- Born
- Birth nameRufus Frederick Sewell
- Nickname
- Roof
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Rufus Sewell was born on the 29th of October 1967 in Twickenham, England. His mother, Jo, was Welsh, and was an artist and painter. His father, Bill Sewell, was an English-Australian animator who was born in Australia to English parents and died when Rufus was 10. He has one brother, Caspar. He attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama and left in June of 1989 after completing three years of training.
He made his London Stage debut in "Making It Better" for which he won the "Best Newcomer Award"; he also originated the role of Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppards "Arcadia" and was nominated for an Olivier Award. On the Broadway stage, he debuted in "Translations" and received the Broadway Theater World Award. His film work has been equally varied and acclaimed from the junkie in Twenty-One (1991), the sweet bus driver in A Man of No Importance (1994), and the volatile artist in Carrington (1995). The lustful son in Cold Comfort Farm (1995), the protagonist hounded Dostoevsky-like in Dark City (1998), the star-crossed suitor in Dangerous Beauty (1998), to the the bitter, acidic, alcoholic coke-head of The Very Thought of You (1998), he has appeared in some of the most acclaimed theatre, film and television productions.- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousesAmy Gardner(February 2004 - 2006) (divorced, 1 child)Yasmin Abdallah(March 24, 1999 - March 2000) (divorced)
- ChildrenWilliam Douglas "Billy" Sewell
- ParentsJo Sewell
- RelativesCaspar Sewell(Sibling)
- Lazy eye
- Gravelly voice
- Often plays villains
- His father, Bill Sewell, an animator, employed an impressionistic approach to Rotoscoping - the technique of tracing over film negatives - in his own film "Half in Love with Fred Astaire" and then in the famous "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" sequence in "Yellow Submarine.".
- Son of BAFTA-nominated Animation Director, Bill Sewell.
- He was awarded the 1992 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Most Promising Newcomer.
- Involved, along with Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Winslet, Miranda Richardson and Paul McGann in the 1998 film project "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline". The film was to be executive produced by Emma Thompson, and written and directed by Fay Efrosini Lellios. The shooting was set to start in June 1998 in New Hampshire. The film was canceled due to financial withdrawal.
- Has a son named William Douglas Sewell (Billy), born 18 March 2002 with Amy Gardner
- I think the only thing I've got going for me as an actor specifically is the fact that I can change.
- First I was seen as a brooding bloke on a horse, and then a baddie, and then a king.
- My career has suddenly started to be the one that I'd always wanted, not in terms of level of success, but in terms of - and this is what I've been banging on about - playing different parts in different media. I was very frustrated, in a physical sense, by people seeing me in a way that I wasn't. And I was beginning to find myself boxed into a corner. Hopefully things have loosed up a bit, and I've gotten better and become more relaxed as an actor.
- It's important to me to be in a relationship when I'm in one, but I'm not someone who needs to be in a relationship. I don't actively look for it, I've never been like that. I've gone through long periods without being with someone and got a bit lonely, but not for a while.
- When I left drama school, my fear was that I'd get pigeon holed into comic acting and I did so much to counter it that I got stuck in the opposite.
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