Sean Bean’s 20 year plus career spans every medium including theatre, radio, television and movies.  Sean graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon.  He once played Romeo at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre wearing biker’s leather.  I wish I’d seen that!  After a long absence he returned to the London stage in 2002 to take on the lead role in The Scottish Play.

The quintessential Sean is an extremely versatile actor who has often appeared as either a smoothly disguised or all out heinous villain in films like “Patriot Games”, “Goldeneye”, “Ronin”, “Essex Boys”, “Don’t Say A Word” and “The Island”.  Although a large body of his work has been filmed and released in Europe, he is perhaps best known to North American audiences as the legendary conflicted warrior Boromir in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (one of my favourite movies of all time) which he says was one of the most enjoyable things he’s ever done.

I first discovered Bean in the 1990 classic Irish film, “The Field” in which he played Tadgh McCabe and co-starred with Richard Harris and John Hurt but could not forget him after “Patriot Games”.  Sean has also appeared in movies in which his characters are more likable, giving solid performances in 1994’s “Black Beauty” as Farmer Grey and as Count Vronsky in 1997’s “Anna Karenina” which was the first western version of the film ever to be filmed in Russia (particularly at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg).  Sean played Partridge in 2002’s “Equilibrium” with Christian Bale, a cowboy in 2003’s “The Big Empty” with Jon Favreau and Joey Lauren Adams, as well as the mythological Odysseus in 2004’s “Troy” with Brad Pitt and Eric Bana.  He was Ian Howe opposite Nicolas Cage’s Ben Gates in “National Treasure” (2004), Maria Bello’s estranged husband James in “The Dark” (2005), Kyle in “North Country” (2005) starring Charlize Theron, Captain Rich in Jodie Foster’s “Flight Plan” (2005) and Radha Mitchell’s husband in this year’s creepy thriller, “Silent Hill”.

Sean might not be the best bet for the ladies as he’s been thrice divorced but these days he enjoys being a father to his three young daughters, Lorna, Molly and Evie.  He’s a man’s man who resides in England, loves wildlife, gardening and the great outdoors, drawing, boxing, cricket and revels in following his beloved Sheffield United Football Club (soccer) while enjoying a few pints.  He’s such a big fan of Sheffield United that he has a 100% BLADE tattoo on his left shoulder in their honour - the team’s nickname is The Blades.  Sean has a scar over his eye that was given to him by Harrison Ford while they shot his death scene in “Patriot Games” in 1992.  Apparently, Ford accidentally hit him with a boat hook.  However, this scar hasn’t affected his masculine beauty.  “In England, he was recently voted the second sexiest man in the UK, and seemed to enjoy this notoriety, stating, "I don't have any problems with women seeing me as their ideal bit of 'rough'. Why would I?"  I sure don’t…A woman needs to have a rogue like Sean Bean to occasionally fantasize about!

Sean Bean is a busy man these days and his star in obviously on the rise.  He completed his 16th made for TV film as Richard Sharpe in 2006’s “Sharpe’s Challenge” and has three more projects lined up for 2007 including a movie of the Oscar Wilde play “A Woman of No Importance” with Annette Bening and Lindsay Lohan.  Keep your eyes open for Sean Bean’s movies because he never, ever disappoints.  You can also read Laura Jackson’s Sean Bean, The Biography (She also wrote Bono: The Biography) to get the full story of this fascinating man’s life and check out some wonderful fan-based websites for him at www.compleatseanbean.com and www.bean-box.com.