Rupert Everett

2.1. Childhood and family background

Born Rupert James Hector Everett on 29 May 1959, he grew up in a wealthy family. His father, Major Anthony Michael Everett, served in the British Army. His maternal grandfather, Vice Admiral Sir Hector Charles Donald MacLean DSO, was a nephew of Victoria Cross recipient Hector Lachlan Stewart MacLean. Everett's maternal grandmother, Opre Vyvyan, was a descendant of the baronets Vyvyan of Trelowarren and the German Freiherr (Freiherr_Baron^German) von Schmiedern. His ancestry includes English, Irish, Scottish, and more distant German and Dutch roots. Everett was raised as a Roman Catholic. His great-uncle was Donald Maclean, a British diplomat and Soviet spy.

2.2. Education and early aspirations

From the age of seven, Everett was educated at Farleigh School in Andover, Hampshire, and later by Benedictine monks at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire. At 15 or 16, his parents agreed to let him leave school to pursue acting. He moved to London to train at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. During this period, he supported himself by engaging in sex work for money and drugs, a fact he later openly discussed. After leaving the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he began working in theatre in Glasgow.

3.1. Early career and breakthrough (1980s)

Everett's acting career began in 1981 with his breakthrough role in Julian Mitchell's play Another Country at the Greenwich Theatre, later transferring to the West End. In the play, he portrayed a gay schoolboy alongside Kenneth Branagh. His first film appearance was in the Academy Award-winning short A Shocking Accident (1982), directed by James Scott. He then reprised his stage role in the 1984 film adaptation of Another Country, co-starring with Cary Elwes and Colin Firth. This role earned him his first BAFTA Award nomination for Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film. Following this, he appeared in Dance with a Stranger (1985). Everett's promising film career faced a setback when he co-starred with Bob Dylan in the unsuccessful film Hearts of Fire (1987). Around this time, he also pursued a music career, releasing a pop album titled Generation of Loneliness. Despite being managed by Simon Napier-Bell, who had guided Wham! to fame, his musical venture was short-lived. He later contributed backing vocals for Madonna's cover of "American Pie" and for Robbie Williams's track "They Can't Take That Away from Me" on the album Swing When You're Winning in 2001.

3.2. Gaining fame and major performances (1990s)

In 1989, Everett moved to Paris, where he wrote his first novel, Hello, Darling, Are You Working?. During this period, he publicly came out as gay, a disclosure he later stated may have negatively impacted his career. He returned to the public eye in The Comfort of Strangers (1990), followed by several films of varying success. The Italian comics character Dylan Dog, created by Tiziano Sclavi in 1986, was graphically inspired by Everett. He, in turn, appeared in Cemetery Man (1994), an adaptation of Sclavi's novel Dellamorte Dellamore. In 1995, Everett published his second novel, The Hairdressers of St. Tropez.

His career experienced a significant revitalization with his acclaimed performance in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), where he played Julia Roberts's character's gay best friend. This role earned him his second BAFTA nomination and his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He also showcased his singing talent in this film. This was followed by a role as Madonna's character's gay best friend in The Next Best Thing (2000), for which he also contributed backing vocals to her cover of "American Pie" on the film's soundtrack. Around the same time, he starred as the villainous Sanford Scolex/Dr. Claw in Disney's Inspector Gadget (1999) alongside Matthew Broderick. He also earned a second Golden Globe nomination for his role in An Ideal Husband (1999).

3.3. Diverse roles and continuous activities (2000s-2010s)

In the 21st century, Everett diversified his activities, returning to writing and exploring various roles in film, television, and theatre. He became a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and wrote for The Guardian. He also developed a screenplay about Oscar Wilde's final years, a project he had long sought to fund.

In 2006, Everett published a memoir titled Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, in which he revealed a six-year affair with British television presenter Paula Yates. While sometimes described as bisexual, he characterized his heterosexual affairs as a result of adventurousness, stating he "wanted to try everything."

Everett has actively participated in public events since publicly discussing his sexuality, including leading the 2007 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. He played a double role in the film St. Trinian's (2007) and made several television appearances, such as a contestant in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice, a presenter for Live Earth, and a guest host on The Friday Night Project. He also gained media attention for his outspoken and sometimes controversial remarks during interviews. In May 2007, he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of his friend, fashion director Isabella Blow, who had died by suicide.

During this period, he also provided the voice for the handsome villain Prince Charming in the first two Shrek sequels, Shrek 2 (2004) and Shrek the Third (2007). In 2008, his documentary The Victorian Sex Explorer, which retraced the travels of Sir Richard Francis Burton through countries like India and Egypt, aired on the BBC. In 2009, he presented two Channel 4 documentaries: one on the travels of Lord Byron and another on Sir Richard Burton.

Everett also returned to his theatre roots. In 2009, he made his Broadway debut at the Shubert Theatre in Noël Coward's play Blithe Spirit, starring alongside Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole, and Jayne Atkinson. He was also scheduled to tour Italian cities in 2008-09 in another Coward play, Private Lives, performed in Italian, which he speaks fluently, but the production was cancelled.

In 2010, Everett performed as Professor Henry Higgins in a revival of Pygmalion at the Chichester Festival Theatre, reprising the role in 2011 at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. In July 2010, he was featured in the family history programme Who Do You Think You Are?. He also appeared in the 2010 comedy film Wild Target as an art-loving gangster.

In 2012, Everett starred in the television adaptation of Parade's End with Benedict Cumberbatch, playing Mark Tietjens. He then took on the role of Oscar Wilde in The Judas Kiss, a stage play that was revived at London's Hampstead Theatre in 2012, toured the UK and Dublin, and transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2013. For this role, he won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actor. The production, still starring Everett, ran in North America in 2016 in Toronto and at BAM in New York City.

In early 2013, Everett began working on a film portraying the final period of Wilde's life, a project driven by a lifelong fascination with the playwright since his mother read him Wilde's children's story The Happy Prince. The resulting film, The Happy Prince, which he wrote and directed, was released in 2018. In 2015, he was cast as Philippe Achille, Marquis de Feron, the corrupt Governor of Paris and illegitimate brother to Louis XIII, in the third series of the BBC One drama The Musketeers. In 2017, Everett appeared as Dr. Hendricks, the neurotic principal of the medical school, in the BBC Two comedy Quacks.

8.1. Personal relationships

Between 2006 and 2010, Everett resided in New York City but returned to London due to his father's declining health. In 2008, he purchased a home in the Central London district of Belgravia. In the 1990s, Everett had a six-year affair with television presenter and writer Paula Yates, who was married to Bob Geldof at the time. He stated that he felt no guilt over the affair. As of 2020, Everett lives with his partner Henrique, a Brazilian accountant, whom he secretly married in 2024.

8.2. Views on social issues and public discourse

Everett has been a patron of the British Monarchist Society and Foundation. In 2006, as a homeowner in Bloomsbury, he actively supported a campaign against the establishment of a local Starbucks branch, referring to the global chain as a "cancer" and joining 1,000 other residents in a petition.

In 2013, Everett worked on a Channel 4 documentary about sex work that explored the issue of criminalization. He has since become a vocal participant in the discourse on prostitution legislation in the UK. In October 2013, he signed an open letter, alongside groups such as the English Collective of Prostitutes, Queer Strike, and the Association of Trade Union Councils, opposing the adoption of the "Swedish model," which criminalizes the clients of sex workers but not the workers themselves. He continued to contribute to this debate in 2014, writing a piece for The Guardian and appearing on the BBC One programme This Week. He also joined protests outside the offices of Soho Estates, a property company owning properties in Soho's Walkers Court, an area known for sex work.

Everett has expressed complex and sometimes controversial views on LGBTQ+ issues. In a 2012 interview regarding same-sex marriage, he stated, "I loathe heterosexual weddings; I would never go to a wedding in my life. I loathe the flowers, I loathe the fucking wedding dress, the little bridal tiara. It's grotesque. It's just hideous. The wedding cake, the party, the champagne, the inevitable divorce two years later. It's just a waste of time in the heterosexual world, and in the homosexual world I find it personally beyond tragic that we want to ape this institution that is so clearly a disaster." A few days after this interview, he faced criticism for remarking, "I can't think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads." He later clarified his stance, explaining that his personal view stemmed from his desire for gay identity to be the "opposite of the straight world," but added, "I'm not having a go at gay couples who do. I think if Elton and David want to have babies, that's wonderful. I think we should all do what we want."

Everett has also revealed that he identified as transgender during his childhood, dressing as a girl from age six to 14. At 15, he ceased identifying as female and embraced his identity as a gay man. He has expressed opposition to the use of hormones on children for transition, describing parents who offer such a possibility to their children as "scary." In a 2020 interview with The Advocate, Everett voiced his opposition to cancel culture, likening social media to "the Stasi."