ANONYMOUS Character Card #4- Xavier Samuel as Henry Wriothesley

The Earl of Southampton Henry Wriothesley
Played by Xavier Samuel

Character Bio:
Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, was a generous patron of the arts and a well known fan of theater. Shakespeare dedicate works to him, and he was a particularly loyal friend to the Earl of Essex.

Relationships:
• To William Shakespeare: Why were Shakespeare's works dedicated to Southampton? What was the relationship between the two men? Could this patron of the arts be the "Fair Youth" of Shakespeare's sonnets?

• To the older Earl of Oxford: The Earls of Oxford and Southampton shared a love for the arts and theater. Both men had lost their fathers at a relatively young age, giving them another shared bond. But some historians are convinced that the two share an even deep connection.

• To the older Queen Elizabeth: The Earl of Southampton was a favored courtier of Elizabeth's, as they both loved theater and arts.

Actor Bio:

Over the past few years, Australian actor Xavier Samuel (Southampton) has generated international attention for his standout performances and is poised to become one of the most dynamic and versatile young actors of his generation.

Samuel was most recently seen in the third film in the blockbuster Twilight series, Eclipse in which he playEd Riley, a newborn vampire.

Samuel is currently in Australia shooting the film Drift opposite Sam Worthington. Drift is a drama set in the 1970's about two brothers who revolutionized the surfing industry. He has also completed production on the Australian films A Few Best Men, a comedy about a groom and his three best men and their adventures traveling to the Australian outback for the wedding, Bait, a thriller about a tsunami which traps a group of people in a supermarket along with a pack of tiger sharks and Road Kill, a supernatural thriller set in the Australian outback and directed by Dean Francis Both.

Among his additional film credits, Samuel was seen in the thriller The Loved Ones directed by Sean Byrne, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July 2009. The Loved Ones also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2009 and won the Midnight Madness audience prize there. He also starred opposite Mia Wasikowska in the film September, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival to rave reviews and in Newcastle, which premiered at the Tribeca International Film Festival.

Samuel made his screen debut in the highly acclaimed independent feature 2:37, which chronicles the lives of six students over the course of a day and ends in a devastating suicide. Directed by newcomer Murali K. Thalluri and featuring a relatively unknown cast, the film, which screened in competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in "Un Certain Regard," received a standing ovation.

Samuel graduated from Adelaide's Flinders University Drama Centre in 2005. While at the university he played Hamlet in his graduating production.

ANONYMOUS will be released in theaters nationwide on October 28, 2011. For additional information, visit: http://anonymous-movie.com/

More Articles by This Author...