Stuart Townsend | |
|---|---|
 Townsend at the Beverly Hills special screening ofBattle in Seattle on 22 September 2008. | |
| Born | (1972-12-15)15 December 1972 (age 52) Howth,County Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Partner | Charlize Theron (2001–2009) |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Peter Townsend |
| Relatives | Hugo Townsend (half-brother) |
Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an Irish actor. He portrayedLestat de Lioncourt in thefilm adaptation ofAnne Rice'sQueen of the Damned (2002), andDorian Gray inAlan Moore'sThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). In 2007, he directed the filmBattle in Seattle.
Townsend was born inHowth,County Dublin, the son of Lorna Hogan, an Irish model, andPeter Townsend, an Englishprofessional golfer.[1][2] His younger brother, Dylan, is also an actor.[3]
Stuart attended theGaiety School of Acting, Dublin, and made his non-professional stage debut in its 1993 production ofColin Teevan'sTear Up The Black Sail.[4] The following year he made his professional stage debut inTrue Lines, directed byJohn Crowley, which opened inKilkenny, before moving to theDublin Theatre Festival and on to theBush Theatre in London. His early film roles were in Irish short films, includingGodsuit andSummertime, before landing a role in thefeature length film,Trojan Eddie, a 1996Anglo-Irish co-production. In 1997 he starred in the British film,Shooting Fish.
With his portrayal of a seducer in the title role ofAbout Adam, Townsend gained exposure in the United States. He briefly returned to the London stage in 2000, in theTennessee Williams playOrpheus Descending, starring as Val Xavier, alongsideHelen Mirren as Lady Torrance, before landing roles in several major films. He appeared inQueen of the Damned as the vampireLestat de Lioncourt, and inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen asDorian Gray.[5] Townsend was hired to play the part ofAragorn inThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy, but was replaced byViggo Mortensen the day beforeprincipal photography began.[6] According to Townsend:
I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began. After that I was told they wouldn't pay me because I was in breach of contract due to not having worked long enough. I had been having a rough time with them, so I was almost relieved to be leaving until they told me I wouldn't be paid. I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different.[6]
In 2005, he starred alongsideGabrielle Union inNight Stalker, the remake of the 1974ABC TV seriesKolchak: The Night Stalker. He portrayed Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter looking into his wife's murder.Night Stalker was abruptly cancelled by ABC after six episodes due to bad viewing figures, with some critics reportedly saying he was too young compared toDarren McGavin in the original series. The same year, Townsend had a guest starring role on NBC'sWill & Grace as Karen Walker'spansexual pastry chef who seduces her, Will Truman, and then her maid, Rosario. He also made an uncredited cameo inÆon Flux (2005). Townsend starred alongsideRyan Reynolds inChaos Theory (2007). The same year, he made his directorial debut withBattle in Seattle, a portrayal of theWTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 which was protested by environmentalists, indigenous rights organizations, labor unions andanti-globalisation protesters.[7] The film's cast includedCharlize Theron,Ray Liotta andWoody Harrelson, but enjoyed only limited release and noblockbuster support.
Townsend was set to playFandral inKenneth Branagh'sThor, but was replaced in January 2010, due to unspecified creative differences.[8] He appeared in the ABC thriller,Betrayal, the second season ofSalem, and a 2017 episode ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit.[9] In 2021, Townsend starred in the filmsThe Martini Shot andGrace and Grit.[10][11]
Townsend's father,Peter, was a golfer who played in the1969 and1971 Ryder Cups.[12] He has a brother, Dylan, and sister, Chloe, from his father's first marriage to Lorna Townsend, who died in 1994 of a brain haemorrhage.[13] Townsend has two half-siblings,Hugo and Ella, from his father's second marriage, to Swedish-born Sofia.[14]
Stuart dated actressCharlize Theron after meeting her on the set of 2002'sTrapped. The couple lived together in Los Angeles and Ireland. They said they considered themselves married without an actual marriage, with Townsend stating, "We didn't have a ceremony. I don't need a certificate or the state or the church to say otherwise. So no, there's no big official story on a wedding, but we are married.... I consider her my wife and she considers me her husband."[15] Theron split from Townsend when they came back on day two of a planned ten-day holiday inMexico in January 2010.[16][17]
In May 2015, Townsend's brother said that Stuart had settled down inCosta Rica, where he had bought some land and was living with a woman from that country, who was expecting their second child at that time.[18] In 2019, Townsend was living in Santa Monica with his wife and two children, and was arrested after a domestic dispute.[19]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Godsuit | John Slattery | |
| 1996 | Trojan Eddie | Dermot | |
| 1997 | Shooting Fish | Jez | |
| Under the Skin | Tom | ||
| 1998 | Resurrection Man | Victor Kelly | |
| 1999 | Simon Magus | Dovid Bendel | |
| Wonderland | Tim | ||
| The Venice Project | Lark/Gippo the Fool | ||
| The Escort | Tom | ||
| 2000 | About Adam | Adam | |
| 2002 | Queen of the Damned | Lestat de Lioncourt | |
| Trapped | William Jennings | ||
| 2003 | Shade | Vernon | |
| The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | Dorian Gray | ||
| 2004 | Head in the Clouds | Guy Malyon | |
| 2005 | The Best Man | Olly Pickering | |
| 2005 | Æon Flux | Monican Rebel | |
| 2007 | Chaos Theory | Buddy Endrow | |
| 2008 | Battle in Seattle | Writer and director only | |
| 2009 | Maggie Hill | Terrence James | |
| 2013 | A Stranger in Paradise | Paul | |
| 2021 | Grace and Grit | Ken Wilber | |
| 2021 | Christmas at Castle Hart | Earl Aidan Hart | |
| 2021 | Apache Junction | Jericho Ford | |
| 2023 | The Martini Shot† | Philip | Completed |
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Summertime | Andrew | Main role |
| 2005 | Will & Grace | Edward the pastry Chef | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Night Stalker | Carl Kolchak | Main role |
| 2005–2009 | Robot Chicken | Announcer, Lucky Charms Leprechaun, Ron Weasley | 4 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | XIII: The Series | XIII | Main role |
| 2013 | Betrayal | Jack McAllister | Series regular |
| 2015 | Elementary | Del Gruner | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Salem | Dr. Samuel Wainwright | 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Declan Trask | Guest |
| Year | Group | Award | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Fantafestival | Best Actor | Won | Resurrection Man |
| 2003 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Film | Nominated | People's Choice Award |
| 2008 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Script for Film | Nominated | Battle in Seattle |
| 2013 | WorldFest | Best Actor | Won | XIII: The Series |
