Kings, Fox Next channel
Hollywood regularly cherry picks the best in British talent and turns it to unexpected purpose. But if there is a more genuinely surprising rise to the A (or at least B) list than that of Ian McShane in recent years, I've certainly failed to spot it.
The trades this morning are reporting that the 68-year-old Blackburn-born actor who once plied his trade on the British small screen in the likes of Lovejoy and Minder, as well as stints in US series from Dallas to The West Wing, is to play Blackbeard in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film. McShane will presumably be pitting his dastardly wits against Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow in what will surely be one of next year's biggest blockbusters, Jerry Bruckheimer's series having so far stacked up enough box office gold bullion to rebuild El Dorado.
The trades this morning are reporting that the 68-year-old Blackburn-born actor who once plied his trade on the British small screen in the likes of Lovejoy and Minder, as well as stints in US series from Dallas to The West Wing, is to play Blackbeard in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film. McShane will presumably be pitting his dastardly wits against Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow in what will surely be one of next year's biggest blockbusters, Jerry Bruckheimer's series having so far stacked up enough box office gold bullion to rebuild El Dorado.
What's so remarkable about McShane's arrival at the top table is that it has come so late in his career, and seems to have been a slow and steady rise through the ranks. A Golden Globe for his brutal brothel owner, Al Swearengen, in TV series Deadwood can't have done him any harm, but there has been no award-winning, grandstanding movie performance to catapult him to glory.
Rather, McShane's notable engagements on the big screen have been in voiceover roles, always less likely to push an actor's head above the parapet and into the public consciousness. His charismatic turn as the rebel martial arts student Tai Lung in Dreamworks' fabulous Kung Fu Panda transcended the phoned in performances which can typify these types of affairs, and his eccentric Mr Bobinsky was a delightful addition to Henry Selick's enchanting Coraline.
Yet as recently as 2008 McShane was just as likely to be seen in throwaway roles. I'm thinking of his Frank Powell in cheesy Andy Samberg comedy Hot Rod, here, or his "Coach" in trashy Jason Statham vehicle Death Race. Can you think of another British star who has hit pole position so late in his or her careers?
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