Christopher Eccleston
Alyssa's fan site
Mini biography

He was born 16 February 1964, to a working class family in Salford, England. His parents always worked hard at jobs they didn't particularly care about, and so he decided he needed to have a job that he wouldn't hate, and that would have some variety in it. He has two brothers, twins, who are eight years older than him. One, Alan, actually played his brother in the movie Heart, and both work in TV and film now, but behind the scenes, as crafters. 

He discovered acting in his late teens, when a teacher at Salford Tech put him in a play just because he was tall. Though he says it wasn't a good role for him, it showed him what he wanted to do. He trained at Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

He's very adamant about keeping his personal life out of the press, and he's been so successful about it that all I can really tell you is he's not married and probably never has been, though he often has a girlfriend (but never, as far as I know, a boyfriend).

Though he lived in London for a while, he now has a house in Salford to be closer to his family. He says he'd rather spend time with them than go to fancy celebrity parties.


 

from Central School of Speech and Drama's production of Neil Simon's Little Me, around 1986
Career overview

Despite Chris's incredible talent, he couldn't find work as an actor right away, so he took a lot of odd jobs, including in construction and as an artist's model.*

His first acting job was in a theater in Bristol in 1989. The following year, he got several roles on television, mainly guest parts in a series. His first film was Let Him Have It (1991), and being largely unknown was part of the reason he was cast. He didn't really get much attention until the show Cracker, starring Robbie Coltrane. But he left Cracker in the second series and starred in the suspence film Shallow Grave. Since then, in various roles, he's gotten to hit Nicolas Cage, kiss Nicole Kidman, propose to Cameron Diaz, and kill Derek Jacobi. Not a bad record, if you ask me.

Even after finding relative success, he still had long periods out of work and in roles he didn't really care for, until the revival of Doctor Who in 2005. I'm not sure he's had a day off since then, completing one film for TV, two for the big screen, and starting on another series, Heroes.

Television roles -  Film roles - Roles in films on TV


 
Hobbies
  • Running: He participates in the charity marathon, the Great North Run, and stated on a show called Top Gear that he would rather run than drive anywhere.
  • Football (soccer, to Americans): He supports Manchester United, and as a child, he wanted to play professionally.
  • Music: He likes reggae and soul music, and mentioned in the BBC Breakfast interview on the Doctor Who DVD that he's rather obsessive about it. He's also a fan of Morrissey.
  • Beer: I gather he's a bit of a connoisseur. 


 
Charities
Most of us, as adolescents, want to do something important, but then we get caught up in our own lives and lose sight of the issues that once meant so much to us. But Chris has never forgotten that he can change the world, and never stopped caring enough to do it. He doesn't just throw money at charities; he uses his fame to increase awareness of the issues, and gives of his time to help out. Health seems to be his primary interest, as well as basic human needs. The Great North Run, mentioned above, raises money for health care.

Chris with Paul and Andrea Annear
in Mencap's 2005 photo competition, "Snap!"		 Mencap

Mencap works to increase awareness of learning disabilities and help people who have them. Just to clarify, in the US, we use that term for things like dyslexia, but in the UK it refers to what we call developmental disabilities, such as Down's Symdrome.

Chris first became interested in this issue when he was doing research for the film Let Him Have It, in which he played a young man with the mental age of eleven who was hanged for a murder he didn't commit. It was based on a true story. What Chris learned made him adamant about showing the truth, regardless of the director's attempt to romanticise the character.
Chris as Derek Bentley 
in Let Him Have It

Talking to the locals
Red Cross

One year after the tsunami, Chris traveled to Indonesia to report on the Red Cross's efforts in rebuilding. BBC Breakfast filmed for a week and showed the report over three days.

"I’m now realising how long and complex a recovery operation like this is,” he said. “Twelve months is no time at all. It’s impossible for me to understand what’s happened to these people, all I can tell you is what I’ve seen – bravery, courage and defiance – which has been very humbling.”
I can't actually find the source of this picture, but I guess it speaks for itself.

He's helped out with a lot of other charities as well; I gather if he thinks it's a good cause, he'll find time to do at least a little something for it (including buy the T-shirt...)
Celebrity Pig

A Manchester-based company of learning-disabled actors. They do stage and television work. Chris got involved after one of their members played his mother in Flesh and Blood.

He is a patron (I presume this means financially) and also plays small parts in their productions from time to time. The poster at right is for one of their plays.
Control Arms
This is a world-wide campaign working to establish a legally binding treaty on international arms trade. The UN voted in October 2006 to actually get started on it.
Christie Hospital Cancer Center
They provide cancer treatment and do research to improve the available options. Chris did the voice-over for an ad to raise money for them.

* I've also been an artist's model, for both private and University life drawing classes. If his experience was anything like mine, then somewhere there are a bunch of late-1980's art students who have nude drawings of him in their old portfolios, and might not even have known his name at the time.