James Anthony "Jim" Sturgess (born 16 May 1981) is an English actor and singer-songwriter. His breakthrough role was appearing as Jude in the musical romance drama film Across the Universe (2007).
Sturgess sustained almost a decade of roles in British productions, mostly telefilms, including I'm Frank Morgan (2000), Hawk (2001) and the three installments of The Quest series.
In 2007, he made his big break in Julie Taymor's musical Across the Universe, portraying Jude Feeny, a paternally-shorn young man who travels to the US amid the raging throes of the late 1960s and falls in love with sheltered American teenager, Lucy, played by Evan Rachel Wood.
In 2008, he appeared in the historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl in the supporting role of George Boleyn opposite Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana. He also starred in 21 as the male lead Ben Campbell, a movie about five MIT students, who, by counting cards, take Las Vegas casinos for millions. Sturgess' co-stars in 21 include Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne.
He played Gavin Kossef in Crossing Over (2009), appearing with Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd. Set in Los Angeles, the storyline revolves around immigrants from different countries and backgrounds who share a common bond in desperately trying to gain legal status. Also in 2009, he starred in Kari Skogland’s Fifty Dead Men Walking loosely based on the best-selling true story book by Martin McGartland about a young Irishman recruited by the British police to infiltrate and spy on the Irish Republican Army and who saved about 50 innocent lives in the process.
Heartless, a film directed by Philip Ridley, premiered on 31 August 2009 at the London FrightFest Film Festival, a popular horror film festival. Sturgess appears as Jamie Morgan, a young man whose life has always been blighted by the large, heart-shaped port wine birthmark on his face and sells his soul to the devil. Jim Sturgess won the Best Actor Award at the 2010 Fantasporto Film Festival for his role. The film also won the Best Film Award and the Best Director Award for Philip Ridley.
In 2010, Sturgess starred as a character based on Sławomir Rawicz, a young Polish officer who escaped from a Russian gulag during World War II. The film, The Way Back, is based on a true story and directed by the highly acclaimed Peter Weir.
Additionally in 2010, he provided voice-over work in director Zack Snyder's 3-D animated feature film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole based on the children's book series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky.
In May 2010, Sturgess officially signed on to appear in One Day (based on the novel of the same name by David Nicholls) co-starring with Anne Hathaway. The novel is based on two students who meet on 15 July 1988. The story follows them every 15 July over the following twenty years. Directed by Lone Scherfig, filming was completed on 17 September 2010 and theatrical release in August 2011.
During 2010, he additionally filmed Upside Down. Filming was completed in May 2010 in Montreal and is currently[when?] in post-production. Described as a "sci-fi romance". The film is the second full-length feature from writer and director Juan Solanas and is slated for release in 2011.
A third film project in 2010 was Promised Land to be directed by Michael Winterbottom and according to Variety "will recount the lead up to the 1948 partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel". Jim Sturgess will star as a British officer hunting down the extremist Jewish factions. Filming is due to begin in October.
In March and April 2011, filming took place for Ashes, a film directed by Mat Whitecross. The picture has been described as a contemporary film noir thriller that stars Ray Winstone and Lesley Manville along with Sturgess. Filmed in the Isle of Man, the production is being partially funded by the band Coldplay, university friends of the director. In September 2011, filming began for Cloud Atlas to be released in October 2011.[dated info]
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