Daniel Caltagirone (born 18 June 1972) is an English actor, best known for his roles in '' The Beach'', '' Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life'', and the Oscar-winning film '' The Pianist''. His breakthrough role came in the television series '' Lock, Stock...'', where he played series lead Moon. He is father to two children with ex-wife Melanie Sykes.

Early life

Caltagirone was born and brought up 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 ...

, where he attended St Ignatius College, Enfield. He spent a considerable amount of time as a child in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he has relatives. He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and began his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company

Acting career

Caltagirone went on to attend the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

, graduating in 1997. It was during his last year at Guildhall that he was discovered by an

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

talent scout and cast as a lead in

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

's ''

Going Wrong ''Going Wrong'' is a psychological thriller by English crime writer Ruth Rendell. The novel was published in 1990 by Hutchinson in the UK and Mysterious Press in the US. Synopsis When he was a young man, Guy Curran led a local street gang a ...

''. He finished filming his first film role, ''

Legionnaire The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

'', alongside

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...

in the summer of 1998. Shortly after, he spent a season at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. Whilst at the RSC he was spotted by director

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...

and cast as Unhygenix in '' The Beach'' starring

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

Before commencing work on ''The Beach'', he joined the cast of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' for a role in "

The One with Ross's Wedding "The One with Ross's Wedding" is the two-part fourth-season finale of the American television sitcom ''Friends'', comprising the 96th and 97th episodes of the series overall. Originally broadcast by NBC on May 7, 1998, the episode features Ross ...

", filmed mostly in London. In 1999, he was cast by

Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter known primarily for British comedy gangster films and large-scale action-adventure films. Ritchie left school at the age of 15, and worked in e ...

as one of the leads in ''Lock Stock'', the TV spin off of the film ''

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. It follows a heist involving a confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of ...

''. Caltagirone then starred in

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

's '' The Pianist'' which went on to win an array of international awards, including

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

s for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screen Play. In 2003 he appeared in '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life'' with

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

and

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never ...

. Shortly after finishing filming on ''Tomb Raider'' he was cast in the movie '' The Fall''. Directed by

Tarsem Singh Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (born 26 May 1961), known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed '' The Cell'' (2000), '' The Fall'' (2006), '' Immortals'' (2011), '' Mirror M ...

, Caltagirone played the dual roles of Hollywood star

Archibald Sinclair Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Li ...

and Governor Odious. In 2006 Caltagirone starred in ''

The Path to 9/11 ''The Path to 9/11'' is a two-part miniseries that aired in the United States on ABC television on September 10–11, 2006 and in other countries. The film dramatizes the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City and the events leadin ...

'', the two part

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

which aired in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. The film starring

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

and

Donnie Wahlberg Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, actor and producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has starred in the TV drama series ''Blue Bloods (TV series), Blue Bloo ...

dramatizes the events leading up to the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Caltagirone was cast as one of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

operatives who were allegedly sent to kill

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

. In 2009, he played ex- SAS Captain Gideon Stone in '' The Fixer''. He portrayed aristocrat Girolamo de Treviso in ''

The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...

'' in 2010. He then performed at

The Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Club ...

in ''.45,'' playing alongside fellow ''Tudors'' alumna

Natalie Dormer Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982) is an English actress. Best known for her versatility, her roles in period films, blockbusters, independent films, as well as her work on prominent television series. Her accolades include winning an Empi ...

in 2011. In 2016, he appeared in the TV series '' Medici: Masters of Florence''.. In 2020 he played Will Arnot in ''Death in Paradise''. In September 2021, Caltagirone was honoured with the Nations Award in Venice for Outstanding Contribution to Film.Palermo Today
10th September 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Daniel Caltagirone
on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

'We have solidarity' Melanie Sykes and ex-husband 'get rid of egos' for autistic son
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caltagirone, Daniel Living people 1972 births English male film actors English male television actors English film producers English people of Italian descent Male actors from London