Born:
August 14, 1968
in
Birmingham
Best Known For:
Playing Mickey in Hustle.
Early-life:
Adrian was born in Birmingham on August 14, 1968. His father left the family when Adrian was nine years old, and he was subsequently raised by his mother in the city's Edgbaston district. He has an older brother and a younger half-sister from his mother's second marriage. He became a huge comic-book fan as a child, and still loves reading them today, although he now prefers to call them graphic novels: "It makes me sound older and a bit more mature," he claims.
Career:
After deciding to become an actor, Lester attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. On graduating, he began a successful stage career. He made his film debut in 1991's Touch and Die. TV parts and little-seen movies followed, before he landed a lead role in 1998's Primary Colors alongside John Travolta and Emma Thompson. However, despite Lester's first opportunity to shine in such an impressive Hollywood movie, he failed to capitalise on it - though he eventually returned to acting a year later in TV movie Storm Damage. Since then he's enjoyed several successful stage runs, as well as appearances in films Love's Labours Lost (2000), Maybe Baby (2000) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004), but TV's Hustle remains his most famous project to date. He took time out from the show in 2006, but made a triumphant return to the role in 2009 until the series ended in 2012. In 2013, he played the title role in Othello at the National Theatre. He had a recurring role on short-lived American teen drama Red Band Society. In 2016, he starred in TV mini-series Undercover.
Quote:
"I am so aware of being pigeonholed. If I stay on one track of work, so many other doors silently close."
Trivia:
In 2013, he received an OBE and an honorary degree from the University of Warwick.