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He trained at the Central School of
Speech and Drama and first came to public attention as Derek Bentley
in the 1991 film Let Him Have It. However, it was a regular role in
the TV series Cracker (1993-94) culminating in his character's
dramatic death in the second series, that made him a recognisable
figure in the UK.
He appeared in the low-budget film Shallow Grave in 1994 and in the
same year won the part of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC drama
serial Our Friends in the North. It was the transmission of this
production on BBC Two in 1996 that perhaps really made him into a
household name in the UK.
His film career has including parts in Elizabeth (1998), eXistenZ
(1999), Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), The Others (2001), 24 Hour
Party People (2002) and the horror movie 28 Days Later (2002). He
has starred as a leading man alongside a number of Hollywood
actresses e.g. Rene Zellweger in A Price Above Rubies and Cate
Blanchette(1998),Cameron Diaz in The Invisible Circus and Nicole
Kidman in The Others(2001).
Despite his successful film career, he has continued to appear in
the most challenging and thought-provoking British television dramas
of recent years. These have included Clocking Off (2000) and Flesh
and Blood (2002) for the BBC and Hillsborough (1996), a modern
version of Othello (2002, playing 'Ben Jago', the Iago character)
and the religious epic The Second Coming (2003, playing Steve
Baxter, the son of God.
Chris' stage career, while not as extensive as his film and
television career, has nevertheless shown what a formidable actor he
is. He's given intense focused performances in such plays as
'Hamlet', 'Electricity' and 'Miss Julie', which attracted excellent
reviews.
A very highly-regarded actor, he has twice been nominated in the
Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards, the
UK's premier TV awards ceremony. His first nomination came in 1997
for Our Friends in the North, and he was nominated again in 2004 for
The Second Coming. He did, however, triumph in the Best Actor
categories at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the Royal
Television Society Awards, winning for Our Friends in the North. He
won the RTS Best Actor award for a second time in 2003, this time
for his performance in Flesh and Blood. In 2005 he received the Most
Popular Actor award in the National Television Awards for Doctor
Who.
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