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Twelve-year-old Shaun lives with his mother in a shabby council flat in a bleak northern town and is lacking direction after losing his father in the Falklands War. At school, he is befriended by a skinhead gang and the leader takes the boy under his wing - a tie that draws Shaun into a world of racism and violence, but one where he begins to find a new identity. Shane Meadows' drama set in the 1980s, starring Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham and Jo Hartley
2006
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General
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Thomas Turgoose
(Actor)
.. Shaun
Stephen Graham
(Actor)
.. Combo
Jo Hartley
(Actor)
.. Cynth
Andrew Shim
(Actor)
.. Milky
Vicky McClure
(Actor)
.. Lol
Joe Gilgun
(Actor)
.. Woody
Perry Benson
(Actor)
.. Meggy
Frank Harper
(Actor)
.. Lenny
Shane Meadows
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Thomas Turgoose
(Actor)
.. Shaun
Born:
February 11, 1992
in
Grimsby
Best Known For:
This is England.
Early-life:
Thomas Aiden Turgoose was born on February 11, 1992, and brought up in Grimsby, attending his local comprehensive school, where he was something of a tearaway. He has three older brothers, Karl, Mathew and Jamie, and lost his mother, Sharon, to cancer while filming This is England in 2005.
Career:
Thomas landed his first role by impressing director Shane Meadows with his cockiness at an open audition for This is England. The teen demanded to be paid for his time. His debut was lauded by critics and audiences. He appeared in the Meadows film Somers Town before making a return to the role that launched him, in TV series This Is England 86, to great acclaim. He appeared earlier this year in TV epic Birdsong and he also featured in the TV advertising campaign for Coca-Cola, running with the London 2012 Olympic torch.
Quote:
'I've got Shane (Meadows) to thank, and all the cast, for sticking by me and just helping me completely. I can't stand my own voice, so I wouldn't really notice anything about my performance because I don't tend to listen to myself.'
Stephen Graham
(Actor)
.. Combo
Born:
August 03, 1973
in
Kirkby, Lancashire
Best Known For:
Playing Combo in This Is England and its TV sequels.
Early-life:
Stephen Graham Kelly was born on August 3, 1973 in Kirkby, Lancashire to a pediatric nurse mother and social worker father. He joined Youth Theatre at 14 before studying for a BTEC in Performing Arts and then getting a place at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in London. For years, he played small parts in TV shows and films before landing his first big role in Snatch (2000).
Career:
Since playing the role of Tommy in Snatch (2000), Graham's film credits have included Gangs of New York (2002), Public Enemies (2009) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). He was cast as Combo in This Is England (2006) and its TV sequels This Is England '86 (2010), This Is England '88 (2011) and This Is England '90 (2015). From 2010 to 2014, he played the infamous gangster Al Capone in the TV drama Boardwalk Empire.
Quote:
'If I get the walk of a character, that helps me find them. So I'm constantly looking at airports and train stations, registering walks.'
Trivia:
He was nominated for Best Leading Actor at the BAFTA Awards in 2016 for his performance in This Is England ‘90.
Jo Hartley
(Actor)
.. Cynth
Born:
March 12, 1972
in
Oldham
Best Known For:
This is England.
Early-life:
Joanne Victoria Hartley was born in Oldham on March 12, 1972. Her first taste of acting came at school when she played the part of Gretel in The Sound of Music. The death of her father when she was 17 led to her giving up her dream of attending drama school. She entered the world of work instead and eventually wound up moving to Japan and becoming an air hostess with Japanese Airlines. Near the end of her time as an air hostess, she decided to get some one-on-one acting lessons. She was 30 when she made a commercial directed by Shane Meadows. A week later, Meadows cast her in his film Dead Man's Shoes (2004).
Career:
Hartley's breakthrough came when she worked with Meadows again on the movie This Is England (2006). She has since worked on the follow-up TV projects This Is England '86, This Is England '88 and This Is England '90. Hartley's other TV credits include Casualty 1909, Moving On, Waterloo Road, The Jury, Law & Order: UK, The Mimic, and Not Safe for Work.
Quote:
'I've always loved watching movies. It's an escape from reality. My inspiration comes from life, great actors and interesting performances.'
Trivia:
Hartley won a best actress award for the 2012 short film Sea Change at the 2015 International Christian Film Festival.
Andrew Shim
(Actor)
.. Milky
Vicky McClure
(Actor)
.. Lol
Born:
May 08, 1983
in
Nottingham
Best Known For:
This is England.
Early-life:
Born Vicky Lee McClure in Nottingham on May 8, 1983. She started acting at the age of 11 at Carlton TV Workshop in her home city; it's the same place that has produced other up-and-coming stars such as Lauren Socha, Aisling Loftus and Jack O'Connell. Having performed in various stage and TV roles there, her big break came from local film director Shane Meadows, who cast her as Ladine in his 1999 film A Room for Romeo Brass.
Career:
Despite critical acclaim for her breakthrough role, Vicky spent eight years in an office job working for a property valuation company. She only left that employment in 2010, by which time she had starred in Shane Meadows movie This is England and returned as the same character in C4 spin-off This is England 86. The series was a massive hit and she won a BAFTA for the role; she returned for the follow-up, set in 1988, and there are rumours of another series, which will take place in 1990. She appeared in BBC crime drama Stolen and Body Farm. More recently McClure appeared in the massively popular Broadchurch, and has filmed two series of Jed Mercurio's acclaimed Line of Duty.
Quote:
'I remember thinking to myself, I'm fifteen, I'm at school, I'm going to be in a film, I won't have to go to school anymore...I'm Julia Roberts. Of course, the reality is that it isn't like that but what it did do for me was give me a great platform.'
Joe Gilgun
(Actor)
.. Woody
Perry Benson
(Actor)
.. Meggy
Born:
October 12, 1961
in
London
Best Known For:
You Rang, M'Lord?, Oh, Doctor Beeching! and Benidorm.
Early-life:
Perry was born in London on October 12, 1961. Perry was seen in the film Scum in 1979 and a year later, he starred in the TV series Going Out. Roles in the 1980s included guest appearances in The Black Adder, The Young Ones, Prospects, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Hi-de-Hi!, and The Bill. During this period, he also starred on the big screen in Sid and Nancy (1986).
Career:
Benson became more widely known after playing Henry Livingstone in the BBC sitcom You Rang, M'Lord. He went on to star in Oh, Doctor Beeching!, Operation Good Guys, Top Buzzer, Rose and Maloney, My Family, Parents of the Band, and Reggie Perrin. His film credits include Love, Honour and Obey (2000), Alien Autopsy (2006), This is England (2006), Somers Town (2008), Outside Bet (2011) and Get Santa (2014). He also starred in the mini-series This is England '86. More recently, he has been playing Clive Dyke in ITV sitcom Benidorm.
Quote:
'I'm no Brad Pitt when I get my kit off, but people don't seem to mind too much.'
Trivia:
Benson admits to being a tech geek - he is a qualified computer network engineer.
Frank Harper
(Actor)
.. Lenny
Shane Meadows
(Director)
Born:
December 26, 1972
in
Uttoxeter
Best Known For:
Making a string of low-budget British movies.
Early-life:
Shane Meadows was born on December 26, 1972, in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. He dropped out of school before taking his O-levels. Thanks to Nottingham-based Intermedia Film and Video, he was allowed to borrow their camcorders and editing equipment in return for working there for nothing. With the help of friends, he started making short films. They eventually hosted their own festival, Six of the Best, which was held every few months in a local cinema. The first of his shorts to attract attention was Where's the Money, Ronnie? Channel 4 bosses were so impressed, Meadows was hired to make a documentary for their Battered Britain series.
Career:
Meadows ploughed the money from that Channel 4 job into Small Time, a movie written in his lunch breaks while at Intermedia Film and Video. Having attracted positive reviews at European festivals, he was given the greenlight to make his first feature, TwentyFourSeven. Bob Hoskins and Bruce Jones starred and it attracted rave reviews on release in 1998. Meadows' follow-up movies, A Room for Romeo Brass and Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, also impressed critics, while Dead Man's Shoes won numerous prizes, including Best Film at The South Bank Show Awards in 2005. Semi-autobiographical drama This Is England in 2006 raised Meadows's profile with a string of awards, including a Bafta for Best British Film. It was followed in 2008 by Somers Town. He made his TV debut with This Is England '86, a four-part spin-off of the film This Is England. This Is England '88 aired on Channel 4 in December 2011.
Quote:
'Whatever I do next, I'd rather fail with something my heart's in, because it's with you for the rest of your life.'
Trivia:
In 2013, he directed the music documentary The Stone Roses: Made of Stone.
