Dominic West Biography
Summary
"Dominic West" (born October 15, 1969) is an English actor.
Early life
West was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England to George West, who owned a plastics manufacturing plant, and Moya, a homemaker. 'I'm from Sheffield and I'm very solidly middle class, one of seven Irish Catholics. I was the show-off in the family.' Dominic attended Trinity College, Dublin as well as the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Career
West made his debut in 1991 in a short called "3 Joes". His other screen appearances include "True Blue", "Chicago" and "Mona Lisa Smile". His most notable role has been Baltimore police officer Jimmy McNulty on the HBO television police drama "The Wire". To play McNulty, West had to master a Baltimorese accent. In one episode where Jimmy went undercover as an English businessman, he attempted to put on a parody of a Cockney accent, but was told it sounded 'too fake'.
In film, he portrayed the heavy-metal guitarist Kirk Cuddy in the 2001 film "Rock Star". In 2007, he played the Spartan politician Theron in 300.
On stage, he appeared as Konstantin in the Peter Hall-directed "The Seagull" (1996) at the Old Vic. In 2005, he returned to the stage to play Orlando in David Lan's "As You Like It" at the Wyndhams's Theatre in London. He played in Harley Granville Barker's "The Voysey Inheritance" directed by Peter Gill at the Royal National Theatre in 2006. In late 2006 and early 2007 he played the lead in Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll" in London's West End.
Selected credits
"The Punisher: War Zone" (2008)
"300" (2007)
"Hannibal Rising" (2007)
"The Forgotten" (2004)
"Mona Lisa Smile" (2003)
"The Wire" (2002, television series)
"Chicago" (2002)
"Rock Star" (2001)
"28 Days" (2000)
"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (1999)
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1999)
"Surviving Picasso" (1996)
"True Blue" (1996)
"Richard III" (1995)
"3 Joes (Short)" (1991)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Dominic West.
