Simon Russell Beale

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Reviews

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

★★★★★ “Its three extraordinary actors, who are the sole occupants of the vast Lyttelton stage for nearly 180 minutes. They are SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, Ben Miles and Adam Godley. Behold them with wonder, humble theatergoer, for they are multitudes. Henry Lehman is embodied by BEALE, arguably the greatest classical actor of the present-day London stage, with a heart-stirring air of contemplative awe.”
Ben Brantley – New York Times

★★★★ “SIMON RUSSELL BEALE is particularly compelling in his portrait of the disturbingly single-minded (and latterly demon-haunted) Philip Lehman in the second generation (“Pure money! Pure adrenaline!”), but can metamorphose, with the tiniest shifts of gesture, into a demure 19th-century Alabama girl, a doddery old rabbi, or a society spouse turned spiteful lush through neglect.”
Paul Taylor – Independent

★★★★★ “This engrossing play about the banking family provides a history of western capitalism and an acting masterclass from SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, Ben Miles and Adam Godley.  The result is an intimate epic that becomes a masterly study of acting as well as of the intricacies of high finance.”
Michael Billington – The Guardian

THE DEATH OF STALIN

★★★★★“For decades, I wondered if this extraordinary theatre actor would ever get a screen role worthy of his stage career. Now at last he has. His Beria is the dark heart of the film.”
- Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian)

★★★★“Simon Russell Beale, acclaimed for his stage work, is the standout as odious secret police chief Beria.”
- Jordan Farley (GamesRadar)

★★★★★“He’s the primary villain in a film that’s overflowing with them, and Russell Beale brings oily glee to the role.”
- Phil De Semlyen (Time Out)

★★★★★“(Beale is) on inspired form as Beria […] and keeps the rest of the cast on their toes.”
- Chris Hunneysett (Mirror)

“One of the delights of the film is Simon Russell Beale’s creepy but comic turn as Beria.”
- Geoffrey Macnab (Independent)

“Beale is divine as Beria, a conniver who prides himself on always being three moves ahead of his opponents.”
- Tim Grierson (Screen Daily)

“Beria is a man of great evil, and that Beale is able to incorporate a comedy into the role is a mastery of writing and performance.”
– Christopher Marchant (Blasting News)

“Shining brightest among this luminous cast is Simon Russell Beale, a theatrical giant on a too-rare screen break, who invests Stalin’s poisonous security chief Lavrentiy Beria with the ideal mix of the slimy and the sinister.”
- Matthew Norman (Evening Standard)

“His juiciest screen role to date.”
- Tim Robey (The Telegraph)

“Simon Russell Beale, who plays security chief Lavrentiy Beria as a murderous gangster deserves special mention.”
- Joe Bond (Spectator Life)

★★★★“The sinister chief of the secret police superbly played by Simon Russell Beale.”
- Brian Viner (The Daily Mail)

“Beale is simply terrific, investing Beria with a casual cruelty is genuinely disturbing.”
– Matthew Turner (iNews)

“Pitching Russell Beale and Buscemi against each other is one of the masterstrokes of casting that make the film such a joy to watch: Russell Beale, brimful of Shakespearean subtlety, has both deeply funny bones and a ready access to the realm of the sinister.”
– Lisa Mullen (BFI) 

“Beale plays Beria as a wheedling, charming man, personally releasing former victims with an amiable air. Beale finds his most charismatic film role as Beria”
– Nick Hasted (The Arts Desk)

“Beale is mesmeric.”
– Danny Leigh (Financial Times)

★★★★★“(Beale) portrays Beria with remarkable sensitivity, and whose unrivalled dramatic talents find as welcome a place onscreen as onstage. In light of current Hollywood scandal, his harrowing abuse of power breaks down the wall of distance the audience has from the past, and the modern parallels swell in the foreground.”
– Lillian Crawford (Varsity)