25-624: Rupert Wyatt (born 26 October 1972) is an English filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the 2008 film The Escapist , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival . His second film was the 2011 blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes . His third film was the 2019 sci-fi film Captive State . He also directed the first two episodes of the television adaptation of The Mosquito Coast in 2021, as well as serving as an executive producer on
50-590: A flat with James Corden , his co-star in The History Boys and Starter for 10 , until Corden started a family with his wife, Julia Carey. Cooper was responsible for introducing Corden to Julia, whom he had known for years and who was working at Save the Children when he and Corden called in one night. He is also the godfather of Corden's first child, Max. Cooper dated his Mamma Mia! co-star Amanda Seyfried on and off from 2008 to 2009. From 2010 to 2016, he
75-508: A main role but also future UFC star Conor McGregor as an extra playing a prisoner. The film features Leonard Cohen 's version of " The Partisan " and British band Coldplay who wrote an eponymous song for the film which features on the end credits and on their bestselling album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends as a hidden track. The film received a rating of 64% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 reviews. The site's consensus: "A tense, smart prison break movie, The Escapist
100-490: Is a 2008 drama thriller film starring Brian Cox , Joseph Fiennes , Liam Cunningham , Seu Jorge , Dominic Cooper , Steven Mackintosh , Stephen Farrelly and Damian Lewis . It was directed and co-written by Rupert Wyatt and premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival to considerable acclaim. An Irish-UK co-production, the film was produced by Alan Moloney of Parallel Films and Adrian Sturges of Picture Farm. The film runs two narratives simultaneously, preparation for
125-437: Is a sharp debut from director Rupert Wyatt". The North American box office total for the film was $ 13,439 with an additional $ 374,735 internationally for a worldwide total of $ 388,174. In 2015, it was announced that Liam Neeson will star in a remake with Wyatt as a producer. Dominic Cooper Dominic Cooper (born 2 June 1978) is an English actor known for his portrayal of comic book characters Jesse Custer on
150-708: The AMC show Preacher (2016–2019) and young Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , with appearances in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and the ABC series Agent Carter (2015–2016), among other Marvel productions. Cooper played Sky in Mamma Mia! (2008) and its sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018). Early in his career, Cooper was cast in significant roles in productions by
175-753: The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in Professional Acting, graduating in 2000. Cooper first worked in television and film before making his stage debut in Mother Clap's Molly House at the National Theatre in 2001. Cooper was involved in Alan Bennett 's play The History Boys , as the character Dakin, from its first reading. He also toured with the production to Broadway , Sydney , Wellington and Hong Kong as well as appearing in
200-478: The National Theatre alongside Helen Mirren and Margaret Tyzack . In 2010, he played rock drummer Ben in the film Tamara Drewe , and in 2011 played the leading roles of Latif Yahia and Uday Hussein , Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's son in the biographical film The Devil's Double , which was critically acclaimed but criticised for whitewashing, and portrayed Milton H. Greene in My Week with Marilyn . 2011
225-663: The Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company ; he received acclaim for originating the role of Dakin in the 2004 play The History Boys with which, in 2006, he returned to the West End , transferred to Broadway , and adapted to film . Since that time, he has acted in a series of British and American productions, including the acclaimed period pieces An Education (2009) and My Week with Marilyn (2011), as well as action films, such as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) and Need for Speed (2014). Cooper
250-533: The Sundance Film Festival in January 2008, was nominated for eight international film awards, and was the winner of two. In March 2010, he was selected to direct Rise of the Planet of the Apes , a reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise, which was based on a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The film was released on 5 August 2011 to mostly positive reviews and grossed more than $ 481 million worldwide. Wyatt
275-399: The deserts of Arabia His next film announced as director is the thriller - Boxman - After a failed bank heist, nineteen people are trapped in a high-tech vault. The FBI enlists an expert safe-cracker to rescue them before they run out of air. Wyatt currently lives between New York City and Hudson, New York. Short film Other credits The Escapist (2008 film) The Escapist
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#1732948750222300-533: The escape and the escape itself. Frank Perry ( Brian Cox ) is a lifer and has long accepted that he will never see the outside again. When Perry receives his first letter in fourteen years that his cherished daughter is a drug addict and near death following an overdose, he starts to think about escaping. He plans an escape with help from Lenny Drake ( Joseph Fiennes ), Brodie ( Liam Cunningham ) and Viv Batista ( Seu Jorge ). But when Perry's new cellmate James Lacey ( Dominic Cooper ) gets noticed by Tony (the brother of
325-423: The powerful inmate Rizza), things get more complicated and lead to Tony's death. When Perry receives the bad news that his daughter has died his plans change. Perry nears freedom, as he climbs towards a London Underground exit. The story snaps back to the prison where Perry is offering himself to be killed by Rizza for failing to bring Lacey to him for punishment. The escape scenes were Perry's hallucinations as he
350-700: The programme debuted in May 2016. He co-starred in the Warcraft film adaptation , which was released in June 2016. In late 2016, he starred in a well-received West End revival of Stephen Jeffreys' 1994 play, The Libertine at the Haymarket Theatre ; he played John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, the role originated on stage by John Malkovich and played by Johnny Depp in the 2004 film. Cooper reprised his role of Sky in 2018's sequel film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again . Cooper shared
375-769: The radio and film adaptations of the play. He has had notable roles in the Royal National Theatre 's adaptation of the His Dark Materials trilogy where he played the lead character Will Parry , the TV series Down To Earth and Sense & Sensibility . In 2008, he appeared as Sky in Mamma Mia! , in which he sang several songs. The same year, he appeared opposite Keira Knightley in The Duchess as Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey . He starred in films An Education and Freefall in 2009 and also played Hippolytus in Phèdre at
400-808: The series. Wyatt was born and raised near Winchester in Hampshire. He was educated at the Dragon School , Oxford and Winchester College , Winchester. Wyatt is the founder of the film collective Picture Farm, which has produced numerous shorts, documentaries and features, including the Sundance Award-winning documentary Dark Days . He also co-wrote and directed the British prison escape thriller The Escapist (2008), starring Brian Cox , Damian Lewis , Dominic Cooper , Joseph Fiennes , Seu Jorge , Steven Mackintosh and Liam Cunningham . The film premiered at
425-670: The split in April 2018. Cooper has been in a relationship with actress Gemma Chan since 2018. In August 2014, he was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue . In 2023, he signed the Artists4Ceasefire 's open letter to President Joe Biden calling for an immediate ceasefire during
450-453: The television mini-series Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond in 2014. The next year, he appeared in two films, Miss You Already and The Lady in the Van , a film by Nicholas Hytner , who had previously directed him in the stage adaptation of His Dark Materials and both theatrical and film versions of The History Boys . Cooper played Jesse Custer , the lead role in AMC 's Preacher ;
475-631: Was also the year Cooper first appeared as Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Initially appearing in the film Captain America: The First Avenger , he reprised his role in the Marvel One-Shot Agent Carter two years later, and in the television series of the same name in 2015 and 2016. In 2012, he appeared as vampire Henry Sturges in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter . Around this time, he
500-622: Was born and brought up in Greenwich , London, the son of Julie (née Heron), a nursery school teacher, and Brian Cooper, an auctioneer. He has two brothers, Simon and Nathan, a musician in the band The Modern , a half-brother, James, and a half-sister, Emma. His maternal great-grandfather was film-enthusiast E. T. Heron , who published The Kinematograph Weekly . Dominic attended John Ball Primary School in Blackheath, London, followed by Thomas Tallis School in nearby Kidbrooke , then trained at
525-641: Was cast in the lead role in the unproduced Albert Hughes project Motor City based on the Black Listed script of the same name. In February 2012, he signed on to replace Clive Owen the financial thriller Cities , ultimately leaving Motor City . Cities was cancelled after production delays. In 2014, he portrayed the main antagonist in two films: Dino Brewster in Need for Speed and Mehmed in Dracula Untold . Cooper depicted James Bond author Ian Fleming in
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#1732948750222550-413: Was dying, and he sacrificed himself to cause distraction, allowing the other prisoners to escape. The role of Frank Perry was written specifically for Brian Cox. In an interview with Trevor Groth, Wyatt said "The structure of the film's plot was inspired by a well-known short story written in the 19th century by Ambrose Bierce called An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ." Much of The Escapist
575-455: Was in a relationship with Irish actress Ruth Negga . They first met in 2009 on the set of the National Theatre 's production of Phèdre , and starred opposite each other in other projects including the 2011 short film Hello Carter , the 2016 film Warcraft, and AMC 's Preacher (2016–2019). They lived together in London's Primrose Hill . Despite breaking up in 2016, the press first reported
600-480: Was shot in Dublin's Kilmainham Gaol . A scene near the end is shot in the bascule chamber beneath Tower Bridge in London; it is exactly the same location where Wyatt's brother-in-law Boris Starling set the climax of his 2006 novel Visibility . The Kingsway tramway subway also features in the film. The film is noted for featuring not only Irish WWE wrestler Sheamus (billed under his real name, Stephen Farrelly) in
625-534: Was to be the director of 20th Century Fox's X-Men spin-off film Gambit , to be released on 7 October 2016, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. He directed the 2019 sci-fi film Captive State . In 2023 he started production on his first animated Feature Film - The Sunrise File - A French / American co production starring Brian Cox, Yvan Attal, and Diane Kruger. 2025 will see the release of his upcoming feature film as writer and director - Desert Warrior - A 7th Century historical epic filmed over 4 years in
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