Born Marco Salussolia in London in August 1963 (his father was Italian and his mother Austrian), Mark Strong has alternated between stage, television and film.
After training at the Bristol Old Vic, he made some distinctive early appearances in television programmes such as ‘Inspector Morse’ and Hanif Kurieshi's ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’. However, his most notable appearance came in the landmark series ‘Our Friends InThe North’.
Strong played opposite Kate Beckinsale in ‘Emma’ in 1996 and as Colin Firth's football-obsessed best friend in the film of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch directed by David Evans, 1997. He appeared in István Szabó's epic Sunshine in the television version of ‘Anna Karenina’.
His other credits include Mike Figgis' Hotel and Thomas Vinterberg's It's All About Love, and as the Duke of Norfolk in ‘Henry VIII’. He played Orsino and Astrov in Sam Mendes' swansong productions at the Donmar Warehouse of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya. His role of the gay, ruthless but charismatic gangster Harry Starks in the crime drama ‘The Long Firm’ earned him a BAFTA nomination.
His most recent credits include Guy Ritchie’s Revolver Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist, Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana, and most recently Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies.
