Ben Chaplin

Born: July 31, 1970
Where: Windsor, Berkshire, UK

For a boy kicked out of drama school Ben's not having a bad career.

He was asked to leave during his second year at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London; "I wasn't the right kind of actor for the school; I was young and outspoken."

A resulting spell as a Clerk for the London Transport Authority didn't put him off his game. After appearing in a play at the age of 16 he'd decided he was definately becoming an actor.

The youngest of four children Ben Chaplin was born and raised in leafy, middle-class Windsor. An admittedly lazy student who harbored no desire to go to university, he found his calling as a teenager when he appeared in a play.

After the hiccup at drama school he found work at theater companies. In 1992, Chaplin landed his first break starring alongside James Purefoy and Jason Flemyng in Bye Bye Baby for Channel Four.

He made it to the big screen in the Merchant Ivory drama The Remains of the Day, playing a footman, and then reteamed with the same crew as the socially inept Con Wainwright in Feast of July.

1995 proved to be a significant year for the actor. He garnered raves as Tom in a Sam Mendes-directed production of The Glass Menagerie on the London stage, and won the hearts of many as the cocky, agoraphobic stud Matthew Malone in cult BBC sitcom Game On!

Crossing the pond, director Michael Lehmann cast Ben as a photographer caught between two women, in The Truth About Cats & Dogs. Displaying an easy charm and affable screen presence, Chaplin found himself in demand.

With his tousled dark hair, charming smile and plummy accent, Ben emerged as an unlikely sex symbol after co-starring with Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman in the hit comedy.

"He was a most affable fellow. Everyone in the make-up department had a crush on him," noticed Garofalo on the set.

Yet, the performer didn't exactly become an overnight star in America as predicted. Notoriously discerning in his choice of roles, Chaplin opted to follow his winning turn with intense parts.

He said he wouldn't mind achieving a level of fame, but revealed he is unwilling to do so unless it is on his terms.

Eschewing the obvious, he stepped into the boots of Montgomery Clift essaying the fortune hunting Morris Townsend in a retelling of Washington Square, co-starring Jennifer Jason Leigh.

The film failed to generate much interest at the box office. His next was even more of a risk. Cast as Private Bell in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, Chaplin emerged as one of the film's key figures, but many reviewers overlooked his contribution and concentrated on Malick's efforts.

He fared much better as a low-level bank clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he selects a Russian mail-order bride (played by Nicole Kidman) in Birthday Girl.

Racking up some impressive leading ladies, Chaplin next teamed with Sandra Bullock as her inexperienced partner aiding in investigating a series of killings in Murder By Numbers.

Ben's family and personal life has always been important to him. His businessman father died in 1999, his mother is a retired teacher and he has three older siblings.

"I was the youngest of four; perhaps that's it," he has said. "The youngest wants to show off. You get adored, and you get some limelight."

Romantically he's been linked to actress Embeth Davidtz, who reportedly left Harvey Keitel for him while filming Feast of July in 1995.

Wary of fame intruding in those relationships Ben has said; "I want to be a good actor. A certain amount of fame goes with that, but it's nothing you want as a concept. It seems unhealthy."