Christian Cooke

Christian Louis Cooke (born 15 September 1987) is an English actor. He is known for playing Luke Kirkwall in Where the Heart Is, Luke Rutherford in Demons, Dorian Gaudain in Trinity, Freddie Taylor in Cemetery Junction and Len Matthews in the Channel 4 mini series The Promise. Cooke's most recent roles include Stewart Gilmour in BBC's two-part drama Stonemouth, adapted from Iain Banks' novel of the same title, and ex-soldier Graham Connor in Crackle's original drama The Art of More.

Background

Cooke was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where he attended St. Mary's Catholic High School, Menston and Bingley Arts Centre. He has an older brother, Alexander, and younger sister, Gabrielle.

Cooke began his acting career at the age of 10 when he appeared in a production of Bedazzled at the Bingley Arts Centre. His first television appearance was in a commercial for Birds Eye beef burgers, shortly followed by his first lead role as Wilmot Tanner in Granada Television series Wilmot. His career progressed from there.

Itay Tiran

Itay Tiran (Hebrew: איתי טיראן‎; born March 23, 1980) is an Israeli stage and screen actor, known for his roles in Forgiveness (2006),Beaufort (2007), The Debt (2007), Homeland (2008), Lebanon (2009), and The Promise (2011), Anleitung zum Ungluecklichsein (2012), Die Lebenden (2012).

Tiran is one of the most acclaimed Israeli actors of his day. His performances have gained him various awards and nominations in Israeli theater and film, winning the award for Most Promising Actor in Israel Theater in 2003, Best Actor in 2005 for his performance as Hamlet in the Israeli Cameri Theater production of the Shakespeare play; Best Supporting Actor for his role as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus at the 2009 Israel Theater Awards. Itay was nominated for Best Actor at the Israeli Film Academy Awards for his roles in Forgiveness and The Debt. In 2009 Tiran collaborated with world-renowned German conductor Kurt Masur in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream. They performed together with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv moving on to Paris to perform with the Orchestre National de France at the St. Denis Festival and at the Musee D'Orsay. In 2009 Tiran joined the Gropius Ensemble formed by young conductor Daniel Cohen combining modern classical music and theatrical elements, performing pieces like Kafka's Kofadam and A Soldier's Tale by Stravinsky. Tiran's directing debut (2010) with Georg Büchner's Woyzeck in which he also played the title role, earned him a well-deserved critical acclaim as a theater director. In March 2011 Tiran and Kurt Masur met again, this time in the Davis Symphony Hall of San Francisco together with the San Francisco Symphony for the performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The San Francisco Chronicle called Tiran's impersonations "relevant and virtuosic".

The Promise (2011 TV serial)

The Promise is a British television serial in four episodes written and directed by Peter Kosminsky, with music by Debbie Wiseman. It tells the story of a young woman who goes to present-day Israel/Palestine determined to find out about her soldier grandfather's involvement in the final years of Palestine under the British mandate. It premiered on Channel 4 on 6 February 2011.

Cast

Claire Foy

Claire Foy (born 16 April 1984) is an English actress, best known for playing the title role in the BBC One production of Little Dorrit, Anna in the 2011 film Season of the Witch, Erin Matthews in the Channel 4 series The Promise, and Anne Boleyn in BBC2's Wolf Hall. She also starred in the NBC series Crossbones as Kate Balfour.

Personal life

Foy was born in Stockport, and she grew up in Manchester and Leeds, the youngest of three children. Her family later moved to Longwick, Buckinghamshire for her father's job, a salesman for Rank Xerox. Her parents divorced when she was aged eight. She attended Aylesbury High School, a girls' grammar school, from the age of twelve; she then attended Liverpool John Moores University, studying drama and screen studies. She also trained in a one-year course at the Oxford School of Drama. She graduated in 2007 and moved to Peckham to share a house "with five friends from drama school". She married actor Stephen Campbell Moore in December 2014. She gave birth to her first child in February 2015.