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Thomas George "Tom" Hooper is a British film and television director of English and Australian background. Hooper began making short films at the age of 13, and had his first professional short, Painted Faces, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1992. At Oxford University Hooper directed plays and television commercials. After graduating, he directed episodes of Quayside, Byker Grove, EastEnders and Cold Feet.
Into the 2000s, Hooper directed the major BBC costume dramas Love in a Cold Climate and Daniel Deronda, and was selected to helm the 2003 revival of ITV's Prime Suspect series, starring Helen Mirren. Hooper made his feature film debut with Red Dust, a South African drama starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor, before directing Helen Mirren again in the Company Pictures/HBO Films historical drama Elizabeth I. He continued working for HBO on the television film Longford and in John Adams, a seven-part serial on the life of the American president. Hooper returned to features with The Damned United, a fact-based film about the English football manager Brian Clough. The following year saw the release of the historical drama The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, which was met with critical acclaim. Hooper's next film was Les Misérables, which featured an all-star cast led by Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.
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