This is the 55th post in our Celebrity of the Day series.
This English dancer was born in 1986 into a family of dancers. Though Jamie never knew his father, he was close to his mother, sister, aunt and grandmother, all of whom where dancers. He got his start at the age of six by imitating the dance moves of his sister when she practiced. Eventually he joined in, but kept his dancing a secret.
He made his debut as a dancer and an actor by beating out 2,000 other boys for the role of Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot in 2000. His life was a strong parallel to that of Billy Elliot as once news of his dancing was exposed he was heavily ridiculed. But that did not matter as even though he was an unknown actor the role won him numerous Best Actor and Best Newcomer awards, including a BAFTA Film Award and a British Independent Film Award.
Since Billy Elliot, Jamie has found himself with no lack of work with roles in movies like King Kong, Flags of our Fathers, Deathwatch and Hallam Foe. His recent projects have included the role of Griffin in Jumper and Asael Bielski in Defiance. Coming up in 2010 and 2011 will be In Defiance of Gravity and The Eagles of the Ninth.
To find out more about Jamie Bell check out IMDB and NetGlimpse
