From classical stage training to period television dramas, British actor Matthew Goode started out on that well-traveled path to an international film career, but after turning out supporting performances that were much more memorable than warranted, he was bumped up to star status in short order. He earned a significant female following for his role as the charming secret service agent and love object of the presidents teen daughter (Mandy Moore) in Chasing Liberty (2004), and critical kudos for his posh performance in the acclaimed Woody Allen film, Match Point (2005). Goode went on to surprise audiences with his ensemble role in the comic book adaptation Watchmen (2009) as the dapper Ozymandias, and while the period dramas regularly invited the actor back into their worlds, he revealed himself to be a versatile, charming leading man known for his off-the-cuff sense of humor.
A native of the western English county of Devon, Goode was born April 3, 1978, to a geologist father and nurse mother. He was raised in the city of Exeter where he was encouraged to act by his mother, a local theater director who often cast him in productions as a child. Goodes talent took him to the University of Birmingham where he studied drama, and onto classical training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Goodes professional acting career began on the London stage with roles including Ariel in Shakespeares The Tempest. He expanded into television with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister(2002), alongside established stars Stockard Channing and Jonathan Pryce. Affable, cheeky and boyishly handsome, the actor appeared in the film Al sur de Granada (2003) and the BBC TV adaptation of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: A Suitable Vengeance (2003) before scoring his international breakout in 2004. That year, Goode was introduced to American audiences as the bodyguard/love interest of the presidents daughter (Mandy Moore) in the teen romantic comedy Chasing Liberty (2004). The virtually unknown actor triumphed over dozens of other British actors for the part, and as a result, became an overnight commodity in Hollywood.
Before shooting his next big American vehicle, Goode appeared in a pair of British productions that were already in the can a BBC miniseries of Anthony Trollopes He Knew He Was Right (2004), and the TV movie of Agatha Christies Marple: A Murder is Announced (2005). Then filmmaking icon Woody Allen cast Goode as a posh Londoner and fianc
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