Rufus Frederick Sewell was born October 29, 1967 in Twickenham, England, the son of a Welsh artist and waitress named Jo and Australian animator, Bill.  His parents split up when he was five and Bill died when he was 10 leaving his mother to raise his brother Casper and him alone.  Men’s Vogue journalist Sophie Dahl reports: “He had a muddling, bohemian childhood and adolescence, which incorporated a peacock's pride worth of hair dye, troublemaking, bad punk bands, and the moniker "fat white duke" (in homage to the thin one, David Bowie) during a bout of teenage roundness.”  Although Rufus attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, he left in 1989 after three years and made his London stage debut in “Making It Better” for which he won the Best Newcomer Award.  A “bloody good actor,” he’s never looked back and has continued to make an impressive career combining the venues of stage and screen.

Rufus was awarded the London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer in 1992, nominated for an Oliver Award for his role as Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” in 1994 and received the Broadway Theater World Award for his performance as Owen in Brian Friel’s Irish magnum opus, “Translations” in 1995.  In a Playbill interview by Rita A Fucillo and Sarah L Elliot, Sewell was deservedly praised: “…one feel confident that Sewell's honesty, charm and directness, spiked with sufficient realism, will keep his spiraling career in balance. He's a man aware of where he is and where he's going as well as the eyes that are upon him.”  In 2006-2007, Rufus portrayed Jan in Tom Stoppard’s “Rock’n’Roll”, a play which explores the revolutionary period of 1960’s Czechoslovakia and in which he is currently starring in again on Broadway.  Rufus spent a fair bit of time in Prague during the filming of “A Knight’s Tale”, “Tristan + Isolde”, “The Illusionist” and the UK mini-series, “Charles II: The Power and The Passion,” so acting with a Czech accent isn’t so difficult for him. 

Roof, as he is also known, is a charismatic, intelligent, instinctual actor with a great sense of humour who is frequently cast as a villain or twat, is capable of many accents, as well as the ability to transform himself completely in every part he plays.  "First I was seen as a brooding bloke on a horse, and then a baddie, and then a king."  Although sometimes mistaken for Joaquin Phoenix or Ian McShane of Lovejoy fame, Rufus takes most things in stride.  When asked whether he preferred films or the stage, Rufus replied, “Well, you know, there seems to be a kind of accepted cliché that when asked this question actors are expected to say, "Oh, the stage is my natural habitat," blah, blah, blah. Well, it's not really the case with me. I love doing stage work, but it's movies I wanted to be in when I grow up.  It was, you know, I didn't go to see a play until I was quite old.  I generally say that I prefer movies when I'm doing theater, and when I'm doing movies, I prefer theater.  There's the idea that, hopefully I'll never have to make that choice.  I mean, they're very different in their way, you know?  And if I don't have to make a choice, I'm determined not to decide which I prefer.”  As for his numerous theatre awards, “I keep them on the shelves. I want to look at mine for a little while before I put them in the toilet.  I always wanted to start getting awards so I could be nonchalant about them.”

Rufus, who enjoys traveling and is an avid photographer and fan of poet Pablo Neruda, has a six year old son named Billy with his second ex-wife, Amy Gardner.  His current partner is actress Alice Eve, his co-star in “Rock’n’Roll” and who I recently saw in the James McAvoy movie, “Starter For 10.” 

I haven’t had the privilege of seeing the garrulous and sometimes profane Rufus Sewell on stage but I have appreciated him immensely in many non-mainstream as well as Hollywood films.  He got his big break in the television adaptation of “Middlemarch” in 1994 and in the same year appeared in the Irish film, “A Man Of No Importance” as bus driver Robbie Fay.  I enjoyed him in “Cold Comfort Farm”, “Carrington”, Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet”, “The Woodlanders”, “Dangerous Beauty” (my favourite), “Dark City”, “Illuminata”, “Bless The Child”, “A Knight’s Tale”, “She Creature”, “The Legend of Zorro”, “Tristan + Isolde”, “The Illusionist”, “Amazing Grace” and “The Holiday.”  I look forward to seeing him in “Paris, je t’aime”, “Downloading Nancy” starring Maria Bello and Jason Patric and the TV mini-series “John Adams” in which he plays Alexander Hamilton to Paul Giamatti’s John Adams and David Morse’s George Washington.

In the prime of his life, at 40 years of age, Rufus Sewell is bound to be around for a long time to come and to impress countless movie fans everywhere with his stunning good looks, animal magnetism and thespian versatility.  If you’re a fan, take some time to spread the love!

There are numerous delightful articles about Rufus here, including a humourous take on his musical tastes in an article in the December 17, 2007 edition of the New Yorker here as well as wonderful websites dedicated to him called at www.aboutrufus.com and http://roofsewell.com.