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Cast Archive: Rupert Friend
Rupert Friend
Birthday: October 1, 1981
Birth Place: Oxfordshire, England, GB
Resides: United Kingdom
Professions: actor
Companions Keira Knightley
Rupert Friend was an accomplished British actor whose chiseled looks, refined personality, and impressive talent made him a favorite leading man in numerous period pieces. He was known for playing complicated characters who were often tested by society's prevailing morale standards, such as with the timeless classic Pride & Prejudice (2005) opposite Keira Knightley, who Friend also famously dated off screen; the historical drama The Libertine (2005) with Johnny Depp and John Malkovich; and the heartbreaking Holocaust drama, "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2008). Throughout his longstanding career, Friend consistently delivered strong performances, which gained him critical acclaim as well as commercial success, proving that he was a star in his own right - not just an extension of his famous girlfriend.

Rupert Friend was born on Oct. 1, 1981 in Oxfordshire, England and was raised in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire. His father was a business owner and his mother worked for an organization which specialized in immigration, asylum, and human rights. Friend attended The Marlborough School in Woodstock, as well as the Cherwell School and d'Overbroeck's College in Oxford. He grew up in a house without a VCR, but the acting bug bit him when he first saw "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) in a theater. To develop his acting skills, he enrolled at the prestigious Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London; the university's other famous alumni included Hugh Bonneville, Matthew Goode, Julian Fellowes and Minnie Driver.

Friend's professional acting career took off quickly when he landed a supporting role in the film "The Libertine" opposite Johnny Depp and John Malkovich. In the movie, he played Billy Downs, the handsome lover of John Wilmot, the 2nd Earl of Rochester (Depp). Friend's performance in the historical drama did not go unrecognized; in 2005, he garnered a Most Promising Newcomer nomination at the British Independent Film Awards and in 2006, a Best International Newcomer nomination at the Ischia Global Film Festival.

Friend followed "The Libertine" with another memorable role in an even more beloved period piece. He was cast in the film adaptation of Jane Austen's classic love story, "Pride & Prejudice," about five sisters who live in the class-conscious England of the late 18th century and desire to each find themselves a husband. The film starred Knightley, who played Elizabeth Bennett, the witty and most sensible of the daughters, as well as Matthew Macfadyen, as Mr. Darcy, the wealthy owner of the prestigious Pemberley estate who is secretly in love with the strong-willed Elizabeth. Friend's portrayal of Mr. Wickham, an old friend of the morally upright Darcy was pitch-perfect. He was clearly at ease bringing to life a character that was so superficially charming that he could easily convince Elizabeth Bennett of the lies he had made up about Darcy.

While filming "Pride," an on-the-set romance was brewing between Friend and Knightley, who did become a real-life couple for many years. Like most famous lovers, their relationship became tabloid fodder both in the UK and U.S. The strength of their relationship became quite evident when in May 2009, Friend defended Knightley's anti-domestic violence ad that was banned from British television. Made for the UK-based Women's Aid charity, the footage showed Knightley being repeatedly kicked on the floor. Clearcast, the organization that approved advertising footage for television, deemed the ad too violent and banned it from being shown on British TV. Friend scoffed at Clearcast's decision, calling the decision "ridiculous" and explaining in an interview that the whole point of the ad was to shock people. The pair also collaborated on a short film fantasy project, "The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of the Suicide Brothers" (2009), written by Friend and his Webber Douglas contemporary, Tom Mison. The two played brothers who would journey out to a shed each day to try to kill themselves, but would fail every time. Knightley appeared as their frustrated fairy godmother.

Critics raved about Friend's performance in the heartwarming film Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) opposite legendary British actress, Dame Joan Plowright, who played an elderly widower who strikes up an unusual friendship with a young writer named Ludovic Meyer (Friend). It was another breakout role for the young actor, who eased into the role with tenderness and the authenticity of a more seasoned performer. In 2008, Friend co-starred in the film "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," based on the novel by John Boyne. Set during WWII, the film explored the enduring story of two boys - Bruno, the son of a commandant at a concentration camp, and Schmuel, a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence as they develop a friendship complete with unexpected consequences. Friend delivered another solid performance as the monstrous Lt. Kurt Kotler, the fearsome officer assigned to the house of the child protagonist, Bruno. Playing the role of a Nazi officer proved to be very demanding for the actor who was used to playing more genteel roles. Friend reportedly told interviewers he was "scared" to act in certain scenes, especially those that involved his character berating the boys.

Friend consorted with royalty once again as Prince Albert in the 2009 historical romance, "Young Victoria," the surprise collaboration between famed director Martin Scorsese and the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson. The film depicted the earlier, brighter years of the vivacious young monarch, played by the equally spunky actress Emily Blunt. That same year, he appeared in Stephen Frear's sensuous dramatic comedy, "Cheri" (2009). The film was set in late-19th-century France during Belle Epoque, a period of great cultural and social excess for society's upper crust. The film starred Michelle Pfeiffer as Lea de Lonval, Paris' most renowned seductress, who liaises with a young and overly privileged courtesan named Cheri (Friend). Critics hailed Friend's performance as the sweet but disillusioned Cheri as first-rate and genuine, boosting his career to even greater heights.

The versatile Briton showcased muscle and grit in the action drama, "The Kid" (2009), based on the true story of British author Kevin Lewis, who survived a horrible childhood in South London and later, that city's criminal underbelly, before becoming a boxer and best-selling writer. Friend, who was never into sports, took up boxing lessons to get into character. The same year, Friend starred in the romantic drama "Lullaby for Pi" opposite Clemence Poesy, for which he learned how to play the piano to portray Sam, a washed up jazz singer who, while mourning his wife's death in a hotel, develops a strange relationship with a mysterious female artist who has locked herself up in his bathroom.

The year 2010 was a busy one for Friend. He starred in the British supernatural gothic film "The Black Death" opposite Sean Bean and Lena Headey, in which he portrayed a monk sent out to investigate rumors of people being brought back to life during the first outbreak of the bubonic plague in England. He also made his stage debut as Mitchell in the UK premiere of "The Little Dog Laughed," playing a closeted Hollywood actor whose devilish agent finds him a woman to marry so as to keep his sexuality under wraps for the sake of his burgeoning showbiz career.

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