Birthdate: 15 December 1972
Birthplace: Howth County, Dublin
Nationality: Irish
Age: 33
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Height: 5'11
Acting school: Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin
Star sign: Stu's sun sign is Sagittarius... and every other planet is Scorpio at the time of his birth .. so think about that... free roaming sag.. with darkside, deep, intense scorpio in moon, mars and venus!! I think this is perfect for Lestat's character... no wonder he is so sexy!!
He has 2 brothers and a sister, called Dylan, Hugo and Chloe. His dad remarried in 1997 to a woman named Sofia after Stuart's mom, Lorna, died in 1994.
Peter Townsend (father)
Lorna Townsend (mother - in memorian)
Sofia Townsend (step mother) Married 1997
Dylan Townsend (brother) Born 1985
Chloe Townsend (sister) Born 1987
Hugo Townsend (half brother) Born 2000
Ella Townsend (half sister) Born 2005
The Irishman was almost part of the Lord of the Rings box-office bonanza: he was cast as Aragorn but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen because of "creative differences" with the director. Townsend 29, called it a "nasty experience." An avid photographer and boxer who grew up in Dublin, he never thought of acting until a girlfriend urged him to enroll in an acting school at 18. After graduation, he created his own theater company. But it wasn’t until he starred in 97's 'Shooting Fish' that he gained a U.S. audience. More recently Stuart starred alongside the late Aaliyah in “Queen of the Damned”, which for a time was the number 1 movie in America. Stuart is currently one of the top ten downloaded people in the world.
Current Projects: Stuart and Charlize will begin filming for Head in the Clouds on March 17 in Montreal, Paris, and London
Here is the proper channel to send Stuart fanmail:
Stuart Townsend
c/o Artists Independent Network
825 Nowita Place
Venice California 90291
USA
Did you know?
Jorge Saralegui told us that Stuart used to box before he made his fortune in acting.
That silly rumour about Stu's being 4 foot 11 in height needs to be straighten out...we can assure you he is NOT 4 foot 11 He may not be 6 feet tall but he is not that far from it; so, sorry that we can not tell you his exact height at this stage. But be assured he closer to 6 feet than this rumor.
His dad, Peter Townsend, is a golf pro.
In preparation for his role in Shooting Fish the director made Townsend and fellow star, Dan Futterman, try to flog a car alarm on Oxford Street.
Stuart is also a talented musician and loves to play. Warner Bros. sent him into the studio to record some tracks and we may see these in a future project.
During the filming of QotD..while on stage for 2 weeks as Lestat; with the band set up with all equipment, Stuart fiddled non stop with everyone's instruments. In the mornings it just became natural for one of the guitarists or keyboard girls to just move out the way and let Stuart have a go while he was not needed in front of the camera. In the end no words were even needed they all saw him walking over and just gave their instruments to him. He was so into this that he would find a corner on stage and sit there for ages playing someone else's guitar and then off again to every single instrument including the drums where he belted out very loudly to the shock of the entire crew as we were trying to be quiet at the time.. Oh well.. he woke everyone up! He is a total pro though..very serious on stage.
Anne Rice is very happy to have Stuart play Lestat in Queen of the Damned, here is what she had to say about him;
"I can tell you that Stuart Townsend is very highly praised for a stage production that he did in London.
He got wonderful praise from the New Yorker Magazine. Also, one person I know, who saw the production,
said he was fabulous." -Anne Rice
Filmography
The Night Stalker ABC series (2005)
Head in the Clouds (2004)
Shade (2004)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)....Dorian Gray
Trapped (2002)....Dr. Will Jennings
Queen of the Damned (2002)....Lestat de Lioncourt
About Adam (2000)....Adam
Mauvaise passe, aka The Escort, aka The Wrong Blonde....Tom
The Venice Project (1999)....Lark/Gippo the Fool
Wonderland (1999)....Tim
Simon Magus (1999)....Dovid
Resurrection Man (1998)....Victor Kelly
Under the Skin (1997)....Tom
Shooting Fish (1997)....Jez
Trojan Eddie (1996)....Dermot
Theatre
Orpheus Descending (2000)....Val
True Lines
Borstal Boy
Magic Roundabout
The Unseen Hand
Tear up the Black Sail
