvine spent two years posting his CV through letterboxes to get acting work, during which time he worked in his local supermarket and did web design. He almost gave up acting for good just before he got his big break in War Horse. In an interview with CBS News while promoting Great Expectations, he described this as the lowest point of his life and revealed that he considered taking a different career path: "I'd kind of hit rock bottom and really did think this was stupid and I just wasted three or four years of my life. My dad wanted me to get a job being a welder. At the company he was at, he was an engineer. I was very very close to doing that."

Career

Irvine played Luke in the television series Life Bites and appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2010 production of Dunsinane. He was quoted in Interview Magazine, saying: "My friends all took the mick out of me for Dunsinane saying, 'You're gonna be the tree'. Indeed, in my first scene, I was waving two branches."

In June 2010, he was cast in the lead role of the 2011 Steven Spielberg film War Horse. The film was an adaption of Michael Morpurgo's novel, also entitled War Horse. Spielberg revealed that he had been looking for an unknown actor for War Horse, stating: "I looked at hundreds of actors and newcomers for Albertmainly newcomersand nobody had the heart, the spirit or the communication skills that Jeremy had." Irvine was asked to read a section of the War Horse script on camera to check his West Country accent. In an attempt to prepare himself for the role of Albert, Irvine took up weight training and gained approximately 14 lb of muscle. He also underwent two months of intensive horse riding. He spent so much time recreating the Battle of Somme scene in the film that he ended up contracting trench foot. For his work, he was nominated for the London Film Critics' Choice Award for Young British Performer Of The Year and the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer.

In April 2011, Variety reported that Irvine had been cast as Pip in a 2012 film adaptation of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. In October 2011, The Hollywood Reporter announced that he was set to play the young Eric Lomax in the film production of The Railway Man. He earned a reputation as a method actor after he went for two months without food, losing around 2 stone, and performed his torture scene stunts in The Railway Man. He then starred in the independent film Now Is Good. In February 2013, Variety stated that he had been cast in a film based on the novel The World Made Straight. Also in 2013, he was cast as Daniel Grigori in the film Fallen, based on the young adult series by Lauren Kate.

On 12 August 2014, Deadline reported that Irvine had been cast as Percy Bysshe Shelley in Mary Shelley's Monster. In November 2015, he starred in Don Broco's music video for the song "Nerve". He attended the same school, Bedford Modern, as the band's members. The following month, he joined the cast of Billionaire Boys Club. In July 2017, he confirmed that he had joined the cast of The Last Full Measure. In 2018, he portrayed the younger version of Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. In 2019, he starred as John Randolph Bentley in the USA Network television series Treadstone. In February 2024, it was announced that he had been cast as Henry Beauchamp in the Outlander prequel series Outlander: Blood of My Blood. He is also set to portray James Sunderland in the upcoming horror film Return to Silent Hill, based on the Silent Hill video games. He will star in The Light Fantastic, a ballroom dancing comedy film directed by Chris Cottam.

Personal life

Irvine has had diabetes mellitus type 1 since he was six years old, revealing he was "on four injections a day", which he administered himself; his two brothers are also diabetic. He has been involved in trials with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to test an artificial pancreas, a form of automatic glucose meter attached to a portable insulin pump. The tests took place at Addenbrooke's Hospital with the University of Cambridge during 2005 and 2007. During a visit to the Cambridge Welcome Trust Clinical Research Facility on 7 February 2012, he discussed his experiences with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. He was again present with Camilla on 31 January 2013 at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's inpatient adolescent ward, after she became president of the JDRF in 2012.

Irvine married Jodie Spencer in 2024.

He is known for his private nature and told the Coventry Telegraph in 2012, "I realised very quickly that I didn't want to be famous, so I don't go to Mahiki, I just go down the pub with all my mates." He also told Yahoo Movies, "When War Horse came out, I had maybe a month of people stopping me in the street, then it died down. I try to ignore all that and pretend none of it exists. We're only acting. The work my mum does, a lot of it is rehousing homeless people, that's a real job."

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Music videos

References

References

1. "Jeremy William Fredric Smith". Endole.
2. (24 June 2010). "OBM chosen for Steven Spielberg's new film". Bedford Modern School.
3. Smith, Nigel M.. (22 December 2011). "''War Horse'' Breakout Jeremy Irvine". Indiewire.
4. (3 August 2017). "Five Things You Didn't Know About Jeremy Irvine".
5. "Great Expectations (2013)". Wild About Movies.
6. Vineyard, Jennifer. (29 December 2011). "Jeremy Irvine on War Horse, Great Expectations, and Changing His Last Name From 'Smith'". [[New York (magazine).
7. McLean, Craig. (29 November 2012). "Jeremy Irvine: Great Expectations film is like Dickens meets Bourne". The Telegraph.
8. (9 July 2009). "Disney calls for Jeremy". Biggleswade Chronicle.
9. (21 June 2010). "Hollywood beckons for former Bedford schoolboy". Bedford Today.
10. (17 June 2010). "Exclusive: War Horse Cast Announced". [[Empire (magazine).
11. (3 June 2009). "Jeremy lands TV job with Disney". Biggleswade Chronicle.
12. (23 January 2010). "The First Word: Jeremy Irvine's Going It Alone". The Drama Student Magazine.
13. Everett, Amy. (10 May 2012). "Jeremy Irvine: 'I Had No Work For Two Years!'". Entertainment Wise.
14. (31 October 2013). ""Great Expectations" star Jeremy Irvine almost gave up acting before his big break". CBS News.
15. Knowles, Keeley. (8 July 2009). "Teen actor's chance of Disney fame". Bedfordshire on Sunday.
16. Wilde, Crystal. (2 July 2009). "The daughter of a South Woodford pastor has landed a starring role hit Disney Channel show ''Life Bites''". This is Local London.
17. "Cast list". [[Royal Shakespeare Company]].
18. Cohn, Alison S.. (5 January 2012). "Jeremy Irvine". Interview Magazine.
19. McNary, Dave. (17 June 2010). "Jeremy Irvine is Spielberg's ''War Horse''". [[Variety (magazine).
20. (18 June 2010). "Steven Spielberg announces War Horse cast". BBC News.
21. Kitchener, Shaun. (9 January 2012). "Steven Spielberg Compares ''War Horse'' Jeremy Irvine To Christian Bale". Entertainment Wise.
22. (16 August 2011). "War Horse Jeremy Irvine Interview". LSQTV.
23. Galloway, Stephen. (29 December 2011). "How to Become a Star In 1 Easy Lesson: ''War Horse''{{'}}s Jeremy Irvine". The Hollywood Reporter.
24. (19 December 2011). "War Horse star picked up trench foot while filming first world war tale". [[The Guardian]].
25. "Awards for Jeremy Irvine". [[Internet Movie Database]].
26. Sneider, Jeff. (14 April 2011). "''War'' star Irvine meets ''Expectations''". Variety.
27. White, James. (15 April 2011). "Jeremy Irvine Meeting Great Expectations". Empire.
28. Miller, Daniel. (31 October 2011). "''War Horse'' Star Jeremy Irvine to Play Young Colin Firth in ''The Railway Man''". The Hollywood Reporter.
29. (22 January 2013). "Irvine: I lost two stone for role". Irish Independent.
30. (2 November 2011). "Jeremy Irvine". The Hollywood Reporter.
31. "Film Review: Now Is Good starring Dakota Fanning & Jeremy Irvine". Sugarscape.
32. McNary, Dave. (7 February 2013). "Thesp trio on ''Straight'' line". Variety.
33. (12 August 2014). "''Game Of Thrones'' Sophie Turner Set For ''Mary Shelley's Monster'' Opposite Jeremy Irvine, Taissa Farmiga".
34. (13 November 2015). "Don Broco reveal video for ''Nerve'' featuring Jeremy Irvine". Punktastic.
35. McNary, Dave. (15 December 2015). "Billie Lourd, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeremy Irvine Join ''Billionaire Boys Club'' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
36. "Jeremy Irvine on Instagram: "Sucking up boot camp training in the jungle like a man "".
37. (3 August 2017). "Jeremy Irvine and Alexa Davies Join Cast of MAMMA MIA Sequel". Broadway World.
38. (11 January 2020). "Jeremy Irvine actually 'punched some guy's teeth out' in new thriller ''Treadstone''".
39. (5 February 2024). "'Outlander' Prequel Series at Starz Sets Lead Cast, Begins Productions". Variety.
40. Wiseman, Andreas. (15 March 2023). "Horror Reboot ''Return To Silent Hill'' Will Star Jeremy Irvine & Hannah Emily Anderson, Plot Confirmed With Filming To Begin Next Month".
41. (October 24, 2024). "Rupert Everett, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Jeremy Irvine and Layton Williams Join Ballroom Dancing Rom-Com ‘The Light Fantastic’". Variety.
42. "Jeremy Smith". Diabetes Research Networking. [[National Health Service]].
43. Walsh, Fergus. (5 February 2010). "The pump has been really liberating". [[BBC News]].
44. Walsh, Fergus. (5 February 2010). "Artificial pancreas hope for children with diabetes". BBC News.
45. Walsh, Fergus. (5 July 2007). "Artificial pancreas for diabetics". BBC News.
46. (8 February 2012). "Duchess of Cornwall sees Cambridge hospital diabetes work". BBC News.
47. Southwell, Fae. (9 February 2012). "War Horse star meets Duchess of Cornwall". BBC Look East.
48. Nice, Emily. (7 February 2013). "Actor joins Duchess to show support for diabetes charity". Cambridge News.
49. Rigney, Catriona. (18 July 2024). "Mamma Mia star Jeremy Irvine marries long-term girlfriend Jodie Spencer in drag queen–themed ceremony". OK! Magazine.
50. Irvine, Jensen. (2024-07-18). "Finally home after 8 months of filming – fun – and a wedding, marrying my best friend".
51. Bentley, David. (10 December 2012). "Great Expectations star Jeremy Irvine reveals 'acting masterclass' with Colin Firth in The Railway Man - but says he doesn't want fame". Coventry Telegraph.
52. (27 November 2012). "Rising star Irvine not seeking fame". Yahoo! Movies.
53. O'Hanlon, Dom. (7 November 2016). "Interview with Buried Child star Jeremy Irvine".