Stuart Townsend facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stuart Townsend
Townsend at the Beverly Hills special screening of Battle in Seattle on 22 September 2008.
Born	(1972-12-15) 15 December 1972 (age 52) Howth, County Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present
Partner(s)	Charlize Theron (2001–2009)
Children	2
Parent(s)	Peter Townsend (father)
Relatives	Hugo Townsend (half-brother)

Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an actor from Ireland. He is known for playing interesting characters in movies. For example, he played Lestat in the movie Queen of the Damned (2002). He also played Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). In 2007, he also directed a movie called Battle in Seattle.

Stuart Townsend's Early Life and Acting Start

Stuart Townsend was born in Howth, County Dublin, Ireland. His mother, Lorna Hogan, was an Irish model. His father, Peter Townsend, was a professional golfer from England. Stuart also has a younger brother named Dylan, who is an actor too.

Learning to Act

Stuart went to the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. He first acted on stage in 1993 in a play called Tear Up The Black Sail. The next year, he acted professionally in a play called True Lines. This play started in Kilkenny and then moved to Dublin and London.

First Movie Roles

Stuart's first movie roles were in short Irish films. These included Godsuit and Summertime. He then got a role in a longer movie called Trojan Eddie in 1996. In 1997, he starred in the British film Shooting Fish.

Stuart Townsend's Big Movie Roles

Stuart became more well-known after playing a charming character in the movie About Adam. He also acted on stage in London in 2000. He was in a play called Orpheus Descending with famous actress Helen Mirren. After this, he got roles in several major films.

Playing Famous Characters

Stuart played the vampire Lestat in Queen of the Damned. He also played Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He was even chosen to play Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings movies. However, he was replaced by Viggo Mortensen just before filming began.

Stuart explained that he had been practicing for two months. He was then told he would not be paid because he had not worked long enough. He said he was almost happy to leave because he was having a hard time. But he was upset about not being paid.

Other Film and TV Work

In 2005, Stuart starred in Night Stalker. This was a remake of an old TV series. He played Carl Kolchak, a reporter investigating his wife's murder. The show was stopped after six episodes. Some critics thought he was too young for the role.

Stuart also had a guest role on the TV show Will & Grace. He appeared in the movie Æon Flux in 2005. In 2007, he starred with Ryan Reynolds in Chaos Theory.

Directing a Movie

In 2007, Stuart directed his first movie, Battle in Seattle. This film showed the protests that happened during a big meeting in 1999. The movie featured actors like Charlize Theron, Ray Liotta, and Woody Harrelson.

Recent Acting Roles

Stuart was going to play Fandral in the movie Thor. But he was replaced in 2010. He appeared in the TV thriller Betrayal. He also acted in the second season of Salem. In 2017, he was a guest star in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. More recently, in 2021, Stuart starred in the films The Martini Shot and Grace and Grit.

Stuart Townsend's Family Life

Stuart's father, Peter, was a golfer who played in big tournaments. Stuart has a brother, Dylan, and a sister, Chloe. They are from his father's first marriage. Stuart also has two half-siblings, Hugo and Ella.

Relationships

Stuart dated actress Charlize Theron. They met while filming Trapped in 2002. They lived together in Los Angeles and Ireland. They considered themselves married, even without an official ceremony. Stuart said he considered her his wife. Charlize Theron and Stuart separated in January 2010.

In 2015, Stuart's brother shared that Stuart had moved to Costa Rica. He bought land there and was living with a woman from Costa Rica. They had two children together. As of 2019, Stuart was living in Santa Monica with his wife and two children.

Stuart Townsend's Filmography

Movies Stuart Townsend Acted In

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Godsuit	John Slattery
1996	Trojan Eddie	Dermot
1997	Shooting Fish	Jez
	Under the Skin	Tom
1998	Resurrection Man	Victor Kelly
1999	Simon Magus	Dovid Bendel
	Wonderland	Tim
	The Venice Project	Lark/Gippo the Fool
	The Escort	Tom
2000	About Adam	Adam
2002	Queen of the Damned	Lestat de Lioncourt
	Trapped	William Jennings
2003	Shade	Vernon
	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen	Dorian Gray
2004	Head in the Clouds	Guy Malyon
2005	The Best Man	Olly Pickering
2005	Æon Flux	Monican Rebel
2007	Chaos Theory	Buddy Endrow
2008	Battle in Seattle		Writer and director only
2009	Maggie Hill	Terrence James
2013	A Stranger in Paradise	Paul
2021	Grace and Grit	Ken Wilber
2021	Christmas at Castle Hart	Earl Aidan Hart
2021	Apache Junction	Jericho Ford
2023	The Martini Shot	Philip	Completed

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

TV Shows Stuart Townsend Acted In

Awards and Nominations

Stuart Townsend has won some awards for his acting and directing.

See also

In Spanish: Stuart Townsend para niños