Stephen Marcus

Career

Marcus became an actor in 1984 after three years of training at Arts Educational Schools in London; he spent the first six months of his career touring throughout London's parks and schools in Robin Hood & The Tree Trick, which was quickly followed by his first film role as Moose in the cult film My Beautiful Laundrette.

After a few years working in theatre, commercials and supporting roles on television, Marcus joined the cast of fledgling comedy Birds of a Feather as Dave, the lover of Sharon (Pauline Quirke).

A year of acting in commercials introduced Marcus to director Peter Chelsom. Chelsom cast him right away as Gordon in Hear My Song, opposite Ned Beatty. This was followed by roles on British television, in programmes such as The Hot Dog Wars, Dangerfield, Class Act, Kavanagh QC and Our Friends in the North. Meanwhile, Marcus's movie career was also progressing, with roles opposite Timothy Dalton in The Beautician and the Beast, Robert Englund in The Killer Tongue and Richard Harris in Savage Hearts.

In 1996 Marcus's agent arranged a meeting for a small low-budget movie with a then-unknown director named Guy Ritchie; Ritchie offered Marcus the role of Nick the Greek in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels alongside Nick Moran, Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham and Matthew Vaughn. Three years later, the film was released and garnered a high level of success.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels led to further movie roles. Marcus completed a small role in Alan Parker's Angela's Ashes; he played Bouchon in Quills, alongside Kate Winslet, Michael Caine, Joaquin Phoenix and Geoffrey Rush; for Richard Eyre, he played Iris opposite Judi Dench and acted in Complete Female Stage Beauty with Claire Danes; and he also attained the role of Ted Ray in The Greatest Game Ever Played, directed by Bill Paxton.

Alongside a very successful movie career, Marcus also starred in several American, Canadian and UK television series: Starhunter 2300, in which he played Rudolpho De Luna; he played the co-lead in the BBC series Cavegirl; he played Banjo and Broadman in the adaptations of Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather and The Colour of Magic, respectively; he starred in the two 20th anniversary episodes of “Casualty”; and Marcus also appeared in regular roles in Kingdom (with Stephen Fry) and Larkrise to Candleford. Marcus has also completed two films with the Wachowski Brothers: Speed Racer and Ninja Assassin.

In 2012 Marcus appeared in five feature films: It’s A Lot, Two Days in the Smoke, Gridiron UK, AB Negative and Fast & Furious 6. In April 2012, he completed filming for independent British gangster thriller Two Days in the Smoke, in which he plays the hitman Ben, alongside Snatch actor Alan Ford and Matt Di Angelo from BBC Hustle.

In July 2012, Marcus launched a new Gangster London walking tour in association with Brit Movie Tours, in which he explores the dark history of London's East End. He also starred in Perry Bhandal's Interview with a Hitman (2012) as Traffikant, a Romanian Crime Boss, alongside Luke Goss.

In May 2013, Marcus played the roles of Varney, Homeless man, Letting Agent & First Guard in a BBC radio adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, adapted by Dirk Maggs.

Personal life

Marcus is married to Sarah and owns two small dogs, Fry and Ronnie. He has two main hobbies: golf and American Football, the latter of which he used to play and coach.

Marcus played American football in the UK for the BAFL One team Sussex Thunder and retired at the end of the 2007 season. He was interviewed for Sky Sports' Sunday NFL coverage after the Thunder's 2007 fixture at the Ipswich Cardinals. The interview, which was broadcast on 21 October 2007, discussed his acting career, as well as American Football. Marcus has been an offensive line coach at the London Olympians and at Valley Trojans.