Danny Boyle - Road to Success, Trivia

Director, born in Bury, Greater Manchester, NW England, UK. He was artistic director of London's Royal Court Theatre Upstairs (1982–7), an experimental venue for new writing, then moved into television directing, where he made his name with Mr Wroe's Virgins, a period drama. His directorial film debut was Shallow Grave (1994), which won a BAFTA award for Best British Film. His next film, Trainspotting (1996), was a critical and box-office success, particularly appealing to younger viewers with its honest depiction of street culture and lively dance soundtrack. More recent films include A Life Less Ordinary (1997), The Beach (2000), and Alien Love Triangle (2000). In all of his films he has worked in close partnership with producer Andrew MacDonald (1966– ) and screenwriter John Hodge (1964– ).

Danny Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is a film director and film producer born in Radcliffe, near Bury, Lancashire, England to Irish Catholic emigrant parents.

He directed the cult films Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002), and Millions (2004).

In 1980, Boyle started working in television as a producer for BBC Northern Ireland, where he produced, amongst other TV films, Alan Clarke's controversial Elephant before becoming a director on shows such as 'Arise And Go Now', 'Not Even God Is Wise Enough', 'For The Greater Good', 'Scout' and episodes of Inspector Morse. He was also responsible for the highly acclaimed BBC2 series, Mr. Wroe's Virgins

Road to Success

He made his feature directorial debut with the film Shallow Grave.

Previously known to work with writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald and actor Ewan McGregor, after the international attention gained by Trainspotting Boyle relocated to Hollywood to seek a production deal with a major US studio. He declined an offer to direct the fourth film of the Alien franchise, instead making A Life Less Ordinary using British finance.

Boyle's next project was an adaptation of the cult novel The Beach. He then collaborated with author Alex Garland on the post-apocalyptic zombie film 28 Days Later.

In between the two theatrical productions of The Beach and 28 Days Later, Boyle directed two TV movies for the BBC in 2001 - Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise and Strumpet. He also directed a short film Alien Love Triangle starring Kenneth Branagh that was meant to be part of a feature film with two other shorts but the project was cancelled after the two other shorts were made into feature films.

In 2004, Boyle returned to moviemaking when he directed theFrank Cottrell Boyce scripted Millions. He is currently working on Sunshine, a science-fiction film starring 28 Days Later star Cillian Murphy.

Trivia

At one point Boyle seriously contemplated the priesthood and attended religious school as a teenager.