Age: 54
male
Born in Bangor, North Wales and raised in Brighton, on the South coast of England, Ian Whyte was 7'1" tall by the time he was 17 years old. Ian always stood out from the crowd. Tall, slim and athletic, little did he know of his future career in the limelight. Ian discovered basketball in his teens, and quickly caught the attention of national team scouts who saw his physical attributes and determination as valuable assets. He quickly progressed to the junior national team ranks, but uninspired by school at the time, Ian was keen to escape at the earliest possible opportunity. He spent a year at Henry Hudson High School in New Jersey, where he again attracted the attention of basketball scouts, earning sports scholarships to Iona College in New York and Clarion University in Pennsylvania. Ian returned to England in 1994 to play for the London Towers, a new franchise owned by the music promoter Barry Marshall. Still eager to find himself Ian only stayed a season with the Towers, transferring to their crosstown rivals, The London Leopards, but again, only for one season. in 1995, Europe freely opened its doors to sportsmen and women from across the continent. Ian played for teams right across Europe. In France, Belgium, Greece and Portugal, where he won the domestic treble; League, cup and playoff championships with F.C. Porto in 1997 and went to the ¼ finals of the European cup. Ian returned to England soon after to play for the Newcastle Eagles, a place that would become his home until his retirement from the game in 2003. Throughout his career Ian tirelessly distinguished himself, representing his country 80 times. In 2003 Ian received a phone call that would change the whole course of his life. By his own admission he was keen to retire from basketball on his terms rather than through injury or old age, so he responded to a casting call for the new film Alien Vs Predator. His success in gaining the role is a matter of history, but personally it was a tremendous victory for him to finally find an outlet for his emotional creativity. Ian was fortunate to work alongside such luminaries as the Oscar winning special effects duo of Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr as well as Oscar winning VFX supervisor John Bruno. He also met soon to be double Oscar winning makeup effects artist Mark Coulier who encouraged him to get in touch with Nick Dudman, the creature effects supervisor for the Harry Potter franchise. Upon completion of filming on AVP Ian travelled back to England and straight into the world of Harry Potter. Not credited as an actor this time, Ian was hired to help bring to life the character of Madame Maxime played by the sublime Francis De La Tour. Ian worked full time for an entire year on the film, faithfully doubling The character who stood a glorious 8'6" tall.
In 1607 England, a ship carrying British settlers sails for North America on behalf of the Virginia Company in search of gold and other material riches. Among those on board are Captain John Smith and Governor Ratcliffe. A storm erupts, and Smith saves the life of an inexperienced young settler named Thomas when he falls overboard, befriending him in the process serving as his big brother figure. In the "New World", Pocahontas is on top of the waterfall where she can dive into the lake to swim and then get on to Nakoma's canoe. She learns to her dismay that her father thinks she should marry Kocoum, one of his finest warriors. But though he is handsome and a fine warrior, Pocahontas does not love him, feeling he is far too serious. This is emphasized by a scene showing several children trying to play with him, while he stalwartly ignores them. She asks the advice from the talking tree spirit named Grandmother Willow. Grandmother Willow tells Pocahontas to listen with her heart and she may understand.
