Christien Alexis Anholt (born 25 February 1971) is an English stage, television and film
actor best known for portraying Nigel Bailey in the
television series ''
Relic Hunter''.
Early life
Anholt was born in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He is the son of
Anthony Anholt (19 January 1941 – 26 July 2002) and Sheila Anholt (née Willet), a teacher whom he married in 1964.
Career
He was working as an assistant in the gardening department at his local
B&Q store in
Chiswick when he received the news that he had landed the role that began his acting career in 1988 in ''
Reunion''. He was then cast as 'Leonard / Jeremy Lands' in the
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...
play ''
Another Time''. He went on to play 'Marcelus' alongside
Mel Gibson in the
Franco Zeffirelli film ''
Hamlet'' (1990). He starred opposite
Kate Beckinsale,
Sam Neill and
Judy Davis in the Hallmark production ''One Against the Wind'', and alongside
Stephen Dorff in ''
The Power of One'', directed by John G. Avilsden.
His earlier notable film roles include Peter Emery in
Stuart Urban's
''Preaching to the Perverted'' (1997). In 2021, Anholt played
T. S. Eliot in William Nunez's ''
The Laureate'' depicting the life of British poet and writer
Robert Graves.
Steven Spielberg selected Anholt to play
Clive Owen
Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
's brother in the TV series pilot ''Class Of '61''. He appeared in the
BBC's ''Money For Nothing''. He has been featured in ''Seventeen'' opposite
Rachel Weisz, in ''
Hard Times'' opposite
Richard E. Grant and Sir
Alan Bates, and in ''
The Harpist''. This was followed by ''
Preaching to the Perverted'', ''The Ruby Ring'', and in George Milton's ''Appetite''. Anholt returned to the
West End in
Terence Rattigan's ''
In Praise of Love'' and was cast by Harold Pinter and director
David Jones opposite Pinter himself, in ''
The Hothouse''.
In 1999 Anholt was cast as Nigel Bailey in ''
Relic Hunter'' which ran for three seasons. After that Anholt guest starred in two episodes of ''
Adventure Inc'', alongside
Michael Biehn, and had a cameo in ''
The Conclave''. He appeared opposite
James Franco and
Jean Reno in the World War One drama ''
Flyboys'', and can be seen alongside
Thora Birch in ''
Dark Corners''.
In 2007 Anholt appeared in the movie, ''
Ben 10 Race Against Time'', in which he played an alien called 'Eon'. In more recent years he appeared in several short movies such as ''Severed Garden'', ''Ghosted'' and ''Meanders''.
In 2014 Anholt returned to the stage and since then he has appeared in numerous plays such as ''
Blue Bird'', ''
Wastwater'', ''Dog Ends'', ''Montagu'', ''The Two Faces of Agent Lacey'', ''The Trial of Jane Fonda'', and ''Permanence''. He also appeared on the small screen in
Doctors and
Holby City. He also does voice-over work such as in ''The Rise and Fall of Hitler''.
Other endeavours
Philanthropy
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
2020 UK lockdowns, Anholt took part in Lisa Ross' "Bedtime in Barnes" initiative by the
OSO Arts Centre joining local celebrities including
Alistair McGowan,
Virginia McKenna,
Anneka Rice and
astronaut Helen Sharman. He was filmed reading four of his favourite
children's stories (''Pa's Soft Spot'' by D. A. Ellsworth; ''One, Two, Three!'' by
Henry Cuyler Bunner; ''The Owl and the Pussycat'' by
Edward Lear and ''Jabberwocky'' by
Lewis Carroll) to help support the centre's Crisis Kitchen helping provide 10,000 meals for local people in need and the national initiative launched by
Theatres Trust to prevent the permanent closure of hundreds of UK theatres.
Advertising
In 2017, Anholt was chosen for
Dubai Properties JBR's advertising campaign shot in
Dubai and
Abu Dhabi with billboards seen internationally on tourism sites such as on the
Sheikh Zayed Road as well as commercials playing worldwide. The original YouTube upload of the commercial has almost 5 million views as of August 2021.
Personal life
Anholt lives in London.
Filmography
Film
Television
Shorts
Voice
Theatre
Actor
Director
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anholt, Christien
1971 births
Living people
Male actors from London
English male film actors
English male television actors
English expatriate male actors in the United States
English people of German descent