Samantha Morton

Biography

Samantha Morton was born May 13, 1977 in Nottingham, England to parents Pamela and Peter Morton . They split up when she was three and married other people. She has eight brothers and sisters.
Morton had said that she was always a speaker in class and someone who beat up the bullies. She left the school West Bridgford Comprehensive at the age of thirteen and joined England's Central Junior Television Workshop. She had been encouraged by a drama teacher and wrote to them until they accepted her. She left the workshop when she was 16 and joined the theater group The Royal Court. Morton has done radio plays. ( Were they with them? We don't know. If you know more about this, please email me.) Then she began to get parts on television in England. Peak Practice, Cracker, Boon, Band of Gold, Tom Jones, Emma and Jane Eyre. Under the Skin garned awards and lots of attention and critical praise for Morton and led to other roles. Morton had never seen a Woody Allen film - she didn't go to the movies as a child - and didn't know how revered he is and almost didn't do Sweet and Lowdown if it interfered with another project (Hamlet with Ethan Hawke). The script had to be good (smart move. She could have been stuck in a bad Allen film like Celebrity). She liked working with Allen. It was a comfortable set. The film has gotten a lot of attention for her in the USA and she was nominated for an oscar. She was up against Catherine Keener and they both lost to Angelina Jolie. Even so (Oscars really help careers here in the us of a) Hollywood has come knocking on her door but she won't take just any role. She is very choosy and has said that she won't sell out.
Morton has a daughter, Esme, with on and off again beau Charlie Creed-Miles. Esme was born Febuarary 5, 2000. They were co-stars in the film The Last Yellow.
She loves Ken Loach's Kes and the Ladybird. She didn't go to the movies as a kid and watched tv and listened to the radio instead. She liked shows like Coronation Street. Some of her favorite actors and musicians are Joy Division, Boards of Canada, Kate Winslet, Chloë Sevigny, Kathy Burke, Tom Cruise, Steven Speilberg, The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Busta Rhymes, Moloko, Public Enemy, Chrissie Hynde and Erykah Badu. A particular favorite is Patti Smith. Morton listened to her a lot while filming Jesus' Son and her Oscar outfit was inspired by the cover art of her album Horses. (Michael Stipe of R.E.M was greatly influenced by this album too!) And she has said that the soundtrack of her life would be Joy Division (how cool is that? Very.).
Two of her favorite childhood movies were The Goonies and Dark Crystal. She said on the XFM show that they didn't hold up very well. (I totally agree.)

Next up...In America will hit theatres sometime soon and Code 46 is in the works.
A script? She has mentioned writing a script in a couple of interviews. One is about the strikes in During during the 1980's when social workers quit and the children suffered tons of abuse as a result. It was done for the Television Workshop but Morton has revised it into a script. I don't know if this will be made. She also wants to direct shorts she's written. I hope they get made. I for one am very interested in what a film would be like with Morton calling the shots. I'm sure that she will find a way to get them out there. She's an inspiration and we are all rooting for her I'm sure.