This tall, brown-haired man with brown eyes made it onto the list of Hollywood's most sought-after stars before he turned thirty. He received his first recognition with the release of the fantasy “Stardust” and “The Chronicles of Narnia”, and consolidated his status with the drama “Dorian Gray”. Most of his film works are based on film adaptations of famous novels, which, in turn, speaks of the future success of the films. What else is handsome Ben Barnes famous for? Filmography and facts from the actor’s life will be the main topic of this article.
A mysterious stranger
Benjamin Thomas was born in Great Britain in 1981. What prompted him to choose acting as a future profession remains a mystery to many fans even now. Looking ahead, it is worth noting that Barnes is a dark horse. He does not like to give interviews and, in particular, to talk about his personal life or certain moments from his childhood. However, this does not prevent admirers of his talent from collecting information about him. So who is Ben Barnes? The biography of the future screen star is not a secret.
He was born into the family of a psychiatry professor and marriage therapist. His mother, Trisha Barnes, has achieved considerable heights in her favorite field. She is a member of the British Association of Therapists, remaining a leading specialist consultant on family and sexual issues. Ben has a brother, Jack, three years younger than him, who has found himself in an activity not related to acting.
Personal life of Ben Barnes
Handsome Ben Barnes has not yet settled his personal life
In the UK there is the Make a Wish Foundation. Barnes is his trustee. This charitable foundation fulfills the wishes of seriously ill children.
The heart of the handsome actor is free at this time. He jokes that the only letters he receives from the opposite sex are from twelve-year-old girls admiring Prince Caspian. Ben dreams of being not an idol and idol of women, but a good actor. There is no goal of becoming a superstar. It is enough, according to the actor, if in a few years the films with his participation become favorites for someone.
At 32, he continues to play very young guys; he has not yet been cast as thirty-year-old men.
In his free time, the actor tries to go to the gym more often. Previously, he only did this when the next role required it, but now he liked these activities.
Patience and a little effort
Barnes graduated from the university in 2004 with a BA in Drama. He entered the youth theater, where he remained until 2003. Here Ben learned to play the piano and drums.
What debut works made Ben Barnes famous? The filmography of the young actor begins with a cameo role in the series “Doctors,” and before that he played in the productions “Fans of History” and “Loving Ophelia,” receiving his first audience applause. Screen creativity includes a number of British sitcoms that did not achieve the desired success. Barnes is not upset: he knows very well that the big movie will sooner or later submit to him.
Biography
Ben Barnes, Benjamin Thomas Barnes Born 20.08.
1981, London, England, UK. British actor.
The beginning of the way
Ben Barnes, full name Benjamin Thomas Barnes, was born on August 20, 1981 in the English capital London and grew up as a typical British boy in a family that occupied a good position in society: his father was a professor of psychiatry at Imperial College London, specializing in schizophrenia, his mother Tricia was considered one of the most reputable marriage therapists who have counseled couples. Having completed his secondary education and successfully passed the entrance exams, Ben became a student at Kingston University, from which he graduated with honors in 2004, receiving a bachelor's degree in English and Drama.
Film career
Ben Barnes' acting career began in 1997, when he became a member of the National Musical Youth Theater. The career gradually developed in this direction until 2003.
After his theatrical period, Ben Barnes decided to start conquering the silver screen. And the first works of the aspiring film actor were small roles in sitcoms and shows traditional for British television. The acting talent was obvious, and gradually Ben began to be invited to roles in big films.
In 2007, the fairy tale film “Stardust” was released. In it, the young actor played young Dunstan Thorne, and he was a partner to such stars as Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro.
A good start was reinforced the following year by participation in the film “Bigger than Ben” in a duet with Russian actor Andrei Chadov. The Briton and the Russian professionally and truthfully played two friends - the Speaker and Soddak, who came to London for adventure. The friends quickly mastered the simple skill of thievery and began to play “cat and mouse” with British justice under the leadership of the local authority Artashes.
"The Chronicles of Narnia"
Ben Barnes' greatest popularity came from his role as Prince Caspian in the children's adventure and fantasy films The Chronicles of Narnia. In 2008, the first film, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” was released. The fairytale story told about the children - Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter Pevance. Four orphans had to find themselves in a strange country, generated by the fantasy of C. S. Lewis, inhabited by talking beavers, fauns and sorcerers, in the fairy-tale country of Narnia. They experienced a lot of adventures and made new friends, including the noble Prince Caspian.
When Ben began filming Narnia, he realized how difficult and responsible the mission of his hero, Prince Caspian, was. And the point is not only that Caspian saved the people of Narnia from oppression, but also that Barnes himself has now become a new romantic hero, and this mission was also not easy.
Ben Barnes was considered at the very end of the casting. The actor himself really liked his character, because he was the most ordinary person, and it seemed as if anyone could go on a journey with him. It was easy to empathize with him and be imbued with his feelings: when he felt his vulnerability, Ben also felt it, and when he felt his strength, Ben simply rejoiced in it. Prince Caspian was very noble, which also pleased Ben Barnes.
In 2010, the second film in the trilogy about a fairy-tale land was released, a continuation of the adventures of a lion, a prince and English children in the magical land of Narnia - “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Treader of the Dawn Treader”.
2009
In 2009, two films starring Ben Barnes were released: “Easy Virtue” and a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s famous immortal work “Dorian Gray”. In the last film, Ben got the main role - Dorian Gray. Dorian, a handsome socialite and a bon vie, fell under the temptation to remain forever young and, without thinking carefully, made a deal with the Devil. A naive young man gave his soul to the devil in exchange for eternal beauty and youth. The role of Dorian Gray brought the actor recognition, a certain amount of fame, and most importantly, the confidence to act in new interesting roles.
In the comedy with elements of melodrama “Easy Virtue,” Ben Barnes was again offered the leading role. This time Barnes played a young British man, John Whitaker, who fell madly in love with an American woman, Larita. However, the protagonist’s prim mother tried to prevent the lovers’ happiness. The film stars Jessica Biel, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas alongside Ben.
2010-2013s
Everything in the cinema for Ben Barnes turned out very, very well. In 2010, the crime comedy Killing Bono was released, in which Ben Barnes played a hapless musician. His hero, together with a friend, tried to kill his “competitor” on stage - the leader of the popular group “U2”.
Ben Barnes had a blast with Karl Urban in the 2011 adventure thriller Driven Fast. The actors portrayed two brother car thieves who went to the south of France in the hope of making more money, but instead they had to fight with a local gangster. Game of Thrones star Emily Clarke also took an active part in the film.
In 2013, nothing predicted Ben Barnes’ participation in the comedy; drama was expected, but during the filming process it became clear that when watching “The Big Wedding” you would have to laugh more than be sad. Ben Barnes this time had an interesting and not annoying character, which he worked well with polished dialogues, literally every one of which made you smile. Director Justin Zackham's film about a wedding stars a good half of Hollywood stars - from Robert De Niro to Susan Sarandon. And then, in 2013, Ben Barnes accepted the offer of director Sergei Bodrov to join the team of leading actors along with Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges for filming in the film “Seventh Son”.
Besides
In parallel with his studies at Kingston University, Ben Barnes joined the National Musical Youth Theater and stayed in its ranks from 1997 to 2003. It was not without reason that he chose a theater with a musical focus: Ben played the drums and piano masterfully.
Ben Barnes has a passion for music and his musical tastes are surprisingly varied. His favorite artists include Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Kanye West.
In addition to acting, Barnes was also involved in musical creativity: he was the lead singer of the group “Hyrise”. In 2004, the group participated in the selection for the Eurovision Song Contest from Great Britain - the guys performed the song “Leading me on”, but lost the “victory” to musician James Fox.
In 2006, Ben Barnes again entered the theater stage. He played a role in the popular play “The History Buffs.”
Personal life
Almost nothing is known about Ben Barnes's personal life. At one time, Ben Barnes was credited with having an affair with actress Tamsin Egerton, but the actors never confirmed the rumors about their romantic relationship.
Interesting Facts
According to IMDb, Ben Barnes is 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) tall.
Ben Barnes' favorite film was the 1984 film "Spinal Tap".
In 2004, Ben Barnes took part in the British Eurovision (selection for the world competition) as part of the group “Hyrise”.
Since November 2008, Barnes has been a trustee of the British charity Make Your Dreams Come True, which grants wishes to seriously ill children.
Author: Alexey Generalov.
Sources of information: “Ben Barnes”, article, Wikipedia website. “Ben Barnes”, article, Kino-Theater website. Based on network materials.
In move
It is not for nothing that they say that a talented person uses his talent in various fields. The pop group Hyrise formed in 2004 to perform in the British qualifying round of the Eurovision Song Contest. Needless to say who became its soloist. That's right, our friend Ben Barnes.
The filmography of the actor, who slightly cooled his ardor after a musical failure, was replenished with the television drama “A Divided Decision.” The next work was a film by director and screenwriter Susie Hailwood called “More Ben”. Disappointing fans of the artist, it’s worth saying right away that this film with Barnes has nothing in common except the title. The film, aimed at a teenage audience, tells the sad story of emigrant friends who came to London to get involved in crime and the drug business. It is noteworthy that one of the roles was played by our compatriot Andrei Chadov.
A beautiful fairy tale on screen and in life
As often happens, a project appears in the life of every aspiring actor that radically changes their life. This turned out to be “Stardust”. Ben Barnes received a small role as young Dunstan Thorne, the main character of the film - Tristan. The long-awaited conquest of American cinema began with this work. The film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel is in the fantasy genre; in it, as the audience admitted, there is a large amount of “magic and magic.” They received the film so warmly that they allowed the creators to collect an impressive box office from the box office. A pleasant moment was that Ben Barnes worked on the set with a number of famous A-list stars: Ian McKellen, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer.
And although “Stardust” made a significant contribution to Burns’s track record, he received worldwide recognition with the release of another fantasy, “The Chronicles of Narnia.” A truly fabulous story with incredible special effects cost the studio 225 million. But she brought much more.
We can talk for a long time about the character played by Barnes. Prince Caspian is presented as a navigator, the true king of Narnia, the emperor of the islands, the liberator of his state and even the restorer of long-standing traditions. And although the cycle of children's fairy tales includes seven works, Barnes agreed to two parts. In 2010, a sequel called “The Treader of the Dawn Treader” was released.
Movies
The aspiring actor's debut roles came in the medical drama Doctors, the television series Shattered Decision, and the fairy tale film Stardust, in which Ben encountered world-class stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro for the first time in his career. In the next film, the social drama “Bigger than Ben,” Ben Barnes played the role of Russian illegal emigrant Pavel Tetersky, and the artist’s partner was Russian actor Andrei Chadov.
In 2008, the second part of the famous fairy-tale saga “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” was released. The director could not find a suitable performer for the main role for more than a year, but he saw Ben a couple of weeks before the start of filming and immediately approved him without hesitation. Model appearance, tall height (185 cm) and soulful eyes helped Barnes bring to the screen the image that the director needed.
As Barnes recalls, he jumped for joy when he learned that he had received the coveted contract. Not only that, like every Briton, Benjamin grew up reading books about the magical land of Narnia, the actor immediately realized that this picture would make him famous throughout the world. And so it happened. Ben later played Caspian in the next part, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Treader of the Dawn Treader.” Together with Barnes, the leading roles of Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan - Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell - took part in the work.
Press antics
In order not to remain in one image, the actor considers incoming proposals. And at this time he is occupied by crowds of fans. Ben Barnes and his (mythical) wife are often discussed in the media, but only true fans know that this is the work of the tabloids. For some time, the actor manages to play along with the audience and create the appearance of a love relationship. Despite the fact that he long ago refused to give comments about his personal life, it was this issue as a sore spot that increasingly attracted the paparazzi. They caught the star at premieres and social events, but Barnes’ happy smile did not at all indicate happiness in his personal life. How well does the public know their idol, wondering what this mysterious Mr. Ben Barnes and his wife are hiding? Having finally dispelled the myth about his existing wife, the actor takes on new projects.
Personal life
Fans and admirers make up legends about the personal life of Ben Barnes. The artist is credited with romantic relationships with co-stars, for example, Jessica Biel and Tamsin Egerton. There is also a widespread rumor that the actor’s wife was a girl named Madina, who has Ukrainian roots.
Ben Barnes
In fact, Benjamin Thomas Barnes was not in an official relationship, and the artist completely denies rumors of affairs with fellow actresses. This is confirmed by photos from Barnes’ personal account on Instagram, which cover exclusively the artist’s professional activities.
For many years, the actor has been conducting charitable work with the Make a Wish Foundation, through which he helps seriously ill children around the world.
Portrait of the Perfect Actor
In 2008, the comedy melodrama “Easy Virtue” was released. The star cast is again impressive: Colin Firth, Jessica Biel and Kristin Scott Thomas. Ben Barnes plays Englishman John Whitaker, who brings his American girlfriend to his parents' house.
A year later, fans are praising the adapted film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's work, called Dorian Gray. The fantasy thriller is successful in many respects, confirming that the actor can easily transform into different characters.
Having received universal recognition thanks to films sold all over the world, Barnes is receiving more and more offers from film companies for new roles. However, from now on future projects are chosen by Ben Barnes himself. The actor’s filmography is replenished with the comedy-biographical film “Killing Bono,” which he tried with all his might to get into. He and Robert Sheehan take on the roles of the McCormick brothers. Music fans put together a band in the late 1970s, dreaming of conquering the musical Olympus. As a confrontation, their classmates do the same - the group of rivals is named U2. It's not hard to guess whose team will win. By the way, the role of U2 lead singer Bono was played by Irishman Martin McCann.
The beginning of the career of actor Ben Barnes, filmography
In 2004, Ben became a member of the musical group Hyrise.
The guys’ creativity, according to them, was influenced by such performers as Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan, Queen and OutKast. The group has been rehearsing hard all year to “try their luck” in the qualifying round, where they were supposed to choose those who would represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. The song they came on stage with was Leading me on. The guys didn’t complete the tour, and the next day the Hyrise group ceased to exist. Thus ended Ben Barnes' musical career. Later in his interview, he jokingly said that his musical career lasted for the four and a half minutes while they performed. As he himself said, he has no thoughts of returning to the stage and becoming a musician.
Ben Barnes "More Ben", NTV Soon Barnes began appearing in small roles. In 2006, this became a minor episode in the soap opera Doctors, and then an episode in the drama Unanimous Decision. The actor himself does not consider participation in these episodes to be the beginning of his career, but it was impossible not to mention them. Also in 2006, Barnes signed a contract with The History Boys and received the role of Dakin in the production of The History Boys.
A year later, the actor was offered to play two more prominent roles in films. He played Dunstan Thorne in Stardust and Pavel Tetersky in Bigger than Ben. Ben made his debut in the film Stardust. There he acted as the father of the main character in his youth. The film did not go unnoticed by the audience, as both the plot and the cast were simply wonderful. Largely because of this, Ben was noticed and remembered. He starred in his debut film alongside Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Rupert Everetty and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The year 2008 brought the aspiring actor a rather unusual role in the film “Bigger than Ben,” where Barnes played a Russian illegal immigrant along with Russian actor Andrei Chadov. This is a film about Russian goons who came to London with the goal of getting rich. Ben in this picture looked like a homeless man, which was very unusual for a classic handsome man, but many women’s hearts were conquered by him.
The same year, the comedy Easy Virtue starring Barnes was released. He appeared as the heir to an impoverished family, who, instead of saving the family's shaky financial situation with a successful marriage, married a dazzling American woman. On the set, he played with Jessica Biel, Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth.
Ben Barnes (Bittersweet) Soon Ben received a very interesting offer - to play the main role in the film “Prince Caspian”. For the sake of this opportunity, the actor broke his contract with The History Boys and signed a new one to star in three Prince Caspian films. Andrew Adams (director) could not find a suitable actor for more than a year, and three weeks before the start of filming he chose Ben.
Must-see: films starring
Ben Barnes has a bit of a track record. This talented actor will still have many interesting works that will definitely hook even the most sophisticated viewer. Barnes's filmography includes films not mentioned above:
- “Farewell” (2009).
- “Words” (2012).
- “The Big Wedding” (2013).
- “In Plain Sight” (2014).
- “Jackie and Ryan” (2014).
- “Only God Knows” (2014).
One of the latest works was the film “The Seventh Son” directed by Sergei Bodrov Sr. Barnes was accompanied by Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. In 2020, the actor received the main role in the historical mini-series “Sons of Liberty.”
Ben Barnes currently
In 2009, Barnes received a new leading role in the film The Picture of Dorian Gray, where he again played alongside Colin Firth.
This dark, beautiful story was a success, but the last two roles were so different that viewers could not help comparing the two characters played by the same actor. In January 2014, the film “Seventh Son” with the participation of Barnes is expected to be released, where he played his next leading role. This is Sergei Bodrov's first film shot in English. Julianne Moore starred in the main female role, and Alicia Vikander played the main character's lover.
