Julian Sands

Julian Richard Morley Sands (born 4 January 1958) is an English actor known for his roles in films such as The Killing Fields, A Room with a View, Warlock, Arachnophobia, and Vatel. On television, he is known for playing Vladimir Bierko in 24, and Jor-El in Smallville.

Career

Julian Sands began his film career appearing in supporting roles in films, including Oxford Blues (1984) and The Killing Fields (1984). He was cast as the romantic lead in the 1985 film A Room with a View. In 1985, following the success of A Room with a View and Ken Russell's Gothic (1986) Sands decided to move to Hollywood and pursue a career in American films. He appeared in several of them—both lower-tier and higher-budget.

He played the title role in the horror film Warlock (1989) and its sequel, Warlock: The Armageddon (1993), the role of Franz Liszt in Impromptu (1991), the role of Yves Cloquet in Naked Lunch (1991), and prominent roles in Arachnophobia (1990), Boxing Helena (1993) and Leaving Las Vegas (1995). He played "Erik, aka the Phantom" in the 1998 horror-film version of The Phantom of the Opera. He starred opposite Jackie Chan in the action-comedy film The Medallion (2003). And he played Lord Olivier in BBC Four's In Praise of Hardcore (2005), a drama about the critic and impresario Kenneth Tynan.