Steve McQueen: biography and filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Steve McQueen is a British director, artist, actor, producer and screenwriter. Winner of "Oscar", "Golden Globe" and BAFTA awards, winner of prestigious film festivals in Venice and Cannes. He is known for his collaboration with Irish actor Michael Fassbender. Full namesake of the famous actor Steve McQueen, the star of the films "The Great Escape" and "The Magnificent Seven".

Childhood and youth

Steve McQueen was born October 9, 1969 in London. Full name is Stephen Rodney McQueen. The director's ancestors moved to the UK from Trinidad and Grenada. While studying at school, he was identified in a special class created for children "the most suitable for manual labor, future plumbers, locksmiths, and so on." In an interview, he called it the first encounter with racism in his life.

Also as a child, McQueen suffered from dyslexia and amblyopia. He was a talented football player, played for the school team. After graduating from high school, he studied at several colleges in London,also studied at the New York Tisch School of the Arts, but later stated that he did not like too outdated and conservative teaching methods.

Artist career

In the early 1990s, Steve McQueen became interested in video filming, began to create short films, often shot on film in black and white. These paintings often did not have a plot in the classical sense of the word, they were rather a model of abstract art. Often touched upon themes of sexuality and racism in his works.

McQueen's short films were shown in galleries. Often Steve himself acted as an actor. He received the prestigious Turner Prize for his work. In 2006, he visited Iraq, was even appointed the official war artist, and after that he created a series of postage stamps with portraits of British soldiers killed in the war.

The beginning of a director's career

In 2008, Steve McQueen's debut feature film The Hunger premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. As a result of the review, the film received the Golden Camera Award for Best Debut, and the director became the first Briton in the history of the award.

Historical drama about an Irish prisoner's hunger strike in the 1980s, starring Michael Fassbender. He lost a lot of weight for the role. The picture was distinguished by its naturalistic style, and the dialogue scene between the main character and the priest, filmed without a single montage, was also a hallmark of the film.

The film was positively receivedcritics, and McQueen became one of the most promising directors in the world. The second full-length project of the director, the drama "Shame", was released in 2011. The main role was once again played by Michael Fassbender, who played a man suffering from sexual addiction. After the premiere of the film at the Venice Film Festival, the Irishman received the "Best Actor" award.

"Shame" was included in many lists of the best films at the end of the year, but was ignored by the Oscars. This was largely due to too explicit sex scenes, the picture even received an NC-17 rating in the American box office, which is often awarded to pornographic films.

12 Years a Slave

The third film in the career of Steve McQueen (director) was the historical drama "12 Years a Slave". The screenplay is based on the memoirs of Solomon Northop. The film stars Chiwitel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Lupita Nyong'o.

At the end of the year, the film was included in many lists of the best pictures. The drama was also considered the main favorite for the Oscars. As a result, the film received several awards, including a statuette for the "best film of the year." The award was given to several of the film's producers, including McQueen himself and Brad Pitt. However, in the nomination "best director" Steve lost to the Mexican Alfonso Cuaron.

Widows

After the success of "12 Years a Slave", the director for a long time could notto decide on a new project, there were rumors that he was filming a biopic of musician Paul Robeson, but a few years later it was announced that the crime drama "Widows" would be the next picture in Steve McQueen's filmography.

Written by McQueen and writer Gillian Flynn, also known for writing David Fincher's thriller Gone Girl, based on the 1983 British miniseries. Starring Viola Davis, Liam Neeson and Colin Farrell. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in the fall of 2018, and was positively received by critics, calling it one of the favorites of the awards season.

Other works

After winning "12 Years a Slave" at the Oscars, Steve McQueen signed a deal with HBO to create a mini-series about the life of young African Americans in New York. However, after filming the pilot episode, the channel decided to abandon the production of the project.

It was later announced that McQueen would develop another project for the BBC. He also directed the video for Kanye West's All Day. A documentary about the legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, directed by McQueen, is scheduled to be released soon.

Private life

Steve McQueen is married to Dutch critic Bianca Stigter, but the date of their wedding is unknown. The couple has two children, son Dexter and daughter Alex, the family lives in two houses, with residences in London and Amsterdam.

McQueen received several higherstate awards, is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, he was awarded this honor for his contribution to the development of visual art. According to his own words, he was previously an ardent football fan, supported the Tottenham Hotspur club, but later abandoned this hobby, as it influenced his mood too much.