Shaun Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. Bean has also acted in a number of television productions as well as performing voice work for computer games and television adverts. Bean was born Shaun Mark Bean in the Handsworth district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, the son of Rita and Brian Bean. As an actor, he adopted the Celtic spelling "Sean" of his first name.
Bean has played a wide range of roles, from villains to heroes. He graduated from RADA in 1983 having won the Silver Medal for his performance in Waiting for Godot. His first successful role was his portrayal of Richard Sharpe in the United Kingdom television series Sharpe. Since then he has become well known internationally for his roles as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, Martin Septim in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion video game, James Bond's adversary Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye, Nicolas Cage's competitor Ian Howe in National Treasure, IRA fringe terrorist Sean Miller out for revenge on Harrison Ford in Patriot Games, Captain Rich in Flightplan with Jodie Foster, and Odysseus in Troy. (read more . . . )