Dark days with the crazy sheep
SEAN BEAN ON THE HORROR MOVIE THAT PITS HIM AGAINST DEMENTED
FARM ANIMALS HERE IN WALES.
Daily Post (Liverpool, England);
4/1/2006
IN the past few years Sean Bean has
barely stopped working. He's
starred in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, The Lord
Of The
Rings trilogy, and in the past year alone has made four back-to-back
movies.
But, surprisingly, it wasn't that long
ago that offers dried up for the
talented actor after a stint playing TV swashbuckler Sharpe.
"It was only back in 1999. I'd
finished Sharpe and it was really hard
to get work," he says. "I was out of work for almost
a year. Basically
I'd been typecast."
In the end the Sheffield-born star,
47 later this month, was forced to
leave Britain and head for Hollywood - a move that really paid
off.
Almost immediately, he landed himself
a starring role as Boromir in the
phenomenally successful The Lord Of The Rings, and has worked
solidly
ever since.
But despite settling in sunny LA, the
down-to-earth star remains
patriotically committed to his Sheffield roots. And recently
he proved
his passion for his beloved Sheffield United football team by
becoming
a director of the club- he even has the team's logo tattooed
on his
shoulder.
Though he admits his first goal was
always to play for the club, Bean
eventually set his heart on becoming an actor. "Where I
come from it
was regarded as a bit fairyish, sort of poncy thing," he
says laughing.
"But I didn't really care, I felt
so secure with it. And it was
good-humoured as well. I can still go back home and they take
the piss,
you know.
"I'd rather have it like that than
people be too reverential."
Despite being naturally shy, he's become
one of our favourite baddies,
with villainous roles in movies including Goldeneye, Ronin and
Essex
Boys.
Now, though, he prefers to play characters
who are a little less
psychotic, such as his latest movie The Dark. Although a horror
flick,
Bean's character James is a normal down-to-earth guy.
"It really is nice to play just
an ordinary guy," he smiles. "I do like
playing villains but it's nice to have a break from that.
"James is a very free-spirited
sort of guy. He's a sculptor and
interested in very artistic things. He loves to be on his own
in the
wilderness."
Filmed on the Isle of Man and based
on a Welsh novel called Sheep, by
writer Simon Maginn, the movie stars Bean as a recently separated
man
who moves to Wales to find solace.
But when his wife Adele (Maria Bello)
turns up with their 12-year-old
daughter the family are suddenly plunged into a nightmare world
of evil
and demented sheep! "Yes, it's true," laughs Bean,
"Weird things happen
with the sheep, it's all very strange."
Despite the bonkers flock, the actor
admits he was so freaked out by
the script he didn't dare read it at night.
"I started reading the script at
6pm and it got towards the end and I
was going to read it in bed but thought I better read the next
bit next
morning. It's a very strange story and that's why I like it."
profile ...
real name Shaun Mark Bean
birth date April 17 1959
significant other three times divorced,
he is now dating actress
Georgina Sutcliffe
career high Boromir in Lord Of The Rings
career low a year-long spell out of
work after Sharpe ended in 1999
Sean Bean as James in new movie The
Dark. 'Weird things happen with the
sheep, it's all very strange,' he says of the film based in Wales