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.
Ian Whyte
Archbishop Becket (historical)
for Archbishop Becket (historical) in The Canterbury Rose
Suggested by mr95
Set in 12th-century England during the turbulent reign of Henry II — the Plantagenet king whose conflict with Thomas Becket is reshaping the relationship between crown and church — The Canterbury Rose follows Edmund de Vere, 27, a Black man raised by the powerful Norman family of Vere, one of the most influential noble houses of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy. Edmund is entirely of the Anglo-Norman world: he speaks Norman French and English, has been educated in the ecclesiastical tradition, and has chosen a career in the emerging royal legal system rather than the sword-path his family expected. When Henry II begins his great legal reforms — the Assize of Clarendon — Edmund is among the young lawyers and scholars implementing the new royal justice in circuit courts. He is also betrothed to Mathilde de Clare, a noblewoman of the powerful Clare family, in a marriage that is political, mutually respectful, and gradually becomes the series' central love story as two people who chose their own paths discover that the paths converge. Episode 1 — The Circuit Edmund on the royal justice circuit in the English countryside, administering the new Assize of Clarendon. The marriage arrangement arrives by messenger. He reads it on horseback. Episode 5 — The Library at Clare Edmund and Mathilde reading the same legal text together without having planned to. The scene in which they realize they are the same kind of mind. Episode 10 — The Canterbury Road Series finale: The Becket crisis comes to a head. Edmund and Mathilde make a legal and moral choice that costs them their proximity to royal favor and earns something more valuable.
