DOMINIC COOPER (Sky) is quickly emerging as one of the most exciting talents

DOMINIC COOPER (Sky) is quickly emerging as one of the most exciting talents in the industry. He is best known for his lauded performance as Dakin in the critically acclaimed play The History Boys, which garnered him both Drama Desk and Evening Standard award nominations. After reprising the role in the highly praised film adaptation, Cooper was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award by the British Independent Film Awards and Best Supporting Actor by the London Film Critics’ Circle and was named one of Rolling Stone’s Breakout Performances for 2006.

Upon completion of his professional training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Cooper landed a role in Mother Clap’s Molly House at the prestigious National Theatre under resident director Nicholas Hytner. Subsequently, he starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, before rejoining Hytner at the National Theatre for His Dark Materials and The History Boys. Winner of three Olivier Awards including Best New Play, The History Boys tells the story of a group of British students and their professors as they prepare for life and the pursuit of higher learning. Written by Alan Bennett, The History Boys was made into a Fox Searchlight film, and the stage production toured Japan and New Zealand before landing on Broadway in 2006, where it was the recipient of six Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Cooper will be seen next in The Duchess, a film based on Amanda Foreman’s biography of scandalous 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Directed by Saul Dibb, the film co-stars Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. The Paramount Vantage production is scheduled to be released in September 2008.

Cooper also stars as James Lacey, a young, inexperienced con, in The Escapist, directed by Rupert Wyatt. Co-starring Brian Cox and Joseph Fiennes, the dramatic prison-escape thriller recently had its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. THINKFilm is planning a fall 2008 release.

Most recently, Cooper completed filming a role in An Education, co-starring Emma Thompson, Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina. The independent feature, directed by Lone Scherfig and written by famed author Nick Hornby, follows a 16-year-old’s coming of age in 1960s London as she begins a relationship with a 30-year-old playboy.

Additionally, Cooper has completed filming Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, a screen adaptation of the best-selling David Foster Wallace short stories. Directed and adapted by John Krasinski, the film is currently in postproduction.

Cooper’s other feature film credits include roles in the recent Tom Hanks-produced film Starter for 10, an adaptation by David Nicholls from his novel of the same name, which also premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival; Boudica; I’ll Be There; Neil Jordan’s The Good Thief; and the Hughes brothers’ From Hell.

Cooper was last seen as the dashing and handsome Willoughby in the acclaimed BBC production of “Sense and Sensibility.” Based on the beloved Jane Austen novel, the two-part television miniseries, directed by John Alexander and adapted by Andrew Davies, recently aired as part of PBS’ acclaimed Masterpiece series.

Later this year, Cooper will be seen opposite Sir Anthony Sher, Rupert Graves and Stephen Dillane in God on Trial, a BBC Two production airing in the fall. The 90-minute television film tells the story of a group of Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp, who question their faith and put God on trial for breaking his covenant to care for and protect them.

Cooper’s additional television credits include a series regular role on BBC’s Down to Earth, Sparkling Cyanide, BBC’s The Gentleman Thief, Hallmark’s Davison’s Eyes and Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed Band of Brothers.

Cooper currently resides in London.