Although he played leads at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court and the National Theatre before reaching the age of 30, Peter Chelsom cut short his decade-long acting career to concentrate on writing and directing films. His first effort, the short "Treacle" (1988), received considerable international acclaim, but several years would pass before he directed a feature film. Gaining experience at the helm of TV commercials, Chelsom finally realized his ambition with "Hear My Song" (1991), a sentimental, amusing whimsy loosely based on the real-life story of the beloved Irish tenor Josef Locke, co-written by Chelsom's leading man, Adrian Dunbar. He completed his trilogy of "hometown movies" with "Funny Bones" (1995), a show business fairy tale featuring performances by Jerry Lewis and Leslie Caron that blur the boundaries of their real and screen personae. Set primarily in his boyhood home of Blackpool, England (considered the entertainment Mecca of the North), "Funny Bones" endearingly resurrects show business nuggets from the past while depicting a decidedly twisted Oedipal drama involving Lewis and his two comedian sons, one (Lee Evans) which he had conceived and abandoned and the other (Oliver Platt), in whom he fostered then squelched ambition. The kid from the north of England then tackled a blue-collar tale set in Cincinnati, Ohio, remarking to his editor after viewing the rough cut, "My God! This could have been directed by an American." "The Mighty" (1998), based on a popular 1993 novel for teenagers by Rodman Philbrick, focused on the friendship between two 13-year old boys: Kevin, a tiny, physically handicapped genius and his learning-disabled, extra-large size neighbor. Chelsom brought Sharon Stone aboard to flex some movie-star muscle in the role of Kevin's mother (as well as to co-executive produce through her Chaos Productions) and separated "The Mighty" from comparable material with the magic of its Camelot analogies. In an early scene, the pair find themselves suddenly flanked by Arthurian knights on head-tossing steeds while later retrieving a lost purse rescues a damsel in distress, and making a bully back down slays a modern-day dragon. "The Mighty" solidified the promise of Chelsom's earlier films, inventively visualizing the aspirations of its two adolescent misfits with an honesty that proved draining, cathartic and satisfying. He weighed in with his first big-budget Hollywood affair, "Town & Country" (2000), a mid-life crisis comedy starring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn.
Profession(s):
director, screenwriter, Actor, producer, photographer
Sometimes Credited As:
2004 Directed Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon in "Shall We Dance," a remake of the classic Japanese ballroom dance film
2001 Directed John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale in the romanic comedy "Serendipity"
2001 Directed the big-budgeted ($60 million) romantic comedy "Town & Country", starring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn
1998 Helmed "The Mighty", a film centered on the relationship between two youths; executive produced by and starring Sharon Stone, it received a 10-minute standing ovation at a special out-of-competition s
1995 Co-wrote with Peter Flannery, produced and directed "Funny Bones"; a rosey-eyed yet dark film about the infatuation with performance, with showmanship and with gentle, old-fashioned knavery, bubbling
1991 Feature directorial debut, "Hear My Song"; co-wrote script with Dunbar (who co-starred); set in Liverpool to take advantage of that city's large Irish population
1988 Film directing debut with the 11-minute black-and-white "Treacle" (a Channel Four short), set in his hometown of Blackpool
1987 Conducted a course for New York actors at Cornell University under the auspices of the Royal National Theatre
1987 Played a leading role in the British-made feature film, "Indian Summer"
1985 Met Adrian Dunbar in Liverpool when both were members of the Royal Court Theater Company
1985 - 1989 Directed at the Central School of Drama where he ran a film and television course
Spent first six years of life in Blackpool, England
Initially trained as a photographer before going to drama school
Portrayed supporting roles in such made-for-TV productions as "A Woman of Substance" (syndicated, 1984), "The Miser" (PBS, 1988) and "Cream in My Coffee" (PBS, 1990)
Made 16 commercials, including advertisements for Molson Canadian Lager, Tetley Beer and the EXPRESS newspaper
Will direct "The Food of Love," a romantic comedy (lensed 2005)
