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Stephen Daldry | |
|---|---|
 Daldry in 2013 | |
| Born | Stephen David Daldry (1960-05-02)2 May 1960 (age 64) Dorset, England |
| Alma mater | University of Sheffield East 15 Acting School,University of Essex |
| Occupation(s) | Director, producer |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Full list |
Stephen David DaldryCBE (born 2 May 1960)[citation needed] is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won threeTony Awards for his work onBroadway and anOlivier Award for his work in theWest End. He has received three Academy Awards nominations forBest Director, for the filmsBilly Elliot (2000),The Hours (2002), andThe Reader (2008).
From 2016 to 2020, he produced and directed the Netflix television seriesThe Crown, for which he received oneProducers Guild Award nomination, one Producers Guild Award win, sixPrimetime Emmy Award nominations, and two Primetime Emmy Awards win forOutstanding Directing for a Drama Series andOutstanding Drama Series. Thus Daldry has been recognised for his direction by nominations for theatre, television, and film.
Daldry was born inDorset, the son of singer Cherry (née Thompson) and bank manager Patrick Daldry.[1] The family moved toTaunton,Somerset, where his father died of cancer when Daldry was aged 14.[2]
Daldry joined a youth theatre group in Taunton, Somerset[3] and performed as Sandy Tyrell inHay Fever for the local amateur society, Taunton Thespians. At age 18, he won aRoyal Air Force scholarship to read English at theUniversity of Sheffield, where he became chairman of the Sheffield University Theatre Group.[4]
After graduation, he spent a year travelling throughItaly, where he became aclown'sapprentice.[citation needed] He then trained as an actor on the postgraduate course atEast 15 Acting School from 1982 to 1983, now part of theUniversity of Essex.[citation needed]
Daldry began his career as an apprentice at theSheffield Crucible from 1985 to 1988, working under artistic directorClare Venables. He also headed productions at theManchester Library Theatre,Liverpool Playhouse, Stratford East, Oxford Stage, Brighton and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was Artistic Director of theRoyal Court Theatre from 1992 to 1998, where he headed the £26 million development scheme. He was also Artistic Director of London'sGate Theatre (1989–92) and the Metro Theatre Company (1984–86). He is currently on the Board of the Young and Old Vic Theatres and remains an Associate Director of the Royal Court Theatre. He was theCameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre for 2002 atSt Catherine's College, Oxford.[5]
Daldry made his feature film directorial debut withBilly Elliot (2000), which launched the film career ofJamie Bell. His next film wasThe Hours, which earnedNicole Kidman her firstBest Actress win at theAcademy Awards. He went on to direct astage musical adaptation ofBilly Elliot, and in 2009 his work earned him a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical. He has also made a film version ofThe Reader (2008), based on thebook of the same name and starringKate Winslet,David Kross andRalph Fiennes. The film won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for Kate Winslet. Daldry's fourth film wasExtremely Loud & Incredibly Close, an adaptation of the book of thesame name written byJonathan Safran Foer, starringTom Hanks,Sandra Bullock, andMax von Sydow. The screenplay was written byEric Roth. The film received a nomination for Best Picture at the84th Academy Awards and a nomination for von Sydow for Best Supporting Actor.[6]
Daldry was initially slated to direct a Star Wars spin off film about the iconicStar Wars characterObi-Wan Kenobi but the film was later scrapped due to the commercial failure ofSolo: A Star Wars Story with Daldry saying the cancellation of the film crushed him andHossein Amini. However, ideas from Daldry's originally planned film were repurposed for theObi-Wan KenobiDisney + limited series directed byDeborah Chow and released in 2022 for which Daldry received credit as a consulting producer.[7] In July 2022, it was revealed that Daldry would work withSonia Friedman to develop a play based on the hitNetflix television showStranger Things.[8] The play entitledStranger Things: The First Shadow premiered in December 2023 at thePhoenix Theatre inLondon'sWest End.
Daldry was in a relationship with set designerIan MacNeil for 13 years.[9] They met at an outdoor production ofAlice in Wonderland inLancaster in 1988 and, after settling inCamberwell, began collaborating on theatrical productions.[10][11]
Greatly impacted[clarification needed] by theSeptember 11 attacks in the United States, Daldry decided he wanted to start a family and married American performance artist and magazine editorLucy Sexton, with whom he has a daughter.[12][13] Despite this, he continues to refer to himself asgay because the public "[doesn't] like confusion"[14] although he has also suggested that they married so he could get health insurance.
| Year | Title | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Eight | short film |
| 2000 | Billy Elliot | Universal Pictures |
| 2002 | The Hours | Miramax Films |
| 2008 | The Reader | The Weinstein Company |
| 2011 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2014 | Trash | Universal Pictures |
| 2021 | Together | BBC Film /Bleecker Street |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Games of the XXX Olympiad Opening Ceremony | "Isles of Wonder" |
| 2012 | Games of the XXX Olympiad Closing Ceremony | "A Symphony of British Music" |
| 2016–23 | The Crown | 5 episodes |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Consulting Producer |
Broadway
London
Detailed theatreography
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globes Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 2000 | Billy Elliot | 3 | 13 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2002 | The Hours | 9 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 2008 | The Reader | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2011 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | 2 | |||||
| 2014 | Trash | 1 | |||||
| 2021 | Together | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 19 | 2 | 31 | 7 | 13 | 3 | |
Directed Academy Award performances
Under Daldry's direction, these actors have receivedAcademy Award nominations and wins for their performances in their respective roles.
| Year | Performer | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award for Best Actress | |||
| 2002 | Nicole Kidman | The Hours | Won |
| 2008 | Kate Winslet | The Reader | Won |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | |||
| 2002 | Ed Harris | The Hours | Nominated |
| 2011 | Max von Sydow | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | Nominated |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | |||
| 2000 | Julie Walters | Billy Elliot | Nominated |
| 2002 | Julianne Moore | The Hours | Nominated |
