A prolific character actor in his native Britain, Eddie Marsan specialized in challenging and suggestive roles, in slightly tough and edgy projects that habitually took usefulness of his unique, immediately identifiable countenance. After debuting as a shred competitor and guest star in English tube series including Mishap, Encounter On, and The Tally, Marsan took one-liner of his premier big-screen bows in Michael Radford's crime thriller B. Monkey (1998), then effectively played one ... of Tammany Hall's minions opposite Daniel Time-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's stretch crime epic Gangs of Altered York (2002).

On a much discrete note, Marsan subsequently teamed up with English basis c??l??bre director Mike Leigh in the abortion-themed character study Vera Drake (2004) -- in which the actor ushered in a partly improvised portrayal of a kindly low road worker who romances the title character's daughter. Drake brought Marsan an upsurge of attention, and thereafter, assignments rolled in quickly and furiously from both sides of the Atlantic. These included supporting roles in Isabel Coixet's mild, atmospheric drama The Secret Zing of Words, Neil Burger's period uncanny theatrics The Illusionist, and the mega-budgeted action spectacular Undertaking: Unsolvable III. 2008 marked a busy period benefit of Marsan; that year, he both tackled a supporting in support of participate in opposite Will Smith and Charlize Theron in the superhero comedy Hancock, and -- on a much-anticipated note -- re-teamed with Mike Leigh for a outstanding duty as an angsty dominie in the slice-of-life comedy Happy-Chatter-Propitious.