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Julian Sands
Tall, blonde, and statuesque British actor Julian Sands is equally fit appearing in elegant historical dramas as he is in cult movies and horror films. A native of Yorkshire, he has a fine bone structure, striking blonde hair, and an eloquent speaking voice. Sands studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and joined the Forum Theatre Company.
He made his film debut in Derek Jarman’s Broken English but stayed working in the theater until his breakthrough film performance as photographer Jon Swain in Roland Joffé’s The Killing Fields. He paid his dues with some routine U.K. films (Oxford Blues, After Darkness) until he landed the role of free-spirited George Emerson in the Merchant-Ivory production A Room With a View. He entered the realm of sexualized horror films as poet Percy Shelley in Ken Russell’s Gothic. This role seemed to lead straightaway to his title role in Warlock, followed by Warlock: The Armageddon. Briefly returning to historical costume dramas to portray composer Franz Liszt in James Lapine’s lavish Impromptu, Sands was back to creepy, sexual thrillers like Mary Lambert’s Siesta and David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch.
He also found time to play a few doctors in the Cyndi Lauper movie Vibes and in Steven Spielberg’s Arachnophobia. After playing the sexually submissive surgeon in the critically dismissed drama Boxing Helena, he made a quick recovery in Paul Schrader’s made-for-TV detective film Witch Hunt. Back in the U.K., he formed a close working relationship with director Mike Figgis and found roles in The Browning Version, Leaving Las Vegas, One Night Stand, The Loss of Sexual Innocence, Timecode, and Hotel. Meanwhile, he made a few films in Italy, most notably as the Phantom in Dario Argento’s The Phantom of the Opera. In 2002, he was cast in the epic miniseries Rose Red and Napoleon. Not one to shy away from middle-brow genres, Sands can be also seen as the bad guy in the Jackie Chan movie The Medallion and as the voice of Valmont on the Jackie Chan Adventures animated series.
Filmography
Title
Oxford Blues
The Killing Fields
A Room with a View
Siesta
Gothic
Vibes
Warlock
Arachnophobia
The Sun Also Shines at Night
Naked Lunch
Impromptu
Tale of a Vampire
Boxing Helena
Warlock: The Armageddon
The Turn of the Screw
Leaving Las Vegas
The Phantom of the Opera
The Loss of Sexual Innocence
Timecode
Napoleon
Rose Red
The Medallion
Werewolf Hunter: The Legend Of Romasanta
Ring of the Nibelungs
Stargate SG-1
Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
24
Blood Ties
Ghost Whisperer
Ocean’s Thirteen
Lipstick Jungle
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Cat City
Blood and Bone
Castle
Smallville
Assisting Venus
Robin Hood: Beyond Sherwood
Quantum Heist
Lady Killer
Golf in the Kingdom
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Topics: Actor, Celebrities
Tags: Assisting Venus, Blood Ties, Castle, Ghost Whisperer, Lady Killer, Napoleon, Quantum Heist, Rose Red, Smallville, Timecode
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