Stephen Dillane
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"I did meet Michael Nicholson [the journalist whose book 'Natasha's Story' served as the basis for 'Welcome to Sarajevo'] but I kept him at arms length because I didn't want to identify with him personally. I think what he did was extraordinary. But if you got too involved in this character's personal crisis you'd lose the wider picture." --Stephen Dillane to Empire, December 1997.
"I find it really hard to go on a film and live out that life for eight, nine weeks, and then go home and be a daddy and do the washing up and mend the toilet and all those things. Other people might find it simple, but I find it very hard." --Dillane to Empire, December 1997.
Biography
Stephen Dillane seemingly emerged from nowhere and garnered strong critical notices in Michael Winterbottom's superb "Welcome to Sarajevo" (1997). Despite the presence of such higher profile co-stars as Woody Harrelson, Emily Lloyd and Marisa Tomei, the thin actor with the prominent widow's peak was the solid center of this based-on-fact story. As a British TV journalist covering the fighting in Bosnia, Dillane offered a powerful but understated performance.
Born as Stephen Delaney in South London and raised in Kent, Dillane pursued a career in journalism after graduating from the University of Exeter. He has said in interviews that he was not driven to pursue acting and applied to drama school on a whim. He had read an interview with British actor Trevor Eve who had made the switch from architecture to acting and Dillane figured he would give it a try. After completing the two year program at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he adopted the stage name Stephen Dillon and began his career appearing in small roles in TV (i.e., "The Secret Garden," CBS 1987) and features ("Business as Usual" 1987). He went on to become established on the London stage in such productions as Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa" and "The Beaux Stratagem" (alongside Brenda Blethyn). By then, he had adopted Dillane as his stage name. He triumphed in a Peter Hal staging of "Hamlet" in 1994 and tackled "Uncle Vanya" in 1998.
Now billed as Stephen Dillane, he played Horatio to Mel Gibson's "Hamlet" (1990) and then appeared as one leg of a romantic triangle in David Hare's WWII-era "Heading Home" (1991). After a turn as a journalist covering the conflict in Vietnam in the miniseries "Frankie's House" (A&E, 1993), he was again embroiled in a period romantic triangle in "The Rector's Wife" (PBS, 1994). Dillane co-starred with Denis Leary and Sandra Bullock in the unsuccessful "Two If By Sea/Stolen Hearts" (1996) and went on to romance Sophie Marceau in "Firelight" (1997) before essaying a mysterious, married painter who falls for an American (Victoria Foyt) in Henry Jaglom's "Deja Vu" (1998). In 1999, he starred in the festival film "The Darkest Light" as a father whose child has cancer. In 2000, Dillane appeared in a British miniseries production of "Anna Karenina" which was nominated for several awards. In 2001, he had a supporting roel in the thriller "Spy Games" starring Brad Pitt and Robert Redford. Next Dillane took on another supporting role in the thriller "The Truth About Charlie" (2002), a remake of the 1963 classic "Charade," and turned in an appropriately restrained and haunted performance as Virginia Woolf's husband Leonard in "The Hours" (2002).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1987
Film debut, "Business as Usual" (billed as Stephen Dillon)
1987
Early TV credit, acted in the Halmark Hall of Fame production of "The Secret Garden" (billed as Stephen Dillon)
1989
Achieved prominence in London for his stage performance in Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa"
1990
First feature credit as Stephen Dillane, "Hamlet"; played Horatio to Mel Gibson's Melancholy Dane
1993
Co-starred in the HBO Showcase production of "Hostages"
1994
Starred as "Hamlet" at the National Theatre
1997
Breakthrough screen role in "Welcome to Sarajevo"
1998
Had the lead in the Irish/Australian miniseries "Kings in Grass Castles"
1998
Starred in "Firelight" as a 19th-century man who hires a woman to bear his child
1999
Returned to the London stage in a revival of Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing"; transferred to Broadway in spring 2000
2000
Starred in British TV adaptation of "Anna Karenina" (Channel 4), Paul Rhys also featured
2001
Played a slightly sinister CIA official in "Spy Game"
2001
Reteamed with Rhys as co-stars in the BBC miniseries "The Cazelet Chronicles"
2002
Had supporting role in "The Truth About Charlie"
2002
Returned to the London stage in "Life After George"
2002
Co-starred with Christina Ricci and Ioan Gruffudd in "The Gathering"
2002
Cast in featured role as Leonard Woolf in "The Hours"
2004
Cast as Merlin opposite Clive Owen and Keira Knightley in "King Arthur"
2005
Portrayed reigning champion Harry Vardon in Bill Paxton's golf drama "The Greatest Game Ever Played"
2005
Cast in the ensemble "Nine Lives," a series of vignettes directed by Rodrigo García
2006
Played a British football (soccer) scout in Danny Cannon's "Goal! The Dream Begins"
2006
Cast as a British investment banker in "Haven"
2007
Co-starred in Raoul Ruiz's film "Klimt" about the late Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (John Malkovich)
2008
Portrayed Thomas Jefferson in the HBO miniseries "John Adams"; earned an Emmy nomination for Best Suppoting Actor in a Miniseries or TV-Movie
2012
Joined the cast of HBO's "Game of Thrones" as Stannis Baratheon
2012
Played the National Security Advisor in Kathryn Bigelow directed "Zero Dark Thirty," based on the hunt for Osama bin Laden
Videos
Movie Clip
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I did meet Michael Nicholson [the journalist whose book 'Natasha's Story' served as the basis for 'Welcome to Sarajevo'] but I kept him at arms length because I didn't want to identify with him personally. I think what he did was extraordinary. But if you got too involved in this character's personal crisis you'd lose the wider picture." --Stephen Dillane to Empire, December 1997.
"I find it really hard to go on a film and live out that life for eight, nine weeks, and then go home and be a daddy and do the washing up and mend the toilet and all those things. Other people might find it simple, but I find it very hard." --Dillane to Empire, December 1997.
"Once you're offered things, I don't think it's extraordinary to be able to do them; I think it's extraordinary to be offered them." --Stephen Dillane on his newfound fame, quoted in the London Times, November 19, 1997.
