Christopher Eccleston

English actorTemplate:SHORTDESC:English actor[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

Template:EngvarB
Template:Use dmy dates

**Christopher Eccleston** (Template:IPAc-en; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. The recipient of an Emmy Award and two BAFTA Award nominations, Eccleston is best known for his work on television and in film – in particular for his collaborations with directors Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom and writers Peter Flannery, Jimmy McGovern and Russell T. Davies.

Eccleston trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made his professional acting debut onstage in a Bristol Old Vic production of *A Streetcar Named Desire*. Eccleston garnered attention for his film roles as Derek Bentley in *Let Him Have It* and David Stevens in *Shallow Grave* and for his television performances in *Cracker* and *Hillsborough*. His BAFTA-nominated performance as Nicky Hutchinson in the BBC miniseries *Our Friends in the North* (1996) established Eccleston as a household name in the UK; he followed the serial with film roles in *Jude*, *A Price Above Rubies*, *Elizabeth*, *eXistenZ*, *Gone in 60 Seconds*, *The Invisible Circus*, *The Others*, *24 Hour Party People* and *28 Days Later* and television roles including the drama series *Clocking Off* and a second BAFTA-nominated performance as Messianic figure Stephen Baxter in the ITV drama serial *The Second Coming*.

Eccleston garnered widespread attention and acclaim for portraying the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC science fiction series *Doctor Who*, becoming the first to play the role since 1996. He departed the role after a single series, winning a National Television Award and receiving Broadcasting Press Guild Award and BAFTA Cymru Award nominations for his performance. Eccleston has since appeared in the television series *Heroes*, *The Shadow Line*, *Blackout*, *Lucan*, *The Leftovers*, *Safe House*, *Fortitude* and *The A Word* and films including *G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra*, *Thor: The Dark World* and *Legend*. He won an International Emmy Award for his performance in an episode of the anthology series *Accused*. Onstage, Eccleston has played the title roles in productions of *Hamlet* and *Macbeth* as well as starring in productions of *Miss Julie*, *A Doll's House* and *Antigone*. Since 2017, Eccleston has narrated the documentary series *Ambulance*.

## Early life

Christopher Eccleston was born into a working-class family in the Langworthy area of Salford, Lancashire, England, the youngest of three sons born to Elsie and Ronnie Eccleston. On his religious upbringing, he has said: "My dad’s family were Catholic. My mum was very Church of England – still is – but it doesn’t work for me." His brothers, Alan and Keith, are twins who are eight years older than him. The family lived in a small terraced house on Blodwell Street before moving to Little Hulton when Eccleston was seven months old. Eccleston attended Joseph Eastham High School, where he became head boy. At the age of 19, he was inspired to enter the acting profession by such television dramas as *Boys from the Blackstuff*.

Eccleston completed a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech before going on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama. As an actor, he was influenced in his early years by Ken Loach's *Kes* and Albert Finney's performance in *Saturday Night and Sunday Morning*, but he soon found himself performing the classics, including the works of Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Molière. At the age of 25, Eccleston made his professional stage debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production of *A Streetcar Named Desire*. Underemployed as an actor for some years after graduating from college, Eccleston took a variety of odd jobs at a supermarket, on building sites, and as an artist's model.

## Career

### Early work (1991–2005)

Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the film *Let Him Have It* (1991), and an episode of Inspector Morse "Second Time Around" (1991). In 1992, he played the role of Sean Maddox in the BBC drama miniseries *Friday on my Mind*. A regular role in the television series *Cracker* (1993–94) brought him recognition in the UK; and, after he told TV bosses of his desire to leave the series, they killed off his character in October 1994, making him a victim of the serial killer Albie Kinsella (Robert Carlyle). At around the same time, Eccleston appeared in the episode "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" of the *Poirot* series adapted from mysteries by Agatha Christie.

He appeared in the low-budget Danny Boyle film *Shallow Grave* (1994), in which he co-starred with actor Ewan McGregor. The same year, he won the part of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC drama serial *Our Friends in the North*, whose broadcast on BBC Two in 1996 helped make him a household name in the UK. Eccleston starred in an ensemble cast that included actors Mark Strong and Gina McKee, as well as Daniel Craig. In 1996, he took the part of Trevor Hicks—a man who lost both of his daughters in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster—in the television drama film *Hillsborough*, penned by Jimmy McGovern. In real life, he was the best man to Trevor Hicks at his wedding in March 2009.

His film career has since taken off with a variety of roles, including *Jude* (1996), *Elizabeth* (1998), *eXistenZ* (1999), *Gone in 60 Seconds* (2000), *The Others* (2001), *24 Hour Party People* (2002) and *28 Days Later* (2002). He played a major role as the protagonist of the 2002 *Revengers Tragedy*, adapted from Thomas Middleton's play of the same name. He starred in the independent films *A Price Above Rubies* (1998) and *The Invisible Circus* (2001). He starred in the car-heist film *Gone in 60 Seconds*, but did not take his driving test until January 2004. He said on BBC's *Top Gear* that his licence restricts him to vehicles with automatic transmission.

He has appeared in a variety of television roles, especially in British dramas. These have included *Hearts and Minds* (1995) for Channel 4, *Clocking Off* (2000) and *Flesh and Blood* (2002) for the BBC and *Hillsborough* (1996), a modern version of *Othello* (2001), playing 'Ben Jago', (the Iago character); and the religious telefantasy epic *The Second Coming* (2003) for ITV, in which he played Steve Baxter, the son of God. He has made guest appearances in episodes of the comedy drama *Linda Green* (2001) and macabre sketch show *The League of Gentlemen* (2002). Eccleston appeared in a stage role in *Hamlet* in the 2002 production at Leeds's West Yorkshire Playhouse. March–April 2004 saw him return to the venue in a new play, *Electricity*.

Eccleston has been twice nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards. His first nomination came in 1997 for *Our Friends in the North*, but he lost to Nigel Hawthorne (for *The Fragile Heart*). He was nominated in 2004 for *The Second Coming*; Bill Nighy won for *State of Play*. Eccleston won the Best Actor category at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for *Our Friends in the North*. In 2003 he won the RTS Best Actor award for a second time, for his performance in *Flesh and Blood*. In July 2004, a poll of industry experts, conducted by *Radio Times* magazine, voted Eccleston the "19th Most Powerful Person in Television Drama."

### *Doctor Who* (2005)

On 2 April 2004, it was announced that Eccleston was to play the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the revival of the BBC science fiction television series *Doctor Who*, the first series began transmission on 26 March 2005. Eccleston was the first actor to play the role who was born after the series began, albeit by less than three months. On 30 March 2005, the BBC released a statement, ostensibly from Eccleston, saying that he had decided to leave the role after just one series, because he feared becoming typecast. On 4 April 2005, the BBC revealed that Eccleston's "statement" was falsely attributed and released without his consent. The BBC admitted that they had broken an agreement made in January not to disclose publicly that he only intended to do one series. The statement had been made after journalists made queries to the press office.

On 11 June 2005, during a BBC radio interview, when asked if he had enjoyed working on *Doctor Who*, Eccleston responded by saying, "Mixed, but that's a long story." Eccleston's reasons for leaving the role continue to be debated in Britain's newspapers:Template:Citation needed on 4 October 2005 Alan Davies told *The Daily Telegraph* that Eccleston had been "overworked" by the BBC, and had left the role because he was "exhausted". Eccleston would later go on to say that he left the show because he "didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that the cast and crew had to work in", but that he was proud of having played the role. Noting in a subsequent interview that "My relationship with my three immediate superiors – the showrunner, the producer and co-producer – broke down irreparably during the first block of filming and it never recovered."

 File:Christopher Eccleston London.jpg
On 7 November 2008, at the National Theatre to promote his book *The Writer's Tale*, Russell T. Davies said that Eccleston's contract was for a single year because it was uncertain whether the show would continue beyond a single revival series. In retrospect, he says, it has been an enormous success, but at the time there were doubts within the BBC. Eccleston was voted "Most Popular Actor" at the 2005 National Television Awards for his portrayal of the Doctor.

In July 2012, Eccleston spoke positively of his time on *Doctor Who* during a talk at the National Theatre. This led to speculation he was considering making a return appearance as the Ninth Doctor for the show's 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", in 2013. The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, stated that he would have loved Eccleston to return but after discussing with executive producer Steven Moffat, Eccleston declined his role. However, in a 2018 interview Eccleston claimed that the BBC had "put [him] on a blacklist" when he left.

### Later work (2005–present)

On 30 October 2005, Eccleston appeared on stage at the Old Vic theatre in London in the one-night play *Night Sky* alongside Navin Chowdhry, Bruno Langley, David Warner, Saffron Burrows and David Baddiel. Eccleston sat on the 2nd Amazonas International Film Festival Film Jury in November 2005. The director Norman Jewison was chairman of the Jury. In December 2005, Eccleston travelled to Indonesia's Aceh province for the *BBC Breakfast* news programme, examining how survivors of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami were rebuilding their lives.

In March 2006, Eccleston appeared in the ITV documentary special *Best Ever Muppet Moments* as a commentator. In May 2006, he appeared as the narrator in a production of *Romeo and Juliet* at the Lowry theatre in his home city of Salford. The theatre company with which he performed, Celebrity Pig (of which he is patron), is made up of learning disabled actors. In August 2006, Eccleston filmed *New Orleans, Mon Amour* with Elisabeth Moss. The film was directed by Michael Almereyda and shot in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. It was released in 2008 to film festivals in America and Italy.

Late in 2006 he starred in *Perfect Parents*, an ITV drama written and directed by Joe Ahearne, who had directed him in *Doctor Who*. Eccleston joined the cast of the NBC TV series *Heroes* in the episode "Godsend", which was broadcast on 22 January 2007. Eccleston played a character named Claude who has the power of invisibility, and helps Peter Petrelli with his powers. Eccleston appeared as the Rider in a film adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel *The Dark Is Rising*, which opened in the USA on 5 October 2007.

Eccleston appeared on the BBC Four World Cinema Award show in February 2008, arguing the merits of five international hits such as *The Lives of Others* and *Pan's Labyrinth* with Jonathan Ross and Archie Panjabi. In 2009, Eccleston starred opposite Archie Panjabi in a short film called *The Happiness Salesman*. Eccleston agreed to do the film because of Panjabi and the fact that it was a winner of the British Short Screenplay Competition. He also appeared as the villainous Destro in the G.I. Joe film, *G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra*. Eccleston also appeared in an episode of *The Sarah Silverman Program* as the titular cult favourite science fiction hero in a show-within-the-show called "Dr. Laser Rage", possibly in reference to his stint in *Doctor Who*.

Eccleston was cast as John Lennon in a BBC production called *Lennon Naked* which aired in the UK on 23 June 2010, with Eccleston playing the title role, and Naoko Mori, who had previously appeared with him in *Doctor Who*, as Yoko Ono. In November 2010, Eccleston starred in the first episode of BBC One anthology drama *Accused*. He won an International Emmy Award for his role. In May 2011, he starred as Joseph Bede in *The Shadow Line*, a seven-part television drama serial for BBC Two.

On 31 December 2011, Eccleston played the role of Pod Clock in an adaptation of Mary Norton's children's novel *The Borrowers* on BBC One. In July 2012, he starred in the political thriller *Blackout* on BBC One. In the same month, he starred as Creon in an adaptation of *Antigone* at the Royal National Theatre; his performance in the play was called "charismatic" and "intense".

In 2013, Eccleston portrayed the villainous Malekith in *Thor: The Dark World*, the sequel to *Thor* and the eighth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Starting in 2014, he portrayed the regular character The Reverend Matt Jamison on the HBO drama series *The Leftovers*.

Eccleston began appearing in 2016 as Maurice Scott in the BBC drama *The A Word*. Maurice is the eccentric but lovable dad to his daughter who, with his husband, has an autistic son. The second series began airing in November 2017 both in the UK and the US, where *The A Word* airs on SundanceTV. A third series has now been confirmed, during his chat with the audience following a showing of Shallow Grave at the start Norwich Film Festival. Cast member Lee Ingleby was quoted as saying "We’ve always planned on doing it every two years." Series 3 of *The A Word* is set to air in the spring of 2020.

Eccleston has played the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of *Macbeth* in 2018.

## Personal life

Eccleston married copywriter Mischka, 20 years his junior, in November 2011. They had their first child, Albert, in February 2012. Their second child, Esme, was born in 2013. They were divorced in December 2015.

Eccleston formerly identified as an atheist, but in 2016 gave interviews describing his changing attitude towards faith and stated that he no longer considered himself an atheist, but agnostic. In a 2019 interview, he reaffirmed that he was an atheist.

He is a supporter of Manchester United and was a regular marathon runner until 2000.

In September 2007, as part of a £9.5m building scheme, Salford's Pendleton College named its new 260-seat auditorium the Eccleston Theatre.

Eccleston became a Mencap charity ambassador on 28 April 2005, and is also a supporter of the British Red Cross. He also supports research for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia; his father, Ronnie, suffered from vascular dementia in his later years, from 1998 until his death in 2012.

Politically, Eccleston has criticised the Conservative Party and expressed concern at opportunities for actors from his background to achieve his level of success in the future. He was quoted in July 2017 as saying, "It's always been a policy of the Conservative government and party to destroy working class identity. If you prevent them from having a cultural voice, which is what's happening, they achieve that. They hate us, they want to destroy us, so we're being ruled out of having a voice."

In his autobiography, Eccleston would describe chronic eating disorders and depression, and said that he had considered suicide. Speaking about his poor mental health he wrote that he was "a lifelong body hater".

## Filmography

### Stage

#### Performances with unknown dates

* *Woyzeck* – Birmingham Repertory Theatre
* *The Wonder* – Gate Theatre
* *Encounters* – National Theatre Studio

## References

1. ↑ Kelly, Laura (21 June 2010). "Christopher Eccleston", The Big Issue. Retrieved on 22 November 2010. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010.
2. ↑ Donnelly, Claire (17 April 2015). "Christopher Eccleston: My family values" (in en-GB), *The Guardian*.
3. ↑ Alan, one of Eccleston's brothers, appears in the party scene in the film *Heart*. Template:Webarchive ('Doctor in the house', *Observer.Guardian.co.uk*, 20 March 2005.)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fanshawe, Simon, Home truths: Christopher Eccleston Template:Webarchive, *Guardian.co.uk*, 15 January 2000.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Donnelly, Claire (17 April 2015). "Christopher Eccleston: My family values", The Guardian. Retrieved on 20 April 2015.
6. ↑ "At home with Christopher Eccleston". salfordstar.blogspot.com. 11 August 2006. http://salfordstar.blogspot.com/2006/08/at-home-with-christopher-eccleston.html. Retrieved 12 December 2008
7. ↑ Cranna, Ailsa (22 December 2005). "Tsunami victims' spirit of Salford". salfordadvertiser.co.uk. http://www.salfordadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/507516\_tsunami\_victims\_spirit\_of\_salford. Retrieved 22 December 2008
8. ↑ "Dr Who star Christopher Eccleston: 'Reading books should be for everyone'", This Is Lancashire (13 September 2013). Retrieved on 14 January 2014.
9. ↑ Jackson, Nick, "Little Hulton's reluctant film star"Template:Dead link, *BlackburnCitizen.co.uk*, 4 October 1996
10. ↑ "Some of Our Famous Alumni…" Template:Webarchive *CSSD.ac.uk*
11. ↑ "Christopher Eccleston: I hope I’ll be remembered for Doctor Who – but I don't watch it". http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-20/christopher-eccleston-i-hope-ill-be-remembered-for-doctor-who---but-i-dont-watch-it-2.
12. ↑ "The Changing Face of Doctor Who | How to regenerate a Time Lord". BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/changingwho/10301.shtml?page=16. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
13. ↑ Paddy Shennan (30 November 2010). "Christopher Eccleston says Jimmy McGovern's Hillsborough is most important work he's ever done". Liverpool Echo. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2010/11/30/christopher-eccleston-says-jimmy-mcgovern-s-hillsborough-is-most-important-work-he-s-ever-done-100252-27739218/. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
14. ↑ Dalton, Stephen, "A one-man awkward squad" *Timesonline.co.uk*, 3 February 2003
15. ↑ "BBC admits Dr Who actor blunder", *BBC News*, BBC (4 April 2005).
16. ↑ Leonard, Tom (4 October 2005). "Hamlet? Maybe not, but I'm not rubbish", *The Daily Telegraph* (London), Sun-Times Media Group.
17. ↑ "Christopher Eccleston talks about Doctor Who exit", *BBC News*, BBC (15 June 2010). Retrieved on 15 June 2010.
18. ↑ Hodges, Michael. "Christopher Eccleston on accent, class and difficult days on Doctor Who". https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-12-04/christopher-eccleston-on-accent-class-and-difficult-days-on-doctor-who/. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
19. ↑ "Christopher Eccleston in conversation". National Theatre. July 2012. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130406163057/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/christopher-eccleston-in-conversation-0. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
20. ↑ "Matt Smith: 'Eccleston Could Return to Doctor Who'". Femalefirst.co.uk. 3 August 2012. http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/tv/news/Matt+Smith-251021.html. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
21. ↑ Jeffery, Morgan (5 April 2013). "'Doctor Who' 50th: BBC denies Christopher Eccleston 'quitting' rumors – Doctor Who News – Cult". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.com.au/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a470766/doctor-who-50th-bbc-denies-christopher-eccleston-quitting-rumors.html. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
22. ↑ McLean, Gareth (12 March 2018). "Christopher Eccleston: ‘I gave Doctor Who a hit show and then they put me on a blacklist'" (in en). https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/mar/11/christopher-eccleston-macbeths-very-insecure-about-his-masculinity-i-am-most-men-are. "I was blacklisted… I was told by my agent at the time: 'The BBC regime is against you. You’re going to have to get out of the country'."
23. ↑ Bourne, Dianne, Eccleston lends a hand Template:Webarchive *ManchesterOnline.co.uk*, 2 November 2005.
24. ↑ "Christopher's Tsunami journey", *BBC News*, BBC (14 December 2005).
25. ↑ Thomas, Liz (7 April 2006). "Eccleston swaps time for crime in first post-Doctor drama", *The Stage*, The Stage Newspaper Limited.
26. ↑ Ausiello, Michael (15 November 2006). "Ask Ausiello", TV Guide Magazine.
27. ↑ "Eccleston suits up for 'G.I. Joe'", *The Hollywood Reporter* (12 February 2008).
28. ↑ "Dr Who to play Lennon in new TV drama". 15 November 2009. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/140443/Dr-Who-to-play-Lennon-in-new-TV-drama. Retrieved 28 December 2009
29. ↑ "Press Office – Network TV Programme Information BBC Week 25 Wednesday 23 June 2010". BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2010/wk25/wed.shtml#wed\_lennon. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
30. ↑ "BBC News – Antigone: Four star reviews for Christopher Eccleston". Bbc.co.uk. 1 June 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18293335. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
31. ↑ Fleming, Mike (1 August 2012). "We Have A 'Thor 2′ Villain: Christopher Eccleston To Play Malekith The Accursed". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120803002119/http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/we-have-a-thor-2-villain-christopher-eccleston-to-play-malekith-the-accursed/. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
32. ↑ "HBO: The Leftovers: Matt Jamison: Bio". HBO. http://www.hbo.com/the-leftovers#/the-leftovers/cast-and-crew/matt-jamison/index.html. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
33. ↑ "Archived copy". https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-06-01/the-a-word-series-3-future-lee-ingleby-innocent/.
34. ↑ Template:Citation
35. ↑ "About the Play: Macbeth". rsc.org.uk. https://www.rsc.org.uk/macbeth. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
36. ↑ Duncan, Andrew (20 April 2015). "Christopher Eccleston: I hope I’ll be remembered for Doctor Who – but I don't watch it", *The Radio Times*.
37. ↑ Odell, Michael (24 December 2011). "Christopher Eccleston tells Michael Odell what makes him angry and why he said no to Hollywood", *The Times* (London).
38. ↑ "Christopher Eccleston in conversation". *National Theatre*. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130406163057/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/christopher-eccleston-in-conversation-0. Retrieved 8 December 2012. "Question: Who had the most profound effect on your life, and what advice would you give to your son Albert? Eccleston: My mother and father, definitely, I had an incredibly happy childhood and loving and supportive parents, everything I've achieved in life is down to – getting a bit emotional here! – the start they gave me in life, without a doubt. My advice to Albert would be to try and get himself parents like I had. He's done it, he's got a mum like my mum."
39. ↑ Donnelly, Claire (17 April 2015). "Christopher Eccleston: My family values", The Guardian. Retrieved on 11 July 2015.
40. ↑ "Press Office – Accused: Christopher Eccleston plays Willy Houlihan", BBC (26 October 2010). Retrieved on 14 January 2014.
41. ↑ Gross, Terry (11 July 2016). "Christopher Eccleston On 'The A Word,' And Rethinking His Faith After 'The Leftovers'", *Fresh Air*.
42. ↑ "Christopher Eccleston at NYCC 2019" (October 2019).
43. ↑ My team: Christopher Eccleston on Manchester United Template:Webarchive *Observer.Guardian.co.uk*, 7 April 2002
44. ↑ Five Minutes With: Christopher Eccleston Template:Webarchive, *www.bbc.co.uk*, 24 March 2012.
45. ↑ Pendleton College: Pendleton TheatresTemplate:Dead link, *PendColl.ac.uk*.
46. ↑ Celebrity Ambassadors: Christopher Eccleston Template:Webarchive, *Mencap.org.uk*
47. ↑ Entertainment and Artists Supporters Network: Christopher Eccleston Template:Webarchive, *RedCross.org.uk*.
48. ↑ Christopher Eccleston: 'Dementia dismantled my father's personality' Template:Webarchive The Guardian, 31 May 2015
49. ↑ "Christopher Eccleston on accent, class and difficult days on Doctor Who" (in en). https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-12-04/christopher-eccleston-on-accent-class-and-difficult-days-on-doctor-who/.
50. ↑ Greig, Finlay (12 July 2017). "Christopher Eccleston: 'All areas of the arts are becoming ivory towers'", *i News*. Retrieved on 15 March 2018.
51. ↑ The Guardian 16 September 2019 eccleston reveals he is lifelong anorexic Template:Webarchive

## External links

Template:Commons category

* Template:IMDb name
* Template:Amg name
* Template:Screenonline name

Template:International EmmyAward Actor
Template:Doctor Who navbox

Template:Portalbar

Template:Authority control