Tom Wilkinson

British Actor
Tom Wilkinson was an acclaimed English actor who received numerous awards, including a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Primetime Emmy. He was known for his versatile roles in films like The Full Monty, In the Bedroom, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and for his acclaimed portrayal of Benjamin Franklin in the HBO miniseries John Adams.

About Tom Wilkinson

Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (5 February 1948 – 30 December 2023) was an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2005, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Wilkinson trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before making his West End debut portraying Horatio in Hamlet (1980) for which he received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He returned to the West End playing Dr. Stockmann in the Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People (1988) receiving a Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival nomination.

Wilkinson received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Full Monty (1997) as well as two Academy Award nominations, one for Best Actor for In the Bedroom (2001) and Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clayton (2007). He became known as a character actor, acting in numerous films such as In the Name of the Father (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Patriot (2000), Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Batman Begins (2005), Valkyrie (2008), The Ghost Writer (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Belle (2013), Selma (2014), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Denial (2016).

In 2009 he won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for playing Benjamin Franklin in the HBO limited series John Adams (2008). His other Emmy-nominated roles were as Roy/Ruth Applewood in the HBO film Normal (2003), James Baker in the HBO film Recount (2008), and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. in the limited series The Kennedys (2011).

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Frequently asked questions about Tom Wilkinson

Tom Wilkinson received a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. He was also made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005.

Tom Wilkinson made his West End debut portraying Horatio in Hamlet (1980), for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He later returned to the West End playing Dr. Stockmann in the Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People (1988), receiving a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Actor of the Year in a Revival.

Tom Wilkinson received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Full Monty (1997) and was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Actor for In the Bedroom (2001) and one for Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clayton (2007). He also appeared in numerous other notable films such as In the Name of the Father, Sense and Sensibility, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Tom Wilkinson won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin in the HBO limited series John Adams (2008). He was also Emmy-nominated for his roles in the HBO films Normal (2003) and Recount (2008), as well as the limited series The Kennedys (2011).

Tom Wilkinson was born on February 5, 1948 and passed away on December 30, 2023.

Quotes by Tom Wilkinson

Acting for me is not that quid pro quo.

Tom Wilkinson

All good actors are easy to work with. It’s the ones that aren’t very good who tend to be very difficult.

Tom Wilkinson

I once did a role which I couldn’t rehearse in my street clothes, I had to have the character’s costume on before I could rehearse it. I just couldn’t think as the character unless I looked like him, or I knew that I looked like him.

Tom Wilkinson

I won’t say I wouldn’t be grateful and happy and delighted and thrilled to bits to receive a nomination. But I wouldn’t be suicidal if it didn’t happen.

Tom Wilkinson

I would recommend it to everybody, every now and again you just put a dress on, see what it feels like, because it’s, its interesting. A whole complex series of thoughts and feelings assail you as you look at yourself.

Tom Wilkinson

If the script is telling the story well, that is your inspiration, and you do not need to go somewhere else.

Tom Wilkinson

If you have something that you know is important to you and vital to you… then this will perhaps help people understand the importance of confronting it and being brave about it.

Tom Wilkinson

It’s no good being great in something that goes straight to video.

Tom Wilkinson

Most stuff you can do standing on your head.

Tom Wilkinson

Once Miramax gets involved, if they like your movie, there’s a big machine that gets involved.

Tom Wilkinson

One of the characteristics of plays that are made into films is that they can be very talky.

Tom Wilkinson

There’s only one shot you have at a movie, and that’s your best shot. If you can’t give it that, don’t go. They’re paying you! You gotta do a job for them.

Tom Wilkinson

When you’re an actor you don’t really know what you have to do until you see what you look like.

Tom Wilkinson

You can’t do things for money. You just can’t act them. There’s gotta be something about the script that you really want to do. I wouldn’t do a job if I didn’t think I could do the best work I possibly could.

Tom Wilkinson

You don’t have any kind of sense of being foolish when you are acting. When you’re younger you don’t want to look a fool, so you don’t do things that might make you vulnerable.

Tom Wilkinson