Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is an English actor. Initially a celebrated stage actor, Daniels was nominated for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards for Best Supporting Actor in the Laurence Olivier Awards for Never the Sinner (1991), 900 Oneonta (1994), Best Actor in the M.E.N. Theatre Awards for Martin Yesterday (1998), and won the Olivier award in 2001 for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons. In 2008, Daniels made his Broadway début in a revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. In more recent years, Daniels has appeared on popular television series including Cutting It (2002–2005), The Virgin Queen (2005), "Law and Order: UK" (2009-2011) The Paradise (2013) and House of Cards (2013–14).
I'm a great candidate for why arts funding shouldn't be cut, because I had no experience other than what was at school, I'm from a working-class town, there were no theaters, and the cinema closed when I was a kid.Anything that gave me a voice or a way to express myself I went running headlong toward.
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[on playing troubled characters] I don't think of myself as being troubled as a human being, but I guess I'm quite extreme, quite big and quite loud, and maybe people pick up on that when they cast me. I'm certainly not the quiet reflective type.
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I saw David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980) when I was 15. I was completely bowled over. I found it so beautiful, strange and mesmerizing that I went back to the cinema every night for a week to see it.
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The older I get, the more of a recluse I turn into. I love the social aspect of my work. It's like a commune and gets very intense and very sociable. Then when I am not working, I shut myself away, so I can see myself living up a mountain.
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[on what show he would have liked to guest star in] Six Feet Under (2001) if it was still on, that was the best TV program of all time, or Deadwood (2004) or _"Carnivale" (2003), any of those HBO shows I just love, I think they are great.
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Fact
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He lives in South London.
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In the Independent on Sunday 2006 Pink List - a list of the most influential gay men and women - he came no. 47, down from no. 46.
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He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 (2000 season) for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "All My Sons", at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe.
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Trained at LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art) (2001). Won Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "All My Sons".
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