Biography
Though a theater director by study and trade, Rupert Goold didn't find it too difficult to jump media and make a name for himself in the realm of cinema. Following a decade and a half of leading high-profile stage productions, Goold launched his first big screen film: the star-laden dramatic piece "True Story" (2015), featuring James Franco and Jonah Hill. Goold's long career bringing glory to the various theater houses of the United Kingdom might not have been outshined by his film debut, but it may well have been rivaled. Rupert Goold was born on February 18, 1972, in Highgate, England, where he was raised by his management consultant father and children's book author mother. After graduating from Trinity College, a constituent of the University of Cambridge, in 1994 with a degree in English literature, Goold traveled to the United States and enrolled at New York University on a Fulbright Scholarship. Goold studied the performance arts at NYU, starting his career as a director of the theater. Goold moved back to the United Kingdom and began directing at the Donmar Warehouse in 1995 and the Salisbury Playhouse in 1996. In 1998, Goold met and directed Kate Fleetwood in a production of "Romeo and Juliet." The pair later married and had two children, Raphael and Constance. Goold went on to direct at the Royal and Derngate Theatres in Northampton between 2000 and 2006. After his tenure at Derngate, Goold went on to direct major productions such as "Macbeth" in 2007, "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" in 2008, and "King Lear" in 2009. In 2010, Goold became an associate director for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Around this time, Goold took up an interest in screen directing. In 2010, he brought a production of "Macbeth" to television via the series "Great Performances" (PBS 1971-). He followed this up by writing and directing an adaptation of "Richard II" for an episode of the miniseries "The Hollow Crown" (BBC Two 2012). Goold made his feature debut writing and directing "True Story" (2015), starring James Franco as real life murderer Christian Longo and Jonah Hill as New York Times journalist Michael Finkel. The movie premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
