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Cannes film festival 2010

Britain's Jim Broadbent

He may have an Oscar tucked into his belt, but Briton Jim Broadbent made his acting debut humbly treading the boards. This is no surprise considering his mother ran an drama lab in the local church, where at the tender age of four he had his first curtain call.

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Fastforward to the modern day, and Broadbent is regarded as one of cinema's most versatile character actors. He’s worked with the likes of such directors as Woody Allen, Baz Luhrman, Martin Scorsese and Mike Leigh - whose film Another Year is the only British offering for this year’s Palme d’Or.

With a gentle face and a penchant for comedy, Broadbent is best known for his roles in Iris (for which he won an Academy Award), Moulin Rouge! (for which he won a BAFTA), Topsy-Turvy (an important career milestone under Leigh’s direction), and Bridget Jones' Diary.

It was back in 1972 when Broadbent graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In the early days he enrolled himself in the Ugly modelling agency to supplement his income while waiting for the acting work to roll in. Tellingly, perhaps, he never actually landed a job.

Broadbent - who is married to painter and former theatre designer Anastasia Lewis - built up his craft at the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, but his break came in 1977 when he won a part in Ken Campbell's science-fiction television series Illuminatus.

As the work flowed in, the mild-mannered thespian began establishing himself as one of the few television actors who felt as at home in a supporting role as he did tackling the lead character. And in due course, Broadbent caught they eye of film directors.

It was 1987 that saw his first foray into Hollywood, when he starred in Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, alongside the late Christopher Reeve. Some years later, Woody Allen reportedly telephoned personally to offer him a role in Bullets Over Broadway.

For the record though, it must be said that Leigh should be taking credit for bringing Broadbent to an international film audience.

His star had well and truly risen by the nineties. At this time, Broadbent was a BBC household name thanks to shows such as the drama Silas Marner and Rowan Atkinson’s comedy Blackadder

These days a certified A-list British export, Broadbent finds himself at this year’s Cannes with Leigh alongside a cast including Imelda Staunton and Lesley Manville. Not a great deal is being said about the film, except to say that viewers can expect an “intimate portrait of people's lives”.

While that easily could be said about any Leigh film, Another Year will be certainly one to watch.

 

 

 

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