Stephen Dillane Movies
A well-respected stage and TV actor who has also appeared in a number of films in his native England, Stephen Dillane is blessed with both exceptional talent and the kind of dark, wry good looks that allow him to move effortlessly through a variety of characterizations.Raised in South London as the son of a surgeon, Dillane first became involved in theatre while in school. He studied history and politics at Exeter University and then did a stint as a journalist for the Croydon Advertiser. As he developed an intense and unswerving hatred for journalism very early on, Dillane was soon casting his thoughts toward an alternate career and, after a few years, decided to chuck journalism for acting. After studying his adopted profession at the Bristol Old Vic theatre school, he began finding work on the stage and was soon racking up positive notices. His theatrical credits grew throughout the 1990s, with critically acclaimed work in the 1994 Peter Hall production of Hamlet, in which Dillane was cast as the eponymous Dane, and the London production of Angels in America.
Dillane first struck a responsive chord with British TV viewers in 1994, when he starred in The Rector's Wife. He went on to do starring screen work in Henry Jaglom's Deja Vu (1997), in which he played a painter, Firelight (1997), which cast him as a 19th-century aristocrat opposite Sophie Marceau, and Michael Winterbottom's Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), which featured Dillane as a journalist. In 2000, the actor received a Tony Award for his portrayal of a brilliant but emotionally evasive playwright in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, earning a new level of respect and recognition on both sides of the Atlantic.
Throughout the early part of the 2000's, Dillane appeared in an increasing number of high-profile films. In 2001 he was onscreen with the likes of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in Spy Game, and in 2002 he could be seen in The Truth About Charlie, Jonathan Demme's remake of Charade, and the critically-acclaimed The Hours. His next big-screen role would be as Merlin in Antoine Fuqua's 2004 historical retelling of the story of King Arthur. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- R
A woman is torn by both romantic and maternal love in this period romantic drama set in the 1830s. Elisabeth (Sophie Marceau), a Swiss governess, is the beautiful daughter of a once-prosperous landowner who has fallen deeply into debt. Charles Godwin (Stephen Dillane) is a prominent British aristocrat whose wife has suffered a crippling accident; doomed to spend the rest of her life in a semi-comatose state, she cannot bear Charles the child he so desperately needs. So Charles strikes an agreement with Elisabeth; she will conceive a child with him and hand it over after it is born in exchange for him paying off her father's debts. Elisabeth and Charles set aside three nights to make a baby, and while the matter is supposed to be purely functional and not romantic, Elisabeth finds it difficult to feel that way at the end of the third evening. She is heartbroken when she has to give up the child, and her obsession with the daughter she gave away is reflected in her journals and sketchbooks. Seven years later, Elisabeth discovers the whereabouts of Charles and their daughter, Louisa (Dominique Belcourt); when she learns they need a governess, she is hired for the position by Charles's sister-in-law Constance (Lia Williams), who is unaware that Elisabeth is Louisa's birth mother. When Charles discovers that Elisabeth is the new governess, he is furious, but he eventually takes pity on her and allows her to stay with the child for one month. However, before long, Elisabeth's attraction to Charles resurfaces, and their clandestine romance forces a number difficult questions. Firelight marked the directorial debut of noted screenwriter William Nicholson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophie Marceau, Stephen Dillane, (more)
Co-star Denis Leary co-wrote the script for this romantic comedy-drama. Leary plays Frank O'Brien, a no-class, small-time hood who is the boyfriend of Roz (Sandra Bullock), a cashier with a New York Jewish background who dreams of settling down and having kids. Roz wants out of the relationship but is fearful to break up. On a Friday, she accompanies Frank as he steals a painting. He tells her that it's his last job as a thief. Frank plans the delivery for Sunday evening so that they can turn the job into a getaway weekend. They go to a New England town and break into a huge home; the owners are on vacation. A sophisticated neighbor, Evan Marsh (Stephen Dillane), believes that they are friends of the owners' children and invites them to a party. Evan is an upper-class bachelor and is attracted to Roz. Roz goes horseback riding and boating with him, pretending a sophistication she doesn't possess, while Frank fumes at the rich rival. Meanwhile, Frank's crime boss Beano (Wayne Robson) learns that the painting Frank has stolen is a four-million-dollar Matisse and comes to the town with three henchmen. They are pursued by Detective O'Malley (Yaphet Kotto), who is trying to find a mysterious master art thief. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denis Leary, Sandra Bullock, (more)
D.H, Lawrence's early play about a married woman who wishes her husband dead after falling in love with another man comes to the screen in this adaptation starring Zoe Wannamaker and Colin Firth. When her wish becomes a horrifying reality, her life begins to change in ways she could have never anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Firth, Zoë Wanamaker, (more)
The wife of a kind but uninteresting preacher is scorned by her community for supplementing the family income by taking a job at the local grocery store in this drama starring Lindsay Duncan and based on the book by Joanna Trollope. Anna Bouverie's husband has been passed over for a job promotion, leaving her family financially destitute. Concerned that they will not be able to survive on the humble preacher's meager income, Anna decides to alleviate both the money issue and her personal boredom by accepting a position as a shelf stocker at the local grocery store. Largely mocked by the traditional-minded community for her benign act of independence, Anna soon begins to attract the attention of Cotswald Village's male population. Now, as the men in the small village begin falling in love with the beautiful married woman, Anna finds herself forced to choose between not only two men, but her commitments to her family and her own independence as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Duncan, Stephen Dillane, (more)
- 1993
Hostages is a made-for-cable film that chronicles the captivity of several Western hostages who were held in Lebanon for five years during the mid-'80s. Combining newsreel footage with re-enactment's, the film captures the horror of the hostages--Americans Terry Anderson, Thomas Sutherland, Frank Reed; British citizens John McCarthy, Terry Waite; and Irish teacher Brian Keenan--as they are held by the Muslim fundamentalist group, the Hezbollah. It also follows the trials and tribulations of their families, who struggle against government bureaucracy to free their loved ones. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Bates, Colin Firth, (more)
- 1992
The two-part Australian miniseries Frankie's House was based on photojournalist Tim Page's autobiography Page After Page. Set during the Vietnam war, the story recounted the adventures of Page (Iain Glen) and his erstwhile photographer partner. After numerous scrapes with death, Page managed to survive to tell his tale, but his partner was not so lucky, disappearing without a trace during a 1970 foray into Laos. The program's title referred to a brothel frequented by the principal characters. The two 120-minute episodes of Frankie's House were broadcast by Australia's ABC network in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Franco Zeffirelli directs his third Shakespeare adaptation (after Romeo and Juliet and Otello) with this film version of the tragedy Hamlet. The titular prince of Denmark (Mel Gibson), returns home to his family's castle of Elsinore after years of attending school in Germany to find out his father has died and his uncle Claudius (Alan Bates) is the new king. To make matters worse, Claudius has married Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude (Glenn Close), whom he has unusually strong feelings for. Hamlet is visited by his father's ghost (Paul Scofield), who asks him to seek revenge for his murder. In order to find out who the real killer is, Hamlet stages a theatrical scene resembling his father's death. Claudius is upset by the production and leaves to arrange for Hamlet's murder. In the ensuing confusion, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonious (Ian Holm) instead of Claudius; Hamlet's lover, Ophelia (Helena Bonham Carter), goes mad and commits suicide; and eventually Hamlet and Claudius both meet their fate. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, (more)
- 1990
An older woman recalls the circumstances that lead to the loss of her innocence in this touching, off-beat drama. For her, the road to worldliness began just after WW II when she fell in love with a poet and a real estate magnate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Joely Richardson, (more)
- 1989
In this British thriller, a married woman uses her feminine wiles to convince her lover to murder her husband so they can be together forever. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dillane
- 1987
This made-for-TV adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden stars Gennie James as spoiled-rotten Mary Lennox. When her parents die of cholera, Mary is whisked from her home in India to live in the forbidding Victorian mansion of her flint-hearted uncle (Derek Jacobi). Thanks to the friendship--and vivid imagination--of gardener's son Jadrien Steele, Mary learns that life is lived best when one cares for others. At the same time, her uncle begins to act like a human being. The only false note in this otherwise flawless production was the decision to clumsily frame the story with the narration of the adult Mary Lennox. Blessed with a top-rank British cast, including Michael Hordern, Billie Whitelaw, Lucy Gutteridge and Alison Doody (Harrison Ford's vis-a-vis in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this 1987 Secret Garden was first telecast as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
