Samantha Morton
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"I want to portray people other people may not want to portray. I want to show the truth, not the garbage. Feel the fear and do it. That's my motto." --Samantha Morton to The New York Times, October 19, 1997
"I want to prove that you don't have to come from Oxford University or RADA, and you don't have to have parents that support you to succeed." --Morton quoted in Interview, June 1998
Biography
Born and raised in Nottingham, England, Samantha Morton had a tumultuous childhood. Separated from her parents by social services, Morton was raised in the English foster care system. At a young age, she found acting as an outlet, enrolling in the Central Junior Television Workshop when she was 13, and soon after began appearing on screen. Her first credits came in 1991 in supporting roles on the series' "Soldier Soldier" (ITV, 1991-97) and "Boon" (ITV, 1986-1992). Morton began to come into her own in the mid 1990s when she landed her first series leading role on "Band of Gold" (ITV, 1995-1997), played the title role in "Jane Eyre" (ITV, 1997), and the lead female role in the adaptation of "The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling" (BBC, 1997). In 1999, Morton broke through to international audiences with her role as a mute woman opposite Sean Penn in the Woody Allen film "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999). The film earned her universal accolades and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for an Academy Award® as well as a Golden Globe, among others. 2002 was another landmark year for the actress, earning further praise for her roles as the crucial 'precog' in "Minority Report" (2002), starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, as well as a leading role in "In America" (2002), which earned her an Oscar nomination, this one for Best Actress. Morton continued to work in supporting roles, but also found time to direct her first film "Unloved" (2009), a semi-autobiographical story that she also wrote. In 2016, Morton earned accolades as one of the chief antagonists in "Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find Them" (2016). The next year she began a series regular role, playing a madam on the period show "Harlots" (Hulu, 2017-).
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Assistant Direction (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1991
Acted in the serial "Soldier Soldier" as a sergeant's daughter
1991
First professional job at age 14; presented "Go Wild" a wildlife program
1994
Earned acclaim for her stage performance alongside Susan Lynch and Melissa Wilson in "Ashes and Sand"
1994
Breakthrough TV role on an episode of the British TV drama "Cracker"; played a young girl impregnated by the head of a religious cult
1995
Co-starred as a teenage prostitute in the miniseries "Band of Gold" (HBO)
1997
Cast as Harriet Smith in the BBC/A&E adaptation of "Jane Austen's 'Emma'"
1997
Landed title role in BBC/A&E production of "Jane Eyre"
1997
Appeared in the Irish production "This Is the Sea" with Gabriel Byrne and Richard Harris
1997
Breakthrough screen role in "Under the Skin"
1998
Co-starred as Sophia Western in the BBC/A&E miniseries "Tom Jones"
1999
Appeared as a heroin addict in "Jesus' Son"
1999
Played a hostage kidnapped by two inept thieves in "The Last Yellow," co-starring Mark Addy and Charlie Creed-Miles
1999
Earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as a mute laundress in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown"
1999
Starred as a headstrong woman in 1950s Britain torn between her love for her cousin (Rupert Graves) and her duty to her common law husband (Lee Ross) in "Dreaming of Joseph Lees"
2000
Portrayed a very pregnant Sara Hutchison Coleridge opposite Linus Roache's Samuel Taylor Coleridge in "Pandemonium"; directed by Julien Temple
2002
Starred in Lynn Ramsay's second feature as director "Morvern Callar"
2002
Starred opposite Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report"
2003
Played Sarah, an Irish immigrant in the film "In America"; earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress
2004
Cast opposite Tim Robbins in futuristic love story "Code 46"
2004
Co-starred with Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans in the thriller "Enduring Love"
2006
Cast as Sarah Carraclough in "Lassie," Charles Sturridge's film based on Eric Knight's classic 1938 novel
2007
Played Mary Queen of Scots in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," the follow-up to "Elizabeth" (1998)
2007
Portrayed Myra Hindley, a notorious child murderer in the HBO original movie "Longford"; earned an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
2008
Featured in Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, "Synecdoche, New York"
2009
Co-starred with Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson in the drama "The Messenger"; earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female
2009
Nominated for the 2009 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female ("The Messenger")
2012
Co-starred with Taylor Kitsch in sci-fi Western "John Carter"
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I want to portray people other people may not want to portray. I want to show the truth, not the garbage. Feel the fear and do it. That's my motto." --Samantha Morton to The New York Times, October 19, 1997
"I want to prove that you don't have to come from Oxford University or RADA, and you don't have to have parents that support you to succeed." --Morton quoted in Interview, June 1998
On filming "Sweet and Lowdown", Morton told the New York Post (September 7, 1999): "I had been warned that some of the people had ego politics, but that wasn't the case. Woody [Allen] treated me exactly as he treated Sean Penn. So I wasn't nervous."Woody is not quiet. He's an artist. He gets excited. He's constructively critical, so it makes you work better."
"She has a magnetism you can't ignore. She draws you in and you just can't look away." --"The Last Yellow" director Julian Farino quoted in the London Times, November 13, 1999
On playing Sophia in the TV version of "Tom Jones", Morton told Clive King in the London Times (November 13, 1999): "Every actor should be offered the opportunity to be versatile. I think people suddenly saw a different side to me. I knew I could do it and the producers believed in me. Sometimes people daren't go with you because you're a bit unexpected. They know they're going to get something, but they're not sure what."
"He feels so safe. If you've got a character of a depth that makes you afraid to go there, he's going to bring you back. He really is the daddy of film directors."-- Morton on working with director Steven Spielberg in Vogue (June 2002)
