Bob Peck makes self-control look like hard work, and quiet men worth watching closely. We recommend starting with Edge of Darkness, where his restraint makes a complicated thriller painfully personal without making it any easier to follow.
Fi1m perspective
In Edge of Darkness (1985), Bob Peck makes Ronald Craven's composure look difficult to maintain. We found his effort to stay composed painful to watch, because Peck never lets calmness look comfortable. He gives us someone to worry about before we have grasped every complication in Troy Kennedy Martin's writing. The performance is a compelling reason to stay with all six episodes, including the passages where the writing becomes needlessly obscure.
The filmed Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982) gave him John Browdie and Sir Mulberry Hawk to play. It was Edge of Darkness that brought him national recognition and made his quiet authority familiar. His later film work included the taciturn Amos Jones in On the Black Hill (1987). As game warden Robert Muldoon in Jurassic Park (1993), he reached a wider international audience in a supporting part.
In Edge of Darkness, Martin Campbell gives Peck time, and cinematographer Andrew Dunn is alert to the unease he creates. Editors Ardan Fisher and Dan Rae allow the drama a patient rhythm rather than hurrying towards the next answer. Graeme Thomson's production design keeps the surroundings from competing with the people, while the music by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen gives the anxiety a sadness that suits Craven. This is careful work around a performance, with little temptation to draw attention away from it.
The reservation is that a part built around dependable authority can leave an actor with too little else to do. Peck's supporting film work sometimes used him less fully than television or the stage, and Jurassic Park should not be taken as the whole measure of him. Nor does his presence make the obscurities of Edge of Darkness any less frustrating. Start with that series, but allow it time: the patient pace gives us a chance to notice what he is doing.
Biography
Bob Peck (also credited as Robert Peck) was an English actor. He was born in Leeds on 23 August 1945 and died in Kingston upon Thames on 4 April 1999.
Peck trained at Leeds College of Art and began his career in theatre. He spent nine years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared with the National Theatre. He received three Laurence Olivier Award nominations.
He became widely known for his performance as Ronald Craven in the BBC series Edge of Darkness (1985), for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. His film roles include the gamekeeper Robert Muldoon in Jurassic Park (1993). Other credits include Lord of the Flies (1990) and voice work in The Miracle Maker (2000). He was married to actress Jill Baker.
