Mark Strong facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mark Strong
Strong in 2019
Born	Marco Giuseppe Salussolia (1963-08-05) 5 August 1963 (age 61) London, England
Alma mater	Royal Holloway, University of London Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Liza Marshall
Children	2

Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963) is a British actor. He is famous for playing many different characters in movies and TV shows. You might know him as Prince Septimus in Stardust (2007) or Merlin in the Kingsman movies. He also played Dr. Thaddeus Sivana in Shazam! (2019).

Early Life and Education

Mark Strong was born in London, England, on August 5, 1963. His birth name was Marco Giuseppe Salussolia. His mother was from Austria and his father was from Italy. His father left when Mark was very young, so his mother raised him. She worked as an au pair, which is like a helper in a family's home.

When Mark was a child, his mother changed his name to Mark Strong. This helped him fit in better with other kids in England. He went to Wymondham College, where he sang in two punk rock bands. He first wanted to become a lawyer and studied law in Germany for a year.

But then, Mark decided to study English and drama at Royal Holloway, University of London. After that, he went to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School to become an actor.

Becoming an Actor

Mark Strong started his acting career in the late 1980s. He appeared in TV shows like Prime Suspect and Our Friends in the North. He also played Mr. Knightley in a TV version of Jane Austen's novel Emma in 1996.

In the early 2000s, Mark began to appear in more movies. He was in Oliver Twist (2005) and Syriana (2005). He often played strong or villainous characters.

Big Movie Roles

Mark Strong became well-known for his roles in big Hollywood films. In 2007, he played Prince Septimus in the fantasy movie Stardust. He also played the villain Lord Henry Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes in 2009. This was one of his many times working with director Guy Ritchie.

Strong at the Berlin premiere of Sherlock Holmes in 2010

He often plays characters who are tough or mysterious. Mark says he likes playing bad guys because he tries to understand why they act the way they do. This helps him make the characters feel real.

In 2011, he played Sinestro in the superhero movie Green Lantern. He also voiced Pod in the animated film The Secret World of Arrietty. He was also in the spy movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy that same year.

Strong with the cast of Green Lantern at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

Later Career and Voice Work

Mark Strong continued to take on many different roles. He was in John Carter (2012) and the award-winning film Zero Dark Thirty (2012). In 2014, he played Stewart Menzies in The Imitation Game, a movie about breaking codes during World War II.

One of his most popular roles is Merlin in the Kingsman movies (2014 and 2017). Merlin is a smart and helpful agent who provides gadgets and support.

Strong at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival

In 2015, Mark won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role in the play A View from the Bridge. This is a very important award for theatre in the UK.

He also does voice acting for video games, like Captain Titus in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. Since 2017, he has narrated the etiquette clips shown before movies at Vue Cinemas. In 2019, he played the main villain, Doctor Thaddeus Sivana, in the superhero movie Shazam!. He returned to this role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods in 2023.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Mark narrated public information films for the UK government. These films told people how to stay safe. In 2021, he was also a guest on the popular BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs. He also appeared in the Disney movie Cruella in 2021.

Personal Life

Mark Strong is married to Liza Marshall, who is a TV producer. They have two sons, Gabriel and Roman, and live in North London. Mark enjoys living in London and says he can still live a normal life there.

He is a big fan of the Arsenal Football Club and has supported them since he was seven years old. Mark is also friends with actor Daniel Craig, who is the godfather to Mark's son, Roman. Mark can speak German fluently and some Italian.

Acting Credits

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes	Ref.
1993	Century	Policeman	Stephen Poliakoff
1994	Captives	Kenny	Angela Pope
1997	Fever Pitch	Steve	David Evans
	Obsession	John MacHale		German dub for Daniel Craig
1998	Man with Rain in His Shoes, TheThe Man with Rain in His Shoes	Dave Summers	Maria Ripoll
1999	Elephant Juice	Frank	Sam Miller
	Sunshine	István Sors	István Szabó
2001	To End All Wars	Dusty Miller	David L. Cunningham
	Hotel	Ferdinand	Mike Figgis
	Martins, TheThe Martins	Doug	Tony Grounds
	Superstition	Antonio Gabrieli	Kenneth Hope
2002	Heartlands	Ian	Damien O'Donnell
2003	It's All About Love	Arthur	Thomas Vinterberg
2005	Revolver	Sorter	Guy Ritchie
	Oliver Twist	Toby Crackit	Roman Polanski
	Syriana	Mussawi	Stephen Gaghan
2006	Tristan & Isolde	Lord Wictred	Kevin Reynolds
	Scenes of a ...	Louis	Ed Blum
2007	Sunshine	Pinbacker	Danny Boyle
	Stardust	Prince Septimus	Matthew Vaughn
2008	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day	Nick Calderelli	Bharat Nalluri
	Flashbacks of a Fool	Mannie Miesel	Baillie Walsh
	Babylon A.D.	Finn	Mathieu Kassovitz
	RocknRolla	Archy	Guy Ritchie
	Body of Lies	Hani Salaam	Ridley Scott
	Good	Philipp Bouhler	Vicente Amorim
2009	Endgame	Neil Barnard	Pete Travis
	Young Victoria, TheThe Young Victoria	Sir John Conroy	Jean-Marc Vallée
	Sherlock Holmes	Lord Henry Blackwood	Guy Ritchie
2010	...	Frank D'Amico	Matthew Vaughn
	Robin Hood	Sir Godfrey	Ridley Scott
	Way Back, TheThe Way Back	Andrei Khabarov	Peter Weir
2011	Guard, TheThe Guard	Clive Cornell	John Michael McDonagh
	Eagle, TheThe Eagle	Guern / Lucius Caius Metellus	Kevin Macdonald
	Green Lantern	Thaal Sinestro	Martin Campbell
	Arrietty	Pod	Hiromasa Yonebayashi	Voice role, UK English dub
	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Jim Prideaux	Tomas Alfredson
	Black Gold	Sultan Amar	Jean-Jacques Annaud
2012	John Carter	Matai Shang	Andrew Stanton
	Zero Dark Thirty	George	Kathryn Bigelow
2013	Welcome to the Punch	Jacob Sternwood	Eran Creevy
	Justin and the Knights of Valour	Heraclio	Manuel Sicilia	Voice role
	Blood	Robert Seymour	Nick Murphy
2014	Unity	Narrator		Voice role, Documentary
	Closer to the Moon	Max Rosenthal	Nae Caranfil
	Before I Go to Sleep	Dr. Nasch	Rowan Joffe
	Mindscape	John Washington	Jorge Dorado, Occultum Luciferus
	Imitation Game, TheThe Imitation Game	Stewart Menzies	Morten Tyldum
	Kingsman: The Secret Service	Merlin	Matthew Vaughn
2016	Grimsby	Sebastian Graves	Louis Leterrier
	Approaching the Unknown	Captain William Stanaforth	Mark Elijah Rosenberg
	Siege of Jadotville, TheThe Siege of Jadotville	Conor Cruise O'Brien	Richie Smyth
	Miss Sloane	Rodolfo Schmidt	John Madden
2017	6 Days	Max Vernon	Toa Fraser
	Kingsman: The Golden Circle	Merlin	Matthew Vaughn
2018	Catcher Was a Spy, TheThe Catcher Was a Spy	Werner Heisenberg	Ben Lewin
	Stockholm	Gunnar Sorensson	Robert Budreau
2019	Shazam!	Thaddeus Sivana	David F. Sandberg
	1917	Captain Smith	Sam Mendes
2021	Cruella	John	Craig Gillespie
	Charlotte	Alfred Wolfsohn	Tahir Rana, Éric Warin	Voice
2022	Tár	Eliot Kaplan	Todd Field
	Nocebo	Felix	Lorcan Finnegan
2023	Shazam! Fury of the Gods	Thaddeus Sivana	David F. Sandberg	Cameo
	Murder Mystery 2	Miller	Jeremy Garelick
	Dead Shot	Holland	Charles Guard, Thomas Guard
	Critic, TheThe Critic	David Brooke	Anand Tucker
	End We Start From, TheThe End We Start From	N	Mahalia Belo	Also executive producer
2024	Atlas	General Jake Boothe	Brad Peyton
	The Silent Hour	Detective Doug Slater	Brad Anderson
TBA	Everest	Arthur Hinks	Doug Liman	In production
	Thirty Three	Josef Hartinger	Niels Arden Oplev	Pre-production
	Shadow Force	TBA	Joe Carnahan	Post-production

Television

Radio

Theatre

Video games

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Mark Strong para niños