tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

A Brilliant Mind
tMF celebrates the talent and charm of Tom Sturridge!
by Jed Medina

Born into a family of artists, Tom Sturridge started acting at the age of 10, playing Tom Gulliver in the TV-adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels. What made his participation even more unique and memorable is that his father (Charles Sturridge) directed it. His mother is actress Phoebe Nicholls and he is the grandson of thespian Anthony Nicholls.

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While it may have been easy for the young Tom to pursue acting as a child, he subsequenty disappeared from the scene to get an education. He studied at Winchester College in England and did not get involved in any further film projects until much later.

Tom returns as a young actor: Re-emerging as a young actor, Tom captured roles in Vanity Fair (with Reese Witherspoon), Brothers of the Head, Being Julia (with Annette Bening) and the film that gives him the most buzz nowadays, Like Minds.

As the young Georgy in Vanity Fair, he took to the role with much gusto, playing a spoiled, impressionable young boy who gave up his mother and settled in with his rich grandparents. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers played his father and although there are no scenes involving the two directly, he managed to act exactly like a younger version of the Rhys-Meyers character - a conniving, selfish man with little or no concern for the people who love him.

In Being Julia, his role as the son of aging stage diva Julia Lambert (played by Annette Benning) brought him much notice and subsequently allowed the young actor to explore more roles to his liking.

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A Brilliant Mind: In Like Minds, Tom played opposite fellow young actor Eddie Redmayne and the multi-talented Toni Collette. The psychological thriller was hailed by critics as a great vehicle for both young actor and one which gave them a chance to further their careers.

Says online film critic Elliot Bledsoe of the film:

'Doused in history, religion and suspense, Like Minds is disturbingly sophisticated, visually beautiful and completely captivating. The acting of Eddie Redmayne is chillingly brilliant, but Tom Sturridge’s is by far the most impressive, being haunting and calculated with a cold, unemotional stare that will sink deep into you.

Teen Vogue has quoted Tom as saying,

‘It’s very easy at this stage to get caught up in the whole teen movie thing. I think that’s very dangerous.’ True to his words, Tom has been very particular about the roles he has picked.

While he could have pitted talents against another young (and award-winning) actor Jamie Bell in Jumper, he is said to have been ‘unceremoniously’ replaced by Hayden Christensen.

Coming up: Tom is set to star in another film in 2007 called Maestro. The movie is based on a novel by Peter Goldsworthy and will be directed by Catherine Jarvis. As Paul, Tom is a piano student who slowly develops an admiration for his tutor Eduard Keller played by Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa).

Visit Tom's amazing fansite for more info and news.