Actor / Director Profile

At six feet three and with a screen presence that commands attention, Craig Fairbrass is a versatile and experienced actor whose film and TV career has gone from strength to strength. He was born in Mile End hospital in London's East End, his father Jack was one of nine kids and was a Stevedore - the best you could be as a London docker, his mother Maureen was a machinist dressmaker in Petticoat Lane, she was one of ten kids. Along with his younger sister Lindsey they lived in Stepney where Craig grew up. It was at Eaglesfield boys secondary comprehensive in Woolwich where Craig became fascinated with films and acting, although struggling from one year to the next and not top of the class academically he found drama an outlet and it was here that he got the acting bug. After being expelled at 15 he worked as a roofer's laborer, a job he would return to time and time again in the coming years for support while securing acting roles, this earned him enough money to attend a course at drama school.Leaving drama school Craig soon realized that to survive he needed a second string to his bow if he was to pursue his dream as an actor and he returned to roofing in the day and working on the doors of some of S.E. London's less desirable nightspots for the next five years until securing enough money to buy his own business, a sandwich bar in Woolwich market. Movie experience began as well with Mike Newell's Sour-Sweet, Francis Megahy's Real Life, and playing opposite Denzel Washington in the powerful British picture For Queen And Country. Television soon followed, with the BBC drama Big Deal, a regular role in LWT'S award winning London's Burning and the highly acclaimed BAFTA award-winning series Prime Suspect 1 and 2 in which Craig played hard-bitten detective Frank Burkin opposite Helen Mirren. The series was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic and it was the second series that won an Emmy for best drama.1992 saw Craig use this as a calling card in Los Angeles, securing a starring a role in one of the biggest movies of the 90s, Cliffhanger with Sylvester Stallone, which opened doors in the US independent film arena. He also starred in action film, Nightscare, Terminal Force and Proteus before returning to the UK to star in the British thriller Killing Time and the award-winning Darklands.As an adjunct to his film career Craig turned his hand to comedy, co-starring with Richard Wilson in LWT'S Duck Patrol, the film Weak At Denise and the pilot show Juggling. In 1999 Craig joined the cast of the BBC's flagship show EastEnders where his recurring character of Dan Sullivan over three years won record viewing figures and a four-hander Sunday evening special - a TV BAFTA for best drama. Other strong roles followed in An Unsuitable Job For A Women opposite Helen Baxendale the US action series Soldier Of Fortune and lead villain Ray Betson in The Great Dome Robbery, then to Rome to complete his role on Moro, for controversial award-winning Italian art-house director Aurellio Grimaldi, guest lead in Radio 4's afternoon play Fair Maids Are Shining, the lead in the No. 1 national tour of Richard Harris' award-winning play Outside Edge, the U.S comedy movie The Long Weekend with Chris Klein and guest-starring as warrior Arkad in Stargate SG1.More recently Craig's role of the killer Henry Caine in White Noise The Light, the sequel to the No. 1 box office hit White Noise reaches no. 5 in the top ten cinema films in London. 2007 saw Craig in his most powerful performance to date, that of true life gangster Pat Tate in Rise Of The Footsoldier the eagerly awaited gangster epic based on true life events directed by BAFTA nominee Julian Gilbey. Alongside of that a strong supporting role in The Bank Job, opposite Jason Statham and directed by Hollywood veteran Roger Donaldson. 2008 Craig returned to L.A to guest-star in one of the most eagerly awaited US TV series to hit screens this year Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles and on the top rated David Mamett action drama series The Unit for CBS TV as rogue agent Devon Burke. Summer 2008 saw Craig join the cast of Far Cry, the big screen adaption of the action adventure video game shooting in Vancouver. 2009/10 has seen Craig complete lead roles in action thriller Freight, and comedy cameos in The Shouting Men and Just for the record. TV pilot Meet pursuit delange. 2010 he shot two action/horror pics back to back Dead Cert and Devil's Playground. 2011 sees Craig busier than ever with lead roles in crime thriller St Georges Day - US thrillers House Of the Rising Sun, Hijacked and now actively producing his first feature film through his production company Screen 360. Gunned Down which Craig wrote is a violent dark action thriller set in London. He continues to divide his time between London and L.A.