Jamie Bell: A rising star - Portrait Magazine


Jamie Bell
A rising star

Written by Kat


You remember Jamie Bell. He was that adoreable dancing kid in 'Billy Elliot'; in 2002 he played a young hunchback in Nicholas Nickleby then he seemed to disappear. Well now he's back and I'm sure you've noticed, all of a sudden he's everywhere!

Jamie costars with teen actress (and rumored girlfriend) Evan Rachel Wood in the epic music video 'Wake me up when September ends' by the popular rock band Green Day. The video tells the story of a young couple who are torn apart when the young man enrolls in the army and is deployed to Iraq. Both young stars put in fantastic performances.

Then theres the not one, not two, but three films Jamie appears in coming out this year!

#1: The Chumsrubber: The tagline urges us to "Meet generation Rx" in a


The Chumscrubber poster

darkly satiric story about life crumbling in the midst of a seemingly idyllic suburbia. Jamie plays the lead character Dean Stiffle who's dealing with the suicide of his best friend. 'The Chumscrubber' is in cinemas in the US August 5th.

#2: Dear Wendy: A film about a young boy in a nameless, timeless American town who establishes a gang of youthful misfits united in their love of guns (Passivists with guns) and their code of honor. Dear Wendy opens in US cinemas on the 23rd of September.

#3: King Kong: Jamie has a small role in the highly anticipated remake by Oscar Winning Director Peter Jackson. Set in the 1930s, this is the story of a group of explorers and documentary filmmakers who travel to the mysterious Skull Island (near Sumatra) to investigate legends of a giant gorilla named Kong. Once there, they discover that King Kong is a real creature, living in a massive jungle where creatures from prehistoric times have been protected and hidden for millions of years. As the explorers search for the great ape, their quest puts them up against both Kong and his dinosaur enemies. Ultimately, it is the attention of a beautiful human woman that soothes Kong long enough for him to be subdued by the explorers and shipped back to New York, where his bleak future involves being put on display in front of humans... but how long can even the mightiest shackles of man hold back an ape 25 feet tall?


Jamie was born on March 14th, 1986 in Billingham, England, his mother was only 16 when he was born and raised him as a solo parent. From a young age he had a love of dancing (just like his 'Billy Elliot' character). He won the role of Billy over 2000 other young auditionees and for the role he won a Bafta (The British equivelant of the Oscar) for Best Male Performance beating Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Douglas.

Though experiencing much success with his acting in the US (he has mastered the American accent and plays Americans in many of his films) Jamie currently lives with his family in England when not working.

In 2006 Jamie will star in the new Clint Eastwood World War II film 'Flags of our Fathers' which tells the life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

With raw talent and a determination to suceed Jamie's is certainly a face we're sure to see a lot more of in years to come.