You know Scottish actor Tony Curran, even if you don’t recognize the name. He’s played a number of redheaded historical characters, although often of the supporting variety. He’ll be playing King James I of England/VI of Scotland in the upcoming biopic Mary & George, so I thought it was time to run him down! Here’s all the productions for which I can find images:
Orlick in Great Expectations (1999)
A blacksmith’s assistant at the forge and a villian of the story.
Weath – Musician in The 13th Warrior (1999)
A Viking warrior and musician in this Beowulf-inspired story.
Assassin #1 in Gladiator (2000)
I have no memory of this character/moment, but then it’s not like I regularly replay this movie in my head! I guess at some point someone tries to assassinate Russell Crowe’s character. There’s a Gladiator sequel in the works by the way.
Ian in Pearl Harbor (2001)
A Royal Air Force combat pilot in Eagle Squadron.
Rodney Skinner in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
A gentleman thief who uses a serum to become invisible and I guess wanders around in a mask? Why?
Hondscioh in Beowulf & Grendel (2005)
Returning to familiar territory as “Hondscioh,” and that’s all I’ve got.
Vincent in Doctor Who (2010)
He played Vincent van Gogh, painting in the south of France. Trystan wasn’t impressed by the costumes.
Stephen in The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
King Stephen (1135-54), specifically, the one who fought against Empress Matilda for the throne. Sarah liked him!
Eamonn Rohan in Boardwalk Empire (2011)
An Irish immigrant and subway digger, estranged brother to Margaret if that means anything to you (haven’t seen the show).
Professor Donald Richie in Young James Herriot (2011)
A bio-series about a man learning to become a veterinary surgeon in 1930s Britain; Richie is one of his professors.
John Knox in Mary Queen of Scots (2013)
The leader of the Scottish Reformation, who loathed MQoS.
Lawson Robertson in Race (2016)
A film about Jesse Owens, who competed in the 1936 Olympics in Germany. Robertson was his coach.
Connelly in Roots (2016)
A cruel overseer on a slave plantation in the 18th century.
Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of Islay in Outlaw King (2018)
A fourteenth-century Scottish magnate and chief of Clann Domhnaill who supported Robert the Bruce.
James Smith in Deadwood: The Movie (2019)
He’s not a big enough character to make the Wikipedia description, so I got nothing.
King James I in Mary & George (upcoming)
This is an adaptation of a book (The King’s Assassin by Benjamin Woolley), and according to IMDB, it will tell this story: “Follow the story of the Countess of Buckingham who molded her son to seduce King James I and become his all-powerful lover, through intrigue, becoming richer, more titled and influential than England has ever seen.”
What’s your favorite of Tony Curran’s historical roles?
The scene in Doctor Who when as Vincent he is taken to the present (Tardis) and encounters Bill Nighy as a lecturer calling Vincent ‘the greatest painter’ – costumes be damned it was a wonderful and moving scene.
I always cry like a baby during that scene
I love Tony Curran and have seen almost everything he’s done. The weird white face in League was greasepaint – the idea being because he’s invisible, he paints his face with greasepaint to be visible to his colleagues.
His portrayal as Vincent Van Gogh in Doctor Who, was (in my humble Dutch 🇳🇱 opion) spot on. And him being “transported” by the Doctor, unrecognised, to a Museum in our modern times: to see all his paintings hanging on the walls, being admired, was very moving.
The second pictured shown under the ‘Gladiator’ movie is Tony Curran as a Crusader during the “Cathar (Massacre) Crusades” in the (2012) tv mini series ‘Labyrinth’ with John Hurt, Tom Felton, and Jessica Brown set in Medieval France.
The (2018) ‘Outlaw/King’ shot was taken during the bloody & muddy 1314 -Battle of Bannockburn-during which the Scots finally defeated the English King Edward II, son of Longshanks aka “Hammer of the Scots”.
I love seeing Tony in very “old”/medieval stories (like Beowulf), his 😍 looks and his acting makes him fit in so well👌🏻.
Oh, God. I TOTALLY forgot that he was in Labyrinth!! I try to completely forget it exists. I hate to be one of those tiresome people who always says, “The book was better” or “Read the book instead.” But really, in this case it’s SOOO true. Which is such a shame because the film is filled with sooo many talented people, being in the authentic (and gorgeous) location, and because Kate Mosse is such a gifted writer. If anyone is going to spend any time in the world of Labyrinth, then read that book and possibly the rest of her Languedoc trilogy OR read the FROCKS FLICKS review instead. Both would be a better use of your time than actually watching that hot mess of an adaptation!!!
The book is SO GOOD, and the show is SO NOT.
Tony made a very lovely skeevy alien in Defiance, too. Complete with conlang.
Such a HUGE lusty crush on this man. You should check out his no-holds-barred kiss with Ramon Tikeram on “This Life”………in kilts!!!!
Yay!!! Love him!!! I’ve known of him for a while, perhaps from as far back as The 13th Warrior. (I’m one of thirteen people who saw that movie in theaters!) He is sooo striking looking and a good actor. And he just as that “period” look! I wish he were more well known.
Re “The Pillars of the Earth”: You have me cracking up over the comment about the top “crown.” But I don’t think the second one is any better. All I can think is: Burger King!!! Frock Flick adjacent: He played Marcus in the second Underworld movie, “Underworld: Evolution” and his character was in both the contemporary storyline and the Middle Ages flashback scenes (in amour on horseback looking like a drool-worthy badass). He’s played so many of these roles, I think he belongs to that group of actors that I think of as honorary knights. What a great MCM choice!!!!!
Probably my all-time favorite Who without River Song.
MMMM 13th Warrior. It’s just one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures. I’ll have to try to track it down for some more watching, see if it still holds up for me. And the Van Gogh episode of Doctor Who, none of which I’ve watched, looks amazing, even if the costuming isn’t so good.
Never mind DOCTOR WHO, I’m half-certain Mr Curran is a Time Lord because he seems to be in Everything!