Sean Bean

Sean Bean, born Shaun Mark Bean on April 17, 1959, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, is an English actor known for rugged screen presence, a distinctive Yorkshire voice, and a body of work spanning theatre, television, and international film. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he made his professional stage debut in Romeo and Juliet in 1983 and soon began appearing in British film and television. His early film roles included Caravaggio, Stormy Monday, and Patriot Games, but his first major popular success came on television as Richard Sharpe in the ITV adaptations of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels.

Bean's international film profile rose sharply in the 1990s and early 2000s. He played Alec Trevelyan, the former 006 and chief antagonist in the James Bond film GoldenEye, then appeared in Ronin before becoming widely recognized as Boromir in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. That role used Bean's strengths particularly well: martial authority, emotional directness, and a capacity to make flawed loyalty sympathetic. He followed with roles in Equilibrium, National Treasure, Troy, Flightplan, Silent Hill, The Island, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Jupiter Ascending, The Martian, Wolfwalkers, Possessor, and other films.

Television has been a major part of Bean's later career. He played Eddard “Ned” Stark in the first season of Game of Thrones, giving the fantasy series its initial moral center and helping anchor the show's mainstream breakthrough. He also starred in Legends, Broken, The Frankenstein Chronicles, Snowpiercer, Time, Marriage, World on Fire, and other productions. His work has earned major honors including BAFTA television awards and an International Emmy.