Ben Whishaw
☼ Born on 14 December 1980, in Clifton, Bedfordshire, England, UK
Biography
Widely regarded as one of the greatest stage and screen actors of his generation both in his native Great Britain and internationally, Benjamin John Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire, to Linda (Hope), who works in cosmetics, and Jose Whishaw, who works in information technology. He has a twin brother, James. He is of French, German, Russian (father) and English (mother) descent.
Ben attended Samuel Whitbread Community College where his interest in theatre grew and he became a member of the Bancroft Players Youth Theatre at Hitchin's Queen Mother Theatre. During his time there he rose to prominence in many productions, most notably If This Is a Man, based on the book of the same name by Primo Levi, a survivor of Nazi World War II prisoner of war camp. The play was taken to the Edinburgh Festival in 1995 where it garnered five-star reviews and great critical acclaim with Ben Whishaw getting rave reviews for his portrayal of Levi.
Ben then enrolled in, RADA from where he graduated in 2004 and soon landed the role of Hamlet in Trevor Nunn's 2004 production making him one of the youngest actors to portray Hamlet on-stage. Hamlet opened to rave reviews with many critics hailing Ben as the next Laurence Olivier and applauding his portrayal of Hamlet with leading critics haling the birth of a star. Whishaw's film and TV credits include Layer Cake (2004) and Christopher Morris 2005 sitcom Nathan Barley (2005), in which he played a character called Pingu. He was named "Most Pr
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omising Newcomer" at the 2001 British Independent Film Awards (for My Brother Tom (2001)) and, in 2005, nominated as best actor in four award ceremonies for his Hamlet. He also played Keith Richards in the Stephen Woolley biopic Stoned (2005). Whishaw played in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a perfume maker whose craft turns deadly getting raves once again for his stunning portrayal. Whishaw appeared in 2007's I'm Not There (2007) as one of the Bob Dylan reincarnations and in 2008 in Criminal Justice (2008) a TV series. He appears in the forthcoming films The Tempest (2010) and Bright Star (2009).
In the role of actor
Passages (24/08/2023)
A gay filmmaker causes strife in his marriage when he begins an affair with a woman in Passages. Tomas Freiburg (Franz Rogowski) is a German-born filmmaker living in Paris with his English printer husband Martin (Ben Whishaw). After Martin leaves early from the wrap party of Tomas’ latest film, the latter ends up hooking up […]
Women Talking – TIFF 2022 (20/09/2022)
The women of an isolated religious community meet to decide their future in Women Talking. When multiple accounts of sexual abuse are uncovered within their Mennonite colony, a group of women, including Ona (Rooney Mara), Salome (Claire Foy), Mariche (Jessie Buckley), Scarface Janz (Frances McDormand), Agata (Judith Ivey), and Greta (Sheila McCarthy) meet in a […]
No Time to Die (29/09/2021)
A retired James Bond is pulled back into action by a new global threat in No Time to Die. James Bond (Daniel Craig) has left MI6 for a life in Italy with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), though a sudden attack by the criminal organization SPECTRE, somehow run from behind bars by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), […]
Spectre (07/11/2015)
Agent 007 faces his greatest adversary in Spectre. Going against orders from MI6, James Bond (Daniel Craig) tracks down a criminal organization, whose members wear rings with the insignia of an octopus. Bond finds that this organization, known as SPECTRE, is lead by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a presumed dead man from Bond’s past. Bond tracks […]
Cloud Atlas (10/12/2012)
Six weeks into its release, I finally caught up with Cloud Atlas, the epic multi-story film directed by the collaboration of Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix). The film is based on the novel of the same name by David Mitchell and features a large ensemble cast that includes […]
Skyfall (10/11/2012)
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond franchise and with it comes the new film Skyfall. It was a decade ago when the Bond series fell victim to excess, including invisible cars and a heavy use CGI stunts. This resulted in the series to strip back and reboot the Bond franchise as […]