Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Stephen Moyer Biography


Stephen Moyer, born in Brentwood, Essex, is the British television and film actor who plays Bill Compton in the HBO vampire drama series True Blood. Prior to being cast as the 166-year-old enigmatic vampire, he was known for his role as Michael Antonioni in the short-lived BBC series Ny-Lon (2004) co-starring Rashida Jones.

Stephen is also a theater actor, having appeared in productions of The Iron Man at the Young Vic Theatre and Romeo and Juliet with the Oxford Stage Company. On television, he made his debut on the British sitcom Conjugal Rites in 1993. Since then, Moyer has landed roles both in British television and film. In 1997, he got his big break as he portrayed the title character in the film Prince Valiant.

He has had the pleasure of working with popular actors and actresses both in the UK and in Hollywood. The list includes Keira Knightley (Princess of Thieves, 2001), Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet (Quills, 2000), Debra Messing (The Starter Wife, 2007), and Al Pacino (88 Minutes, 2007).

In 2008, Stephen was cast to star opposite Anna Paquin in Alan Ball's adaptation of the Southern vampire mystery book series by Charlaine Harris entitled True Blood. read more trivia

Stephen graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.Stephen is 5' 10" (1.78 m) tall. Stephen has been involved with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.Stephen has been cast as a vampire in a TV series twice: as Jack Berrisford on BBC's Ultraviolet and as Bill Compton in HBO's True Blood.

Stephen has worked three times with director Jon Avnet: The Starter Wife (2007), 88 Minutes (2007), and Uprising (2001).Like his character Michael in Ny-Lon, Stephen has had a long-distance relationship. It was with a girl living in Los Angeles while he was living in England.

Stephen is friends with German actor and Prince Valiant co-star Ken Duken.Stephen was supposed to appear in the FOX drama pilot NSA Innocent (retitled Company Man), but got the role in HBO's True Blood. His earlier role is taken over by Jason Behr.(edit)Stephen's theatrical credits include Romeo and Juliet, Columbus and the Discovery of Japan, and The Thebans.(edit)Stephen's other film and TV movie credits include Prince Valiant (1997), Princess of Thieves (2001), Uprising (2001), Menace (2002), Perfect (2003), Entrusted (2003), Empathy (2007), Alternate Endings (2007), and Restraint (2008).(edit)Stephen was a former pupil of St. Martins School, Hutton.

Stephen has a son named Billy, born in 2000 and a daughter named Lilac, born in 2002.

QUOTES
Stephen: The thing I'll always carry from Quills was watching the Cricket Test Series with Michael Caine with plates of food on our knees. He had a satellite dish on the roof of his Winnebago. I was very happy, I have to say.(edit)Stephen: I think New Yorkers and Londoners try to find comparisons with each other but they are very different. To New Yorkers, their city has a heart - it's a living breathing entity - and I don't think we think like that about London.

Stephen: (on acting in violent scenes with his character, Jimmy, in "Empathy") I'm not like that in real life, so when I get the chance to punch a bit of air and let out a bit of steam, I love it.

Stephen: The big difficulty with transatlantic relationships is that you want them to work and your whole heart is invested in it but it's the logistics that make it tough to keep it going. If you are an old romantic then it's really tough when things like logic take over.

Stephen: (in a 2007 interview) I said to my son not that long ago, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' He said, 'I'm going to have to go away and think about it.' So off he went. He came back and said, 'Daddy, I've decided that I want to be an actor.'

Stephen: (in a 2007 interview) If you'd asked me if I believed in the paranormal this time last year I'd have said no. I used to be an atheist, but I've chilled out a bit on that. A couple of things in the past year have made me think maybe there is something to it.

Stephen: ("we" being British actors) American actors are incredibly professional when preparing for a shot or getting into character, whereas we tend to be having a laugh and mucking about. We'll be more relaxed up until the point the camera rolls. That's not a criticism by any means, but there's a different way of working.

Stephen: (on working with director Jon Avnet) I love working with him. When somebody comes to the party with as much energy and as much enthusiasm as he does... he shoots everything as if it's The Godfather.

Stephen: I love the fact you can walk down a street in London and get lost even though you've lived here 20 years.

Stephen: (on shooting in New York) It was a dream to shoot there and not be a tourist.

Stephen: (on his "Ny-Lon" character, Michael Antonioni) He's this Essex boy who works in the city - I was drawn to this character who is not me at all but isn't a million miles from what I could have been.

http://www.tv.com/stephen-moyer/person/66844/biography.html

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