Early life, education and personal life
Lester was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. From the age of 9 Lester sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham. At 14 he began acting with the Birmingham Youth Theatre. After leaving Archbishop Masterson RC School he attended Joseph Chamberlain VI Form College for one year before completing 3 years training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Lester currently holds a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do. He is married to actress Lolita Chakrabarti. They live in South East London with their two daughters, Lila and Jasmine.Career
In 1993, he played Anthony Hope in the Royal National Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.Lester is known for playing a big-time con artist named Michael "Mickey Bricks" Stone in the BBC TV series Hustle between 2004 and 2012. The character was written out of the fourth series and replaced by Ashley Walters, although he returned from the fifth series onwards. In the United States, he played campaign manager Henry Burton in Mike Nichols's 1998 film Primary Colors, based on the novel by Anonymous (Joe Klein). His character is believed to represent George Stephanopoulos. This part earned him a Chicago Film Critics Association award nomination for "Most Promising Actor".
Lester appeared in Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost, an adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, set in the 1930s. The film itself was poorly received, but Lester received a British Independent Film Awards nomination for his performance.
He has appeared on stage in the musical Company, for which he won an Olivier Award, in the title role of Hamlet (Carlton TV Theatre Award) and as Rosalind in Cheek by Jowl's 1991 production of As You Like It for which he won a Time Out Award. In 2003, Lester played Henry V in the Shakespeare play of the same name at the Royal National Theatre. Also, in The Day After Tomorrow, Lester had a minor role as Simon, one of the three researchers who drink a toast of "twelve-year-old Scotch" shortly before freezing to death. Lester also appeared as Ellis in the hit sitcom Girlfriends from 2002 to 2003, playing a film star who dated Tracee Ellis Ross's character, Joan.
In late 2005, Lester had a major guest starring role in Channel 4's hard-hitting police drama The Ghost Squad. Lester also filmed scenes for 2007's Spider-Man 3, as a research scientist who is sought after by the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) to find a cure for his ailing daughter. He was seen in one teaser trailer for the film; however, his scenes were cut from the final theatrical version.
Also in 2007, Lester took part in Empire's Children, a Channel 4 documentary exploring the journey taken by the "Windrush Generation" to the United Kingdom. Lester's grandfather, Kenneth Nathaniel Lester, was to be included in the documentary, but was unwell during filming in Jamaica and could not be interviewed. Kenneth Lester died soon after the documentary completed filming and never saw the programme aired.
In 2008, Adrian Lester starred in the BBC drama Bonekickers, a programme focusing on a team of archaeologists. 2009 saw him return as Mickey Bricks in Hustle. He also played the character Myror in the British television drama Merlin.
In 2010, he played the part of Brick in Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London. He also appeared in the documentary When Romeo Met Juliet together with his wife Lolita Chakrabarti as acting mentors to the pupils of two Coventry schools involved in a production of Romeo and Juliet. In April 2013, he appeared on the Cultural Exchange feature of Front Row on Radio Four (a feature of the programme where people had to choose a piece of art that meant a great deal to them). He chose Redemption Song by Bob Marley.
Adrian Lester played the part of Othello in the Shakespeare play of the same name in 2013 alongside Rory Kinnear as Iago at the National Theatre.
Lester was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to drama.
Filmography
Feature films
- Les Soeurs Soleil (1997)
- Up on the Roof (1997)... Scott
- Primary Colours (1998)... Henry Burton
- Love's Labour's Lost (2000)... Dumaine
- Maybe Baby (2000)... George
- Best (2000)... Rocky
- Born Romantic (2000)... Jimmy
- Dust (2001)... Edge
- The Final Curtain (2002)... Jonathan Stitch
- The Day After Tomorrow (2004)... Simon
- As You Like It (2006)... Oliver De Boys
- Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)... Pete
- Starting Out in the Evening (2007)... Casey Davies
- Doomsday (2008)... Sgt. Norton
- Case 39 (2009)... Wayne
Television
- Touch and Die (1991): Lute
- The Affair (1995): Ray
- Company (1996): Bobby
- Storm Damage (1999): Danny
- Jason and the Argonauts (2000): Orpheus
- The Tragedy of Hamlet (2002): Hamlet
- Girlfriends (2002): Ellis
- Hustle (2004–06, 2009–12, 42 Episodes): Mickey
- The Ghost Squad (2005, 1 Episode): DI Gus Philips
- Ballet Shoes (2007): Mr. Sholsky
- Bonekickers (2008, 6 Episodes): Ben Ergha
- Merlin (2009, 1 Episode): Myror
- Sleep With Me (2009): Richard
- When Romeo Met Juliet (2010): As Himself
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