Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who (2005). He starred as Matt Jamison in The Leftovers (2014–2017), and has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom.

Eccleston received widespread acclaim after becoming the first person to portray Doctor Who in almost a decade, winning a National Television Award and getting nominations for a Broadcasting Press Guild Award and BAFTA Cymru Award, before departing the role after one series. He won an International Emmy Award for his performance in Accused (2010). On stage, he has played the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth, and starred in Strindberg's Miss Julie, Ibsen's A Doll's House, as well as the Greek tragedy Antigone. Since 2017, he has narrated the documentary series Ambulance.

He first rose to prominence for his portrayal of Derek Bentley in the 1991 film, Let Him Have It. His television performance in Our Friends in the North (1996) resulted in his first BAFTA Award nomination. Seven years later, he got a second nomination for The Second Coming (2003).

Early life

Eccleston was born on 16 February 1964 into a working-class family in the Langworthy area of Salford, Lancashire, the son of Elsie and Ronnie Eccleston. He has twin brothers, Alan and Keith, who are eight years older than him. On his religious upbringing, he has said, "My dad's family were Catholic. My mum was very Church of England – still is – but it doesn't work for me." The family lived in a small terraced house on Blodwell Street before moving to Little Hulton when Eccleston was seven months old. He attended Joseph Eastham High School, where he became head boy.

At the age of 19, Eccleston was inspired to pursue acting by such television dramas as Boys from the Blackstuff. He completed a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech, then went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He was influenced in his early years by Ken Loach's film Kes and Albert Finney's performance in the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, but he soon found himself performing the classics, including the works of William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, and Molière. At the age of 25, he made his professional stage debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Underemployed as an actor for some years after graduating from college, he took a variety of odd jobs at a supermarket, on building sites, and as an artist's model.

Career

Early work (1991–1994)

Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It, and for a guest appearance in the Inspector Morse episode "Second Time Around", both 1991. The following year he portrayed Sean Maddox in the BBC miniseries Friday on my Mind. A regular role in the hit crime drama Cracker (1993–94) brought him widespread recognition in the UK. After he decided to leave the series, in October 1994 his character was killed by the fictional serial killer Albie Kinsella (Robert Carlyle). At around the same time, Eccleston appeared in the Poirot episode "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".

In 1994, he co-starred with Ewan McGregor in the low-budget Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave, and also landed the part of Nicky Hutchinson in Our Friends in the North, as part of an ensemble cast which featured Mark Strong, Gina McKee and Daniel Craig. The broadcast of the epic serial in 1996 on BBC Two helped to make Eccleston a household name in the UK. Also in 1996, he starred in the television film Hillsborough, penned by Jimmy McGovern, portraying Trevor Hicks, who lost both of his daughters in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. When Hicks got married in March 2009, Eccleston was his best man.

Established actor (1995–2004)

During this period Eccleston built on his early successes, appearing in a wide variety of films and working with high profile directors including David Cronenberg in eXistenZ (1999), Michael Winterbottom in Jude (1996) and 24 Hour Party People (2002), and collaborated again with Danny Boyle on 28 Days Later (2002). He played the Duke of Norfolk in Elizabeth (1998), appeared in Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) - years before taking his driving test in January 2004 - and The Others (2001). Eccleston took the lead role in Revengers Tragedy (2002), adapted from Thomas Middleton's play of the same name. He starred in the independent films A Price Above Rubies (1998) and The Invisible Circus (2001).

He also appeared in a variety of television roles, mostly British dramas, including Hearts and Minds (1995) for Channel 4, Clocking Off (2000) and Flesh and Blood (2002) for the BBC, a modern version of Othello (2001), and the religious fantasy epic The Second Coming (2003) for ITV, in which he played Steve Baxter, the son of God. He made guest appearances in the comedy-drama Linda Green (2001) and the macabre sketch show The League of Gentlemen (2002). Eccleston appeared in Hamlet in the 2002 production at Leeds's West Yorkshire Playhouse. From March to April 2004, he returned to the venue in a play called Electricity.

Eccleston has been twice nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards, both during this period, the first in 1997 when he lost to Nigel Hawthorne in The Fragile Heart. He was nominated again in 2004, losing to Bill Nighy who took the award for his performance in State of Play. Eccleston won the Best Actor category at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Our Friends in the North. In 2003, he won the Royal Television Society Best Actor award for his performance in Flesh and Blood.

Doctor Who: Main role, conventions, audio dramas (2005, 2018 - ongoing)

On 2 April, 2004, the BBC revealed that Eccleston was to play the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the revival of Doctor Who. Eccleston was the first actor born after the inception of the original series to play the role. It debuted on 26 March, 2005, and a few days later, on 30 March, the BBC released a statement, ostensibly from Eccleston, saying that he had decided to leave the role after just one series to avoid becoming typecast. On 4 April, the BBC revealed that the statement had been falsely attributed and released without Eccleston's consent. The broadcaster admitted that it had broken an agreement made in January not to disclose publicly that the actor had only intended to do one series. The statement had been issued following inquiries from journalists to the press office. Following his departure, Eccleston was replaced by David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010.

For his performance, Eccleston won a National Television Award and was nominated for a Broadcasting Press Guild Award and BAFTA Cymru Award

On 11 June, 2005, when asked about his feelings about working on Doctor Who, Eccleston told a BBC interviewer: "Mixed, but that's a long story". Eccleston's reasons for leaving the role continued to be debated in Britain's newspapers: on 4 October, 2005 Alan Davies told The Daily Telegraph that Eccleston had been "overworked" by the BBC and had left the role because he was "exhausted". Eccleston later stated that he had left the show because he "didn't enjoy the environment or the culture that the cast and crew had to work in", but that he was proud of having played the role. The actor subsequently said: "My relationship with my three immediate superiors – the showrunner, the producer and co-producer – broke down irreparably during the first block of filming, and it never recovered." Eccleston claimed that The Daily Telegraph's quote was partially falsified, stating that he "didn't find [the job], physically, too tiring. When The Telegraph said that, any other producer reading that would go 'Oh, no, we can't employ Chris Eccleston because he gets tired.' So, it was a lie."

On 7 November, 2008, at the National Theatre to promote his book The Writer's Tale, Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies said that Eccleston's contract was for a single year because it was uncertain whether the show would continue beyond a single revival series. Eccleston was voted "Most Popular Actor" at the 2005 National Television Awards for his portrayal of the Doctor. In July 2012, Eccleston spoke positively of his time on Doctor Who during a talk at the National Theatre. This led to speculation he was considering making a return appearance as the Doctor for the show's 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", in 2013. Matt Smith, who portrayed the Eleventh Doctor, stated that he would have loved Eccleston to return. However, after discussions with executive producer Steven Moffat, Eccleston declined his role. In a 2018 interview Eccleston said that the BBC had "put [him] on a blacklist" when he left.

Eccleston began appearing as a guest at Doctor Who conventions for the first time in 2018, and continues to do so as of 2024. He had previously expressed his reluctance to appear at conventions, saying in 2017 that he preferred to "just earn [his] living by acting". He has since said that his experience of meeting fans at conventions "healed something in [him]" and made him re-evaluate his relationship to the series.

On 9 August, 2020, it was announced that Eccleston would reprise his role of the Ninth Doctor in audio dramas for Big Finish Productions, across four boxsets to be released between May 2021 and February 2022. This would be the first time he had portrayed the role in 16 years. Eccleston was later confirmed to appear in a further four boxsets, releasing in 2022 and 2023, as well as an episode of the 60th anniversary audio series Once and Future. He has said that it is unlikely that he will reprise the role on television as his relationship with the BBC "has not healed". When asked in 2023 what it would take for him to return to the character on television, Eccleston replied, "sack Russell T Davies, sack Jane Tranter, sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner and I'll come back."

Other work (2005–2010)

On 30 October 2005, Eccleston appeared on stage at The Old Vic theatre in London in the one-night play Night Sky alongside Navin Chowdhry, Bruno Langley, David Warner, Saffron Burrows and David Baddiel. Eccleston sat on the 2nd Amazonas International Film Festival Film Jury in November 2005. The Canadian born director Norman Jewison was chairman of the Jury. In December 2005, Eccleston travelled to Indonesia's Aceh province for the BBC Breakfast news programme, examining how survivors of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami were rebuilding their lives.

In March 2006, Eccleston appeared in the ITV documentary special Best Ever Muppet Moments as a commentator. In May 2006, he appeared as the narrator in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Lowry theatre in his home city of Salford. The theatre company with which he performed, Celebrity Pig (of which he is patron), is made up of learning disabled actors. In August 2006, Eccleston filmed New Orleans, Mon Amour with Elisabeth Moss. The film was directed by Michael Almereyda and shot in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. It was released in 2008 to film festivals in America and Italy.

Late in 2006 he starred in Perfect Parents, an ITV drama written and directed by Joe Ahearne, who had directed him in Doctor Who. Eccleston joined the cast of the NBC TV series Heroes in the episode "Godsend", which was broadcast on 22 January 2007. Eccleston played a character named Claude who has the power of invisibility, and helps Peter Petrelli with his powers. Eccleston appeared as the Rider in a film adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel The Dark Is Rising, which opened in the USA on 5 October 2007.

Eccleston appeared on the BBC Four World Cinema Award show in February 2008, arguing the merits of five international hits such as The Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth with Jonathan Ross and Archie Panjabi. In 2009, Eccleston starred opposite Archie Panjabi in a short film called The Happiness Salesman. Eccleston agreed to do the film because of Panjabi and the fact that it was a winner of the British Short Screenplay Competition. He also appeared as the villainous Destro in the G.I. Joe film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. That same year, Eccleston also appeared in an episode of The Sarah Silverman Program and starred in the film Amelia as Fred Noonan alongside Richard Gere, Hilary Swank and Ewan McGregor.

Eccleston was cast as John Lennon in a BBC production called Lennon Naked which aired in the UK on 23 June 2010, with Eccleston playing the title role, and Naoko Mori, who had previously appeared with him in Doctor Who, as Yoko Ono. In November 2010, Eccleston starred in the first episode of BBC One anthology drama Accused. He won an International Emmy Award for his role. In May 2011, he starred as Joseph Bede in The Shadow Line, a seven-part television drama serial for BBC Two.

Later work (2011–present)

On 31 December 2011, Eccleston played the role of Pod Clock in an adaptation of Mary Norton's children's novel The Borrowers on BBC One. In July 2012, he starred in the political thriller Blackout on BBC One. In the same month, he starred as Creon in an adaptation of Antigone at the Royal National Theatre; his performance in the play was called "charismatic" and "intense". In September 2012, Eccleston starred in the film Song for Marion, also known as Unfinished Song with Terence Stamp.

In 2013, Eccleston portrayed the villainous Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to Thor and the eighth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Later that year, he played John Aspinall in Lucan, a mini-series about the disappearance of Lord Lucan. From 2014 to 2017, Eccleston starred as Reverend Matt Jamison on the HBO drama series The Leftovers and earned consistent acclaim for his performance across all three seasons. In 2015, Eccleston starred in the television series Fortitude as a scientist based in Arctic Norway alongside Stanley Tucci and Michael Gambon before he and Marsha Thomason played a married couple who own a guest house in the Lake District in the series Safe House. Later in 2015, Eccleston starred as Leonard "Nipper" Read in Legend, a film about the Kray twins, opposite Tom Hardy.

In 2016, Eccleston began appearing as Maurice Scott in the BBC drama The A Word. Maurice is the eccentric but lovable dad to his daughter who, with her husband, has an autistic son. The second series began airing in November 2017 both in the UK and the US, where The A Word airs on Sundance TV. A third series was confirmed and aired in the spring of 2020.

Eccleston played the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth in 2018. The production was streamed on BBC Four. Also in 2018, Eccleston starred in two films; opposite Tom Wilkinson as crime boss Harvey in Dead in a Week or Your Money Back and as a Nazi officer Heinz in Where Hands Touch. That same year he appeared in King Lear as Oswald and in the television mini-series Come Home, the latter of which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor. In 2021, Eccleston starred in the six-part television mini-series Close to Me.

Further projects include playing Fagin in the series Dodger and in a television adaptation of the award-winning novel My Name is Leon.

He most recently played Captain Ted Connelly in season 4 of True Detective.

Personal life

Eccleston married Mischka, a copywriter, in November 2011. Their first child, a son named Albert, was born in February 2012. Their second child, a daughter named Esme, was born in 2013. They were divorced in December 2015.

Eccleston is a lifelong supporter of Manchester United, and was a regular marathon runner until 2000.

In September 2007, as part of a £9.5 million building project, Salford's Pendleton College named its new 260-seat auditorium the Eccleston Theatre.

Eccleston became a Mencap charity ambassador on 28 April 2005, and is a supporter of the British Red Cross. He also supports research for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia; his father, Ronnie, had vascular dementia in his later years, from 1998 until his death in 2012.

In his autobiography, Eccleston described chronic anorexia, body dysmorphia and depression, and said that he had considered suicide. Speaking about his poor mental health, he wrote that he was "a lifelong body hater". He was hospitalised in 2016 with severe clinical depression.

Eccleston is an atheist.

Political views

In politics, Eccleston has criticised the Conservative Party and expressed concern at opportunities for actors from his background to achieve his level of success in the future. He said in July 2017, "It's always been a policy of the Conservative government and party to destroy working class identity. If you prevent them from having a cultural voice, which is what's happening, they achieve that. They hate us, they want to destroy us, so we're being ruled out of having a voice."

Eccleston endorsed Labour Party incumbent Andy Burnham in the 2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election.

Eccleston is a British republican who supports the abolition of the British monarchy.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Performances with unknown dates

• Woyzeck – Birmingham Repertory Theatre
• The Wonder – Gate Theatre
• Encounters – National Theatre Studio

Short films

Music videos

Radio and narration

Audio dramas

Books

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards

BAFTA TV Awards

BAFTA Cymru Awards

Emmy Awards

International Emmy Awards

Others

Notes

References

External links

• Christopher Eccleston at IMDb
• Christopher Eccleston at AllMovie
• Christopher Eccleston at the BFI's Screenonline