Burn Gorman is one of those actors who turns up everywhere, in all the shows and movies, historical or otherwise. I really enjoy his versatility as an actor, playing tortured characters, heartthrobs, villains, and everything in between. So, today we celebrate his historical film career!
Bleak House (2005)
The costumes in this miniseries are amazing, but I am so not a fan of Dickens so I have never managed to work up the excitement to watch it.
Marple: Ordeal by Innocence (2007)
Framed for a murder he did not commit, Miss Marple has to investigate!
The Curse of Steptoe (2008)
A show-within-a-show about the making of classic British sitcom, Steptoe and Son (1965-1970).
Wuthering Heights (2009)
Gorman plays Hindley, Catherine’s shitty brother.
Lark Rise to Candleford: Ep. 4.3 (2011)
Gorman plays Rev. Marley in one episode of this series.
The Hour (2011)
IMDB says this is set in “Cold War England” so I’m just assuming it’s pre-1970.
Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013)
A movie about Jimi Hendrix’s time in England. Gorman plays Michael Jeffrey, Hendrix’s manager.
Walking with the Enemy (2013)
Gorman plays Col. Otto Skorzeny in this WWII film about a Hungarian-Jewish man who masquerades as an SS officer to try to infiltrate the Nazi regime to rescue Jews from the Holocaust.
And Then There Were None (2015)
Another Agatha Christie adaptation about eight people who arrive on an isolated island and then start mysteriously dying one by one.
Crimson Peak (2015)
Gorman plays Holly, the detective sent to investigate the Sharpes.
Turn (2014-2017)
Kendra paid good money out of her own pocket to watch season one and just couldn’t get behind it. But Burn Gorman does play British Army officer Edmund Hewlett.
Jamestown (2017-2019)
We tried to get through this series and couldn’t. All I know is that Gorman plays a bad guy with a secret way further into the show than what we watched.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Burn Gorman plays the assassin sent to dispatch Enola.
What’s your favorite historical costume movie or TV role role played by Burn Gorman? Share it with us in the comments!
I liked him in Bleak House; I think he played William Guppy, a law clerk who is not a bad guy but stirs up speculations about 2 of the characters. He played a really ugly man in And Then There Were None. Wasn’t he in Torchwood as well, but that’s a fantasy show.
If only the word “neckbeard” existed in the 19th century, his name would have been William Neckbeard.
Bleak House is the best! So many eccentric characters. “Shake me up Judy” lol
Bleak House is the only Dickens that does not make me as ill as most of them do. I enjoy the tangled laws and contracted cases regarding inheritance once they hit the chancery court. Also watching the obsession of Richard grow to obscene degree as he becomes increasingly involved in the case. I likes Burn as Guppy, whose character is pretty hysterical, though not intentionally, maybe.
“The Hour” was about a TV show of that name and set in the mid-50s, including the 1956 Suez crisis. It was an excellent series with an impressive cast-list including Romola Garai and Ben Whishaw.
You would love the costumes in Bleak House………watch it with the sound down??
Walking With the Enemy and Bleak House but I am not a fan of Dickens either.
I can’t stand Dickens either but I found this particular production of Bleak House enjoyable. Gillian Anderson helped a lot.
He’s one of those consummate character actors you love to hate. In a recent-ish interview/panel for the fourth season of “The Expanse,” Mr. Gorman gestured self-deprecatingly at himself and said “Arsehole.” Co-star Wes Chatham reports that he’s one of the nicest guys you could meet.
“Turn.” He didn’t have that much to do in Enola Holmes,” and I haven’t seen that much of his other stuff. I used to play Dickens, but I didn’t care that much for his work. Somebody should do a movie of his life, though; he was quite the ladies’ man — but not quite as much as H.G. Wells!
I can’t help but feel a little squicky each time I see him in something. I’m not sure if it’s his build, or something else I can’t identify. He just looks pointy, or ferrety, or I don’t know what. I’ve only seen him in Torchwood, Enola Holmes and The Expanse. In Torchwood, his character Owen was sort of an antihero and he brought a lot of nuance to the role. I can appreciate that.
My favorite of his roles was in Turn.
I know it doesn’t get much love around here but I love Turn and I just really adore him as Major Hewlett. He’s such a complex character.
Ah, the demise of his horse and how he was played so hard by everyone in town. I felt bad for him a bit.
He plays another baddie in a couple of episodes of The Man in the High Castle, set in an alternative 1960s, which stars Rufus Sewell.
Every time I see him in anything, I crow “GUPPY, MY ANGEL.” Hahahaha.
Yes!!!!
He was one of the better charcters in “Turn” with a somehow more believable role.
I loved him in “Turn,” in which he was the most believable British officer throughout most of the show. I forgot he showed up in “Lark Rise” – but then, I was snoozing through the fourth season IIRC.