Jim Broadbent
☼ Born on 24 December 1949, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK
Biography
One of England's most versatile character actors, Jim Broadbent was born on May 24, 1949, in Lincolnshire, the youngest son of furniture maker Roy Laverick Broadbent and sculptress Doreen "Dee" (Findlay) Broadbent. Jim attended a Quaker boarding school in Reading before successfully applying for a place at an art school. His heart was in acting, though, and he would later transfer to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Following his 1972 graduation, he began his professional career on the stage, performing with the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as part of the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man troupe which he co-founded. In addition to his theatrical work, Broadbent did steady work on television, working for such directors as Mike Newell and Stephen Frears. Broadbent made his film debut in 1978 with a small part in Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout (1978). He went on to work with Frears again in The Hit (1984) and with Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985), but it was through his collaboration with Mike Leigh that Broadbent first became known to an international film audience. In 1990 he starred in Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990), a domestic comedy that cast him as a good-natured cook who dreams of running his own business. Broadbent gained further visibility the following year with substantial roles in Neil Jordan's The Crying Game (1992) and Mike Newell's Enchanted April (1991), and he could subsequently be seen in s
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uch diverse fare as Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Widows' Peak (1994), Richard Loncraine's highly acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III (1995) and Little Voice (1998), the last of which cast him as a seedy nightclub owner. Appearing primarily as a character actor in these films, Broadbent took center stage for Leigh's Topsy-Turvy (1999), imbuing the mercurial W.S. Gilbert with emotional complexity and comic poignancy. Jim's breakthrough year was 2001, as he starred in three critically and commercially successful films. Many would consider him the definitive supporting actor of that year. First he starred as Bridget's dad (Colin Jones) in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which propelled Renée Zellweger to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Next came the multiple Oscar-nominated film (including Best Picture) Moulin Rouge! (2001), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA award for his scene-stealing performance as Harold Zidler. Lastly, came the small biopic Iris (2001), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as devoted husband John Bayley to Judi Dench's Iris Murdoch, the British novelist who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The film hit home with Jim, since his own mother had passed away from Alzheimer's in 1995.
In the role of actor
Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch (22/07/2018)
Multiple individuals are tormented by supernatural creatures emerging from a haunted hotel in Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch. One day out of the blue, Izumi receives a call from her old friend Mika, who she arranges to meet-up with. Meanwhile, Izumi’s grandfather is disturbed by a supernatural force that no one else can see. Elsewhere, people from […]
Big Game (10/07/2015)
The President of the United States relies on a 13 year old Finnish boy for survival in the action/adventure Big Game. Oskari (Onni Tommila) is a boy in Northern Finland, who is sent out into the wilderness on a coming-of-age hunting trip. He comes across the escape pod of US President William Allen Moore (Samuel L. […]
Big Game (06/09/2014)
The President of the United States relies on a 13 year old Finnish boy for survival in the action/adventure Big Game. Oskari (Onni Tommila) is a boy in Northern Finland, who is sent out into the wilderness on a coming-of-age hunting trip. He comes across the escape pod of US President William Allen Moore (Samuel […]
Filth (30/05/2014)
Indie Spotlight is a series focusing on reviews of independent films Based on the novel by Irving Welsh (Trainspotting), Filth focuses on Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), a chauvinist Scottish police officer, who is determined to get promoted to inspector. With his young partner Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell), Bruce sets off to solve a […]
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 […]
Her Master’s Voice (30/04/2012)
There are 189 films screening throughout the course of Hot Docs. With so many films screening during the week, it can be easy for some of these films to get lost in the shuffle and get overwhelmed by the docs with big buzz. I am happy to say that I have discovered one of the […]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (30/07/2009)
As the end of the series approaches, it seems that the main point of this film was to set-up a final chapter so large that it had to be split into two movies. This was definitely the darkest of the Harry Potter films, complete what will probably be the biggest downer ending of the series. […]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (25/05/2008)
It’s a day late, but here’s my thoughts on the new Indiana Jones film, which I saw last night. I should probably start off by saying that it is not a perfect Indiana Jones film. In fact, I would probably rank it third in the series (after Last Crusade and Raiders of the Lost Ark). […]