Sean Bean is currently playing Thomas Cromwell in the Disney+ period drama Shardlake, a man notorious for helping Henry VIII annul his marriage to his first wife.
Henry VIII famously had six wives, something that has subsequently become his legacy – and that’s something actor Sean Bean can certainly relate to!
The actor has been married five times in total, with some ending acrimoniously to say the least. So it may come as a surprise to hear that he has no regrets whatsoever! So who was the first wife of Sean Bean, and what went wrong?
As he embarks on another project, here’s everything you need to know about Sean Bean‘s five marriages, including his famous Corrie star wife. We also look at his career, his background, and his surprising phobia.
Actor Sean Bean plays Thomas Cromwell in Shardlake
There have been several TV and film portrayals of Thomas Cromwell, and this time Sean Bean brings him to life in Shardlake on Disney+.
Thomas was an English statesman and lawyer who famously served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540. To cut a long story short, Thomas was a very powerful figure, who had lots of enemies. He did much of Henry’s dirty work, until Henry VIII ordered him to be beheaded.
He’s a character most actors would kill to play (pardon the pun), and Mark Rylance bagged himself several award nods after portraying him in Wolf Hall.
Talking about why he took on the new role in Shardlake, based on the best-selling series of novels by CJ Sansom, Sean said: “I think it was his mischievousness and his ruthlessness. And also his charm […].”
Speaking to the Radio Times, he added: “And I like the fact he was quite a dark character, apparently was quite a humorous man when he wasn’t at work. I found him quite creepy, quite scary, which apparently he was, so that was something that was very nice to play, very rewarding to play, that aspect of his character.”
What is Sean Bean famous for? What’s he been in?
Sean Bean is arguably one of the UK’s most bankable actors. He’s been on screens for four decades – ever since he first popped up in an episode of The Bill in 1984!
In 1992, after a few years of smaller TV and film roles, Sean struck gold. He had his first villainous film lead role in Patriot Games, opposite Harrison Ford. The next year, he won the hearts of housewives everywhere when he played gardener Mellors in Lady Chatterley, opposite Joely Richardson.
From then on, Sean has enjoyed hit after hit after hit. Some of his biggest film roles have included parts in GoldenEye, When Saturday Comes, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Troy and Silent Hill.
His most prominent telly performances include 15 series and TV films of Sharpe, with Sean in the lead role.
Other appearances in the 1990s and 2000s came in Bravo Two Zero, and a comedy cameo in Dawn French‘s The Vicar of Dibley. In the 2010s, he appeared in Red Riding, Accused, Broken, Legends, and Snowpiercer. Of course, Game of Thrones fans will know him as Ned Stark, who lost his head (literally).
More recently, Sean Bean has played John Marlott in The Frankenstein Chronicles, Tom Hammond in The Oath, Jacopo de’ Pazzi in Medici, The General in Curfew, and Douglas Bennett in World on Fire.
In 2020, he starred opposite Nicola Walker in the hit BBC drama Marriage. He played Ian, a married man dealing with the ups and downs of a 30-year long marriage.
Sean is also a two-time BAFTA award winner – in 2018 for his portrayal of Father Michael Kerrigan in Broken, and in 2021 for playing convict Time. He’s also won numerous horror and fantasy gongs for his Tolkien film adventures, and bagged an Emmy in 2013 for Accused.
Why did Sean Bean change his name?
Sean Bean was actually born Shaun Mark Bean.
He changed the spelling of his first name from Shaun to Sean after graduating from drama school. The budding actor thought it was “cooler” to adopt the Irish spelling of his name.
He subsequently admitted that he later regretting it as a result of the amount of people spelling his name wrong!
What age is Sean Bean?
Sean Bean was born Shaun Mark Bean on April 17, 1959.
He is currently 65 years of age, and working more than ever!
Where is he from? What is Sean’s Bean accent?
Sean was born and raised in a south-eastern suburb of Sheffield and has retained his characteristic accent. Indeed, Sean’s gravelly Northern voice is one of his defining traits as a performer – and has led to many memorable jobs.
In 2019, he fronted a Yorkshire Tea campaign where his character passionately urged new inductees at the tea factory to ‘Do It For Yorkshire!’.
And Sean – whose roles have been much-memed across social media – has also become the unofficial face of Yorkshire Day online, too. Every August 1, a compilation clip of many, many instances of his Sharpe character uttering the word “bastard” does the rounds. And it is absolutely chuffing hilarious.
Who is the wife of Sean Bean?
Sean Bean is currently married to his fifth wife Ashley Moore. The pair were engaged by 2014, and tied the knot in 2017 during a wedding ceremony in Dorset.
Ashley Moore is an American actress, who appeared in Grange Hill as a teen. She is also a trained singer and ballet dancer. The current wife of Sean Bean also worked as an assistant to Helena Bonham-Carter and Tim Burton.
In a recent interview, he called her Ashley Bean, and described her as a “wonderful woman”. He added: “I’m very happy with her.”
However, in 2020 there were allegations of a “boozy bust up” during a flight. It’s alleged he “threw a glass at Ashley” and that she “poured a glass of wine in his lap”.
Who has he been married to?
BBC drama star Sean Bean has been married five times and divorced four. His first wife was secondary school sweetheart Debra James, who he married in 1981 when he was 22. He and the hairdresser subsequently divorced in 1988.
He then married actress Melanie Hill in 1990 at Haringey Civic Centre, London. They had met while training at RADA. She is perhaps best known for playing Cathy Matthews in Coronation Street, Maggie in Waterloo Road, and Aveline Boswell in Bread.
Sean and Melanie have two daughters together, Lorna and Molly, but divorced in 1997.
In November of the same year, Sean married Abigail Cruttenden. They met during the filming of Sharpe. They had a daughter together in 1998, but divorced in 2000. Abigail went on to play Anna in the Lee Mack sitcom Not Going Out.
Later, Sean met actress Georgina Sutcliffe, when he was playing Macbeth in a West End play. The pair married at Marylebone Registry Office in 2008, but she left him that year. They got back together but, when claims of physical abuse emerged, they separated for good in 2010.
What happened with Sean’s fourth wife Georgina Sutcliffe?
Tabloid reports at the time claimed that Sean and fourth wife Georgina Sutcliffe split up amid a turbulent marriage.
Police were reportedly called to their north London home following accusations of domestic disturbances. They eventually divorced in 2010.
In 2012, police questioned Sean over claims he harassed Georgina with abusive texts and calls. He was later released on bail and told the matter would not be pursued, a Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed at the time.
What has Sean said about his marriages?
Despite his numerous nuptials, Sean once revealed he wouldn’t change a thing about his rocky love life.
He told The Times: “I’ve obviously experienced more marriages than most people. I suppose there is that romantic in me, otherwise I wouldn’t keep doing it. But I don’t regret anything. I’d live it all again.”
He went on to insist that his marriages didn’t end because he was “gallivanting around”, instead noting he had wives rather than girlfriends.
Sean added: “I suppose I could have seen how things developed, got to know them better before taking the plunge. But I didn’t because I felt strongly about all these women, otherwise I wouldn’t have married them.”
Does Sean Bean have children?
Sean Bean has three children. He shares two daughters, Lorna and Molly, with second wife Melanie.
Sean also had another daughter called Evie, with third wife Abigail Cruttenden. Evie was born in 1998.
Asked in 2019 whether he would like to be a father again, Sean responded: “Possibly, yes. With Ashley, yeah. That would be nice, that.”
Sean became a grandfather for the first time in 2015 when Molly had a baby. Lorna has also since become a mother. It is believed Sean currently has four grandchildren in total.
How tall is Sean Bean?
According to online sources, Sean is about 1.79m tall. That would mean his height is a shade under 5’11 in feet and inches.
While this doesn’t make Sean a giant, it doesn’t make him a Hobbit either!
And thanks to romping about in action-adventure scenes for over 30 years, Sean retains a trim figure.
Why does Sean Bean die in all his films?
Sean Bean has addressed why so many of this characters have died on screen. Of course, Game of Thrones fans know that his character Ned Stark was executed.
He also fell to his death in GoldenEye, and endured a fitting villain’s end aboard a burning speedboat heading for rocks in Patriot Games.
Other Sean Bean characters have died in a hail of arrows, and smashed off the edge of a cliff by cattle. But it seems as if Sean may have had enough of the OTT demises – and decided to reject roles in which his character’s die.
He said in 2019: “I’ve turned down stuff. I’ve said ‘they know my character’s going to die because I’m in it!’
“I just had to cut that out and start surviving, otherwise it was all a bit predictable.”
Can Sean Bean ride a horse?
Sean has been filmed on a trusty steed in many of his film and TV appearances – and he loved saddling up during the production of Sharpe.
Sean previously told a reporter about the role: “I get to ride horses; I get to fence and I get to kiss beautiful women. It’s not such a bad job.”
However, at one point Sean apparently considered a close call the nearest he’d been to being injured while performing stunts. He revealed: “I’ve never really hurt myself badly. I suppose the closest I’ve ever been to an accident is in Sharpe’s Regiment, when a horse landed on my head. They actually used that take.
“The bank collapsed and the horse’s hoof sort of sprung off my head as he was jumping. I got a bit of a black eye and a bit of a neck problem.”
Actor Sean Bean was stabbed in real life
Sean has taken a battering on screen more times than he’d probably care to remember but, in 2011, he was attacked in real life.
The actor confronted a drunk who made lewd comments about his companion, and was stabbed with broken glass. Sean reportedly just carried on drinking!
According to the Daily Mail, the Lord of the Rings actor was stabbed in the arm during the incident, which took place at a London bar.
Witnesses told the paper that Bean, 52 at the time, and his companion – model April Summers – were smoking outside the bar when a passerby made lewd comments about her. Bean chased him away down the street. However, the man returned to the bar later that evening, spotted Sean Bean outside again and attacked him.
The actor was reportedly punched in the face and stabbed in the arm with broken glass. Despite the injuries, Bean chose not to go to the hospital. Instead, he accepted a first aid kit from the bar staff and then ordered another drink.
He’s afraid of flying!
Despite laughing in the face of a bloodied arm, Sean Bean does have one weakness – a fear of flying. So much so, in fact, that while filming Lord of the Rings, he would hike across New Zealand rather than taking helicopters with his co-stars.
His phobia was made worse by a prank gone wrong during the filming. Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd – the actors who played Merry and Pippin – told the pilot that Sean Bean was a flying enthusiast, which led to him adding some special air tricks during the flight. From that moment, a green-gilled Sean refused to ride in helicopters. So he climbed up the mountains every day instead!
Sean Bean eventually faced his fear of flying after the tragedy of 9/11.
Does Sean Bean have any tattoos?
Yes, Sean Bean does have tattoos, most notably perhaps a Lord of the Rings tattoo, like several of his film co-stars.
Sean has a tattoo of the number nine on his shoulder, written using Tengwar, in reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings films. Seven of the other actors – including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, and Viggo Mortensen – also have the same tattoo.
Sean Bean also has a Sheffield United tattoo on his left shoulder that reads “100% Blade”
Read more: BBC One viewers baffled how Sue Johnston can play the mother of Sean Bean
All four episode of Shardlake, starring Sean Bean, are currently available to stream on Disney+.
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