Sean Bean

Bean plays street fighter Ranuccio, his first named role, in the fictional re-telling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, directed by Derek Jarman. The character vies with his girlfriend Lena, played by Tilda Swinton, for the painter’s romantic attentions and is eventually killed by having his throat slit after he reveals that he in turn murdered Lena through jealousy.

In this war drama series directed by Tom Clegg Bean plays Sharpe a British Sergeant who saves the life of Arthur in A peninsular war in the age of Napoleon. He is promoted to lieutenant and in charge of a company of Rifles that don’t respect him to carry out a vital and dangerous mission. Co-starring Brian Cox, David Troughton, Assumpta Serna and John Tams. About his character:

It happened in Sharpe’s time, a couple of hundred years ago, when kids were sent off to foreign lands and told to fight, and it happens for real now, too. It’s heartbreaking to re-enact all that, and I couldn’t wait to walk away because I could feel my emotions getting the better of me.

In this sporting drama directed by Maria Giese, Bean plays Muir. He works in a brewery and lives with his parents and brother. He loves to play soccer but he is arrogant and disrespectful and he has never made much of his talent. Co-starring Emily Lloyd, Ann Bell and John Mc Enery.

Football is a man’s game, Though women are getting more interested in it now, and they enjoy the matches just as much as we do, but it’s a man’s game for all that. I hope it stays that way—otherwise it will get like American football, where they bring their families and have hamburgers and everything, and that would spoil it for me

In this four-part TV series directed by Sallie Aprahamian, Bean plays an ex-national criminal intelligence service undercover agent convicted of the brutal murder of his wife and child. He goes on the run to try and clear his name. Co-starring Ralph Brown, Juliet Aubrey, Ron Donachie. About nature of the series:

It’s a four-part crime thriller about a guy who’s been falsely accused of murdering his wife and kid. He gets banged up for it, so he jumps off a train when he’s being transferred to jail, and tries to prove his innocence while he’s on the run.

Bean plays the warrior Boromir, scion of the house of Gondor and a major character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe, in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of the first installment in the book series. Portrayed as a conflicted hero, he initially aims to obtain the Ring from the hobbit Frodo Baggins in order to use the powerful artefact for purposes that are revealed to viewers as noble but ultimately misguided. He later finds redemption, saving Frodo and his friends and allowing them to continue their mission to destroy the ring. On the character’s inner conflict:

He’s a fallen hero, a very gentle man under that exterior. He’s lived in an environment always ravaged by war and had to be realistic. He wants to use the ring against the enemy instead of destroying it. He doesn’t understand the complexities this piece of metal can have on human beings

In this crime-thriller directed by Gary Fleder, Bean plays Koster, a criminal who snatches the daughter of a doctor to force him to break through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman who knows a secret. Co-starring Brittany Murphy, Guy Torry, Jeniffer Esposito.

Yeah. I thought it was a different look, a different image, different character. Very different (from Lord of the Rings), interesting. I just found it very interesting when I first read it. It was a quite complex read at first because there are so many descriptions about agnates and clones and stuff like that but it comes up off the page very well into film I think. I just thought he was a very influential character. He’s right in the middle of this whole complex. It’s his complex, his world, his manufacturing plant for these products and he believes what he’s doing is for the good of humanity. He’s a scientist. He pushes the boundaries and he can do that because he’s allowed to go as far as he can. He’s also got a Godlike factor in him, playing God. He’s actually creating life.

Bean reprises his role as Boromir in the Peter Jackson film adaptation of the second book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Following the fate of his character in The Fellowship of the Ring, his screentime is much less extensive:

I don’t know what I’ll look like, probably not very well, but Boromir’s brother Faramir has a vision of me. So I suppose, technically, you could say that I’m in The Two Towers

The third installment in the series, The Return of the King concludes the epic fantasy trilogy. Bean’s character, the warrior Boromir, is limited to a flashback sequence in the theatrical release and a scene in the extended DVD release in which his father, Denethor, sees him in a hallucination. On bringing the iconic books to the screen:

I think it’s a once in a lifetime role, and a once in a lifetime film. It was made with so much care and passion and meticulous detail […] and everybody was so behind it. Everybody in New Zealand […] all the people were involved. They loved this thing with a passion. They’d read the book, so they were experts and fanatics about it

Bean plays Howe in this movie directed by Jon Turtletaub. It is about a third generation treasure hunter (Nicholas Cage) who has been searching for a treasure all his life. He goes across continents seeking for this one thing that no one knows exists. He finally finds a map hidden at the back of the declaration of independence but when he thinks he has found the final clue,this turns out to be just the beginning. Co starring: Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Harvey Keitel. About why he liked to do this part:

I really enjoyed reading the script and I felt that my character had humanity and charm. He is not that different from Nic’s character in fact the scene where he is forced to kill you can see in his eyes that he doesn’t want to but the situation falls out of his control. Also the prospect of working with Jon, Jerry and Nicolas appealed to me.