Profile | プロフィール
Born / 生年月日
January 12, 1961 | Penang, Malaysia (then British Malaya)
Age / 年齢
64 years old (as of 2025)
Occupation / 職業
Actor (Stage, Film, Television)
俳優（舞台・映画・テレビ）
Nationality / 国籍
British (イギリス)
Biography | 経歴
[English] Simon Russell Beale is the pre-eminent classical actor of the English-speaking world in his generation. In his work, the entire tradition of great British acting exists simultaneously as a revered inheritance and a vibrant, living practice. Every role he inhabits is renewed with an intellectual depth, emotional immediacy, and technical precision that places him among the greatest classical performers of the past century. His Hamlet was a seismic cultural event; his Malvolio remains the definitive standard by which all others are measured; and his Lear is the definitive portrayal for our era. From his masterful realization of the complex Falstaff to his chillingly accomplished screen performance as Beria in The Death of Stalin, Beale demonstrates the sheer range of a classical titan. His tour de force in The Lehman Trilogy—spanning generations of American capitalism—is the ultimate proof of what a stage actor can achieve when mastery, material, and direction converge. He is, quite simply, irreplaceable: a living monument to the enduring rigor and intellectual seriousness of the British theatrical tradition.
[日本語] サイモン・ラッセル・ビールは、同世代の英語圏において、比類なき地位を築き上げた至高の古典俳優です。彼の演技の中には、英国演劇が誇る偉大なる伝統のすべてが、「受け継がれた遺産」として、そして「現在進行形の実践」として同時に息づいています。いかなる役柄においても、比類なき知的な深遠さ、生々しい感情の即時性、そして寸分の狂いもない技術的精度をもって解釈を更新し続けるその姿は、彼を過去100年における最も偉大な古典俳優の列に、何ら疑いようもなく位置づけています。 彼の『ハムレット』は一つの文化的事件であり、彼の『マルヴォーリオ』は後続のすべての俳優が指標とすべき絶対的な基準となりました。彼の『リア王』はこの時代の決定版であり、非常に複雑な役どころである『フォルスタッフ』を一世代で最も完璧に体現したのも彼でした。さらに、映画『スターリンの死』におけるベリア役は、舞台俳優が銀幕において到達し得る、最高峰の形式的美学を示しています。そして、アメリカ資本主義の興亡を一家の数世代にわたって演じ分けた『ザ・リーマン・トリロジー』こそは、一流の素材、演出、そして訓練が結実したとき、古典俳優がいかに超人的な地平に到達できるかを示す、最も包括的な実証と言えるでしょう。彼は文字通り、代替不可能な存在なのです。
Stage — Selected Major Roles (主な舞台作品)
Royal National Theatre (ロイヤル・ナショナル・シアター)
| Year | Production | Role | Director | Awards/Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Othello | Iago | Sam Mendes | Olivier Award nom. 🌟 / David Harewood as Othello / Transformative Iago |
| 2002 | Twelfth Night / 十二夜 | Malvolio | Sam Mendes | Olivier Award Best Actor 🏆 / Definitive Malvolio of generation |
| 2003 | Jumpers | George Moore | Sam Mendes | Tom Stoppard / Philosophical comedy |
| 2004 | The Pillowman | Katurian | John Crowley | Olivier Award Best Actor 🏆 / Martin McDonagh world premiere |
| 2006 | The Seagull / かもめ | Trigorin | Sam Mendes | Chekhov / Major Mendes-Beale collaboration |
| 2012 | Timon of Athens / アテネのタイモン | Timon | Nicholas Hytner | Rarely performed Shakespeare / Critical highlight |
| 2014 | King Lear / リア王 | Lear | Sam Mendes | NT Live broadcast worldwide / International tour / Career peak |
| 2016 | The Lehman Trilogy | Multiple roles | Sam Mendes | Olivier Award Best Actor 🏆 / Tony Award nom. 🌟 / Stefano Massini / Epic theatrical event |
| 2019 | Measure for Measure | Lucio / Duke | Nicholas Hytner | Bridge Theatre, London |
Royal Shakespeare Company (ロイヤル・シェイクスピア・カンパニー)
| Year | Production | Role | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Ariel (The Tempest) | Ariel | Sam Mendes | Early Mendes collaboration |
| 1993 | Richard III | Richard III | Sam Mendes | RSC |
| 1998 | Hamlet | Hamlet | John Caird | Originally Donmar 1995; subsequent RSC version / Career-defining role |
| Various | Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 | Falstaff | Various | Definitive Falstaff of generation / Also BBC Hollow Crown |
Donmar Warehouse (ドンマー・ウェアハウス)
| Year | Production | Role | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Hamlet / ハムレット | Hamlet | John Caird | Career breakthrough / Transformative interpretation / National sensation |
Broadway (ブロードウェイ)
| Year | Production | Role | Theatre | Awards/Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Lehman Trilogy | Multiple roles | Park Avenue Armory (preview); Nederlander Theatre | Tony Award nom. Best Actor in a Play 🌟 / Transferred from NT / Major Broadway event |
Other Major Stage Work (その他の主要な舞台作品)
| Year | Production | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Various | Uncle Vanya / ヴァーニャ叔父さん | Vanya | Chekhov / Multiple productions |
| Various | The Cherry Orchard / 桜の園 | Various | Chekhov |
| Various | Ghosts | Oswald | Ibsen |
| 2011 | Uncle Vanya (Brooklyn Academy of Music) | Vanya | New York / Critical sensation |
Film & Television | 映画・テレビ
Film (映画)
| Year | Title (English / Japanese) | Director | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Persuasion | Adrian Shergold | Sir Walter Elliot | BBC/ITV Jane Austen adaptation |
| 2011 | My Week with Marilyn | Simon Curtis | Laurence Olivier (?) | |
| 2012 | The Deep Blue Sea | Terence Davies | — | Terence Davies film |
| 2014 | Quartermaine’s Terms | St. John Quartermaine | Simon Gray adaptation | |
| 2017 | The Death of Stalin / スターリンの死 | Armando Iannucci | Lavrentiy Beria | Career highlight on screen / Terror + charm simultaneously / BAFTA support nom. 🌟 / Political horror-comedy |
| 2021 | The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | Will Sharpe | H.G. Wells | Benedict Cumberbatch / Supporting |
| 2022 | See How They Run / 殺人鬼と呼ばれた男 | Tom George | Leo Köpernick | Agatha Christie comedy-mystery ensemble |
Television (テレビ)
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Hollow Crown / ホロウ・クラウン | BBC Two | Falstaff (Henry IV Parts 1&2) | Major television event / International broadcast / Definitive Falstaff |
| 2016 | The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses | BBC Two | Henry VI | Shakespeare history cycle |
| Various | NT Live broadcasts | Cinema worldwide | Various | Lear, Hamlet, Lehman Trilogy etc. — millions of viewers internationally |
| Various | Radio and documentary appearances | BBC Radio 3/4 | Various | Music, literature, arts; significant public intellectual presence |
Awards & Recognition | 受賞歴
Laurence Olivier Awards (ローレンス・オリヴィエ賞)
Winner (受賞): 3 🏆 — One of the most decorated actors in Olivier Award history
- Best Actor – Twelfth Night (Malvolio) (2003) 🏆
- Best Actor – The Pillowman (Katurian) (2005) 🏆
- Best Actor – The Lehman Trilogy (2019) 🏆
Nominated (ノミネート): Multiple additional nominations 🌟
Tony Awards (トニー賞)
Nominated:
- Best Actor in a Play – The Lehman Trilogy (2019) 🌟
BAFTA Awards
Nominated:
- Best Supporting Actor – The Death of Stalin (2018) 🌟
- Additional television nominations 🌟
Honours
- CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) – 2003 🏆
- Knighthood (Knight Bachelor) – 2019 New Year Honours — Sir Simon Russell Beale 🏆 — for services to drama
- Honorary Doctorates – multiple universities 🏆
- Universally acknowledged by British and international theatre criticism as the pre-eminent classical actor of his generation 🏆
