Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia, August 1963) is an English actor of Italian / Austrian parentage. His English name is not a stage name, but one chosen by his Austrian mother when she decided to change his name by deed poll when he was a child, hoping that it would help him to fit in better with his peers.
Strong was born in London, England, and attended Wymondham College in Norfolk, where among other things he was the singer in punk rock bands called The Electrick Hoax and Private Party. His original ambition was to become a lawyer, but after studying for a year at University in Munich, Germany he decided to change his direction in life and returned home to London. There he enrolled in a joint English & Drama degree at Royal Holloway, and later attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He is a familiar face on British television screens and has appeared in a variety of high-profile dramas, including two of the Prime Suspect serials for ITV, as Inspector (later Detective Chief Superintendent) Larry Hall in Prime Suspect 3 (1993) and Prime Suspect 6 (2003). He has also had starring roles in two major BBC Two drama serials, Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Long Firm (2004).
In film, one of Strong's most prominent roles was as Steve in the 1997 adaptation of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, co-starring opposite Colin Firth, and he also features in Roman Polanski's 2005 version of Oliver Twist. He also played Mussawi in the film Syriana, and in 2005 appeared in Revolver, where he played a Mr. Muscle look-a-like assassin. In 2007 he played "Pinbacker" in the science-fiction film Sunshine.
He has enjoyed a highly successful theatre career, in 2003 being nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his role in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse in 2002.
