Benn Northover

Early life

Northover was born in Ipswich, Suffolk. After high school he studied art and film before moving to New York to study drama at The Stella Adler Studio.

Career

Northover's early screen appearances included dramas Ultimate Force and Silent Witness.His first lead role was in gritty TV drama, Hostage to Terror, for which he received The Times Critics Choice. He later reunited with director Finn McGough on Avalanche of Terror about British climber Ken Jones. The series received critical acclaim around the world.

In 2010 Northover made his feature film debut in the hard hitting AIDS drama House of Boys opposite Stephen Fry and Udo Kier, shedding 40 lbs to play the film's lead character, a young street hustler living with AIDS in the early 1980s. The film went on to receive several international awards. Northover then appeared in the 7th installment of the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In an interview with Paper Magazine, he described his experience on the production as "the biggest machine I have ever encountered."

In 2012 he starred in the hit indie feature Lotus Eaters opposite Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Johnny Flynn and the film adaptation of Donizetti's opera Lucrezia Borgia by director Mike Figgis.

In 2013 Italian director Federico Brugia cast Northover as the villain in his feature debut Tutti i rumori del mare. Set in the bleak underworld of the Hungarian human trafficking business. In an interview with AnOther Magazine Northover commented on his character in the film, saying "It's his personal demons that keep his conscience at a safe distance and eventually it's his human weaknesses that get the better of him." The film went on to win the special jury prize at the Annecy Italian Film Festival.

In 2014 Northover appeared in Je m'appelle Hmmm..., the directorial debut by agnès b., and in Frédéric Auburtin's epic ensemble film United Passions as Max Kahn, one of the founding members of FIFA, alongside Gérard Depardieu and Tim Roth.

In 2015 Northover narrated the feature documentary Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire, alongside Robert Duvall and Bernardo Bertolucci.

In 2016 Northover was cast in the Nostromo Pictures/Netflix screen adaptation of Dolores Redondo's bestselling three-part crime thriller 'The Baztán Trilogy' directed by Fernando González Molina. The first instalment of the trilogy 'The Invisible Guardian' was released in 2017. Northover stars opposite Spanish actress Marta Etura.

Art, Cinema and Cultural Projects

As a multimedia artist, Northover has directed several film and video projects, including music videos for artists such as Nick Drake and The The. He was invited to create a live video performance for David Bowie's Melt Down Festival, performed on stage at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. His photographic and written work has appeared in various publications including Italian Vogue, Dazed and Confused and AnOther Magazine. Northover interviewed fellow actor Kristen Stewart for the cover story of the S/S16 15th anniversary issue of AnOther Magazine. Northover's written work includes subjects as diverse as the legendary punk rock club CBGB, the writer Quentin Crisp and interviews with filmmakers such as Jonas Mekas and Jim Jarmusch.

Northover is a long time supporter and board member of the Anthology Film Archives, the legendary archive and cinema dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of independent cinema. In March 2017 Northover co-hosted a landmark benefit event in aid of the Archive alongside Steve Buscemi, Greta Gerwig, Michael Stipe and Patti Smith.

For over a decade he has been a close collaborator with legendary artist and filmmaker Jonas Mekas, leading to several film and video projects and a number of international gallery exhibitions at institutions including the Centre Pompidou and agnès b.'s Galerie du Jour in Paris. In 2012 Northover co-curated a landmark exhibition of underground cinema, with work by Mekas at the prestigious Serpentine Gallery in London alongside Hans-Ulrich Obrist.

Northover was an executive producer on the Douglas Gordon directed feature film I Had Nowhere to Go. The film was met with critical acclaim at the 2016 Locarno Film Festival, Toronto Film festival and the London BFI Film Festival.

A longtime advocate for AIDS awareness since playing a young man living with AIDS in the indie hit film House of Boys, Northover has hosted several fund raising events for the AIDS charity Acria. In 2015 he took part in a gala charity event, honouring playwright and activist Larry Kramer alongside fellow actors Joel Grey and Judith Light. Northover read Kramer’s landmark AIDS awareness essay ” 1,112 and Counting "

Northover was selected to be the face of Italian couture fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna for their fall/winter 2015 and spring/summer 2016 campaigns, following in the steps of Adrian Brody and Sam Riley.

Northover was named one of Tatler magazine's 134 hottest people of 2014.