Filmmaker Noel Clarke Accused of Being Serial Sexual Predator

Noel Anthony Clarke was born to Gemma (née Clarke) and Alphaeus Baptiste “Alf” Clarke on born 6 December 1975.Though his parents were divorced soon after his birth, however, he was brought up by his mother who still lives at council estate in Ladbroke Grove. He completed his education in media from University of North London. He has also taken classes at London’s Actors Centre and formerly worked as a personal trainer. 

Clarke’s career 

Noel Clark though first appeared in TV serials and short films before appearing on big screen of films, however, he did not let his career to develop in film industry. He continued his appearance on several television serials as well as in short films. However, he has a very limited experience in theater where he appeared in “Where Do We Live” in 2003. Besides this, Noel Clarke’s career in short films is limited to “Native” (1999), “Take 2” (1999), “The Last Angel” (2002), “Licks” (2002, written and produced), “Plastic” (2006), “Reign of Death” (2009), “What If” (2012), and “My Butterfly” (2018). 

Noel Clark first appeared in “Metro Sexuality” in 1999 followed by his appearances in several television series such as “The Bill” (2000), “Judge John Deed” (2001), “Waking the dead” (2001), “Casualty” (2001),
“Auf Wiedersehen, Pet” (2002-2004), “Adventure Inc.,” (2003), “A Touch of Frost” (2004). At the same time he entered film industry as a beginner but continued working on television series. He mainly raised his prominence in media industry for playing role as Mickey Smith in Doctor (2005-2010). He also played role in the TV series “Bulletproof” (2018-present) as Aaron Bishop, a TV series which is also written and produced by Noel Clarke. He has also worked in “Tardisodes” (2006), “Jane Hall” (2006), “Duplicate Drama” (2007), “West 10 LDN” (2008), “What If” (2012), “The Assets” (2014), “Chasing Shadows” (2014), “The Throwaways” (2015), “The Level” (2016), “Urban Myths” (2017), “What Do You Think You Are” (2017), “Inside No. 9” (2018), “The Adventures of Paddington” (2020) and “Viewpoint” (2021). 

Regarding his career in films,he started with “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” in 2003. However,he was more recognized for his appearance in films as Sam in Brotherhood (2016), Adulthood (2008) and Kidulthood (2006) which were written and directed by himself. He also appeared in “Doghouse” (2009), “Heartless” (2009), “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” (2010), “Centurion” (2010), “4.3.2.1” (2010), “Huge” (2010), and “Screwed” (2011). He also wrote and appeared in “The Knot” (2012), “Fast Girls” (2012), and “Storage 24” (2012). He also acted in “Star Trek into Darkness” (2013), “Saving Santa” (2013), “I am Soldier” (2014), “The Anomaly” (2014), “The Throwaways” (2015), “The Habit of Beauty” (2016), “I Kill Giants” (2017), “Mute” (2018), “10 X 10” (also written and produced in 2018), “Songbird” (2018), “Fisherman’s Friends (2019), “The Corrupted” (2019), “Bulletproof: The Interrogation” (2020), “Twist” (2021, produced) and “SAS: Red Notice” (2021). 

Clarke has won several awards since his early career when in 2003 he won the “Laurence Olivier Award” for “Most Promising Performer”.  He has also won award for Best Screenplay for Kidulthood at Dinard British Film Festival. Subsequently, in 2009 he won the “BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award” in 2021 he won “BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award”. In 2014, he has also won “Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Audience Award” for “The Anomaly”. Moreover, his work on Brotherhood led him to receive two more awards in 2017, i.e., “National Film Awards UK for Action” and “Screen Nation Film and Television Award for Achievement in Film Production”. Though being an award winning actor, director, performer, Noel Clarke was suspended on 29 April 2021 due to allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Sexual accusation and police investigation

A recent case for sexual accusation against Noel Clarke was identified when on 29^th April 2021, allegations by 20 women was published by The Guardian. The women reported professional misconduct, sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior, bullying, comments on set/ verbal abuse, and capturing and sharing nude and sexually explicit videos and pictures without their consent by Clarke between 2004 and 2019. The interrogation by The Guardian to 26 people including those 20 women, one of them revealed that Noel filmed nude audition without her consent and disclosed it to his producer and co-worker. The same producer accuses Noel Clark of exposing his genitals to that women in back of a car and next day he groped her in a lift. Another actress, Jing Lusi, co-actress in film “SAS: Red Notice” also claimed that Clarke had threatened and sexually propositioned her. Moreover, few more women alleged that Noel had pressured them to act on nude sex scenes and got angry when they had refused. In addition to this, one of the actor said that he made advances on her and regularly asked her if she “wanted a piece of his dark chocolate”. Moreover, the actor explained that upon rejection of his advances, Clarke had badmouthed her to other people in the media/ film industry. Likewise, another women accused Clarke for behaving inappropriately with the actor at an external function in May 2016 relating to his role in Doctor. 

In response to the allegations, Clarke said in a statement that, “In a 20-year career, I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and never had a complaint made against me. If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespected, I sincerely apologise. I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing and intend to defend myself against these false allegations”. Noel Clarke denied all allegations for criminal wrong doings and any sexual misconduct. However, he held one allegation true that Clarke had repetitively made remarks on an employee’s buttocks (Helen Atherton, an art director on Brotherhood). Noel apologized to her with a remark that he was looking for a way “to change for the better”. 

Though, the allegations were filed and reported to police on 21 April 2021 by third party for Clarke’s sexual offences; however, by May 1^st 2021 the police said that there was no current investigation to deal with the case and nothing has been proved against him. Nevertheless, in response to the claims against Noel Clarke, BAFTA had suspended his membership and his contribution to cinema award. Moreover, his final episode of Viewpoint was also not broadcasted and his global distribution of series was also adjourned after the announcement made by ITV. Sky and others in industry entertainment including All3Media announced that Clarke would not be represented in future or involved in any production. 

Author: Linda .R. Jones

London, UK

lindarj83@gmail.com