Jeremy Northam

Born: December 1st, 1961
Where: Cambridge, England

The actor is now breaking out from playing the suave, upper class English roles where he first made an impression.

Aristocratic roles such as Ivor Novello in Gosford Park and Wigram in Enigma, have given way to more challenging parts such as Cypher's Morgan Sullivan.

Born to academic parents (his father translated Ibsen), he attended Kings College Choir School in Cambridge before the family moved to Bristol.

Majoring in English at London University, he trained at the Old Vic Theatre School and won the Olivier Award for outstanding newcomer for The Voysey Inheritance.

He played the cultured Englishman in a number of TV series, including Wish Me Luck and Piece of Cake before making his feature debut in Wuthering Heights.

It was as Jack Devlin in 1995's The Net, opposite Sandra Bullock, that he first came to the attention of American audiences.

Next came a quick succession of roles, including Emma opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, Steven Spielberg's Amistad and the sci-fi thriller Mimic.

At the 1999 Edinburgh International Film Festival, he received the best British performance for Nigel Hawthorne in David Mamet's The Wilmslow Boy.

He went on to play an Italian aristocrat in The Golden Bowl, the singer-songwroter Ivor Novello in Robert Altman's Gosford Park and a shady agent in Enigma.

Recent work includes Possession (again with Paltrow) and the corporate spy Morgan Sullivan in Vincenzo Natali's Cypher.

He also essayed the slimy lothario Binney in the American remake of British TV's The Singing Detective with Robert Downey Jr.