Kamarás was born and raised in Pécs, Hungary.[7] His mother, Teodóra Uhrik, and his stepfather, Pál Lovas, were both ballet dancers, and much of his childhood was spent in theatres.[8] When he was seven, the family acquired a recording of the 1980 BBC production of Hamlet starring Derek Jacobi as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius. Kamarás fell in love with the role of Hamlet and within two or three years had learned Hamlet's monologues from the play by heart. He was in elementary school when he became a regular member of an amateur acting company and by the time he was in high school he played his first serious role in a performance of the Pecs Chamber Theater.[9] From 1991 to 1995, he studied at the Academy of Theatre and Film in Budapest.[7]
HAfter gaining experience with major theatrical companies and alternative theater groups, he emerged as one of Hungary's prominent actors. Despite continuing stage performances at various theaters until 2009, a growing passion for film led him to shift his focus. Seeking international exposure, he decided to relocate to the United States. Initially delving into directing, he later enrolled in filmmaking and acting courses, honing his skills for several years.[10] Drawing from his combined Hungarian and American education and practical experience, he now imparts his knowledge by teaching acting classes at the inaugural accredited Hungarian school dedicated to training movie actors, which opened its doors to students in the fall of 2012.[10][11]
His hobbies include sports and fitness training. He likes to promote charitable causes. Since 2014 he has been an Ambassador for the "Keznyom" campaign of SOS Children's Villages in Hungary.[12][13][14]
He has also played Julien Sorel in an adaptation of The Red and the Black by Stendhal for Gyor National Theatre (1995),[22] Brick in Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2000) for the Pest Theatre, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra (2002) for the Pest Theatre, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart (2006) for the Pest Theatre,[23] Christian in Festen for the Pest Theatre (2006), Jamie in Jason Robert Brown’s one-act musical two-hander The Last Five Years for the Palace of the Arts (2007), a role he debuted in Hungary,[24] and Ruy Blas in the Szeged National Theatre production of Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas (2009).
Film
Photographed by Anna Kirschner in 2011
Aside from his role as Agent Steel in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Kamarás has had an extensive career in Hungarian cinema. Notable roles have included the hit bedroom farce Out of Order (1997),[25] in which he played a jealous boxer in pursuit of his errant girlfriend and her politician lover, the thriller Európa expressz (1999), in which he played Jimmy, a man who becomes caught up in events when the train he is in is hijacked by a Russian mafia boss, and more recently the cult comedy GlassTiger 3 (2010),[26] in which he played Ferenc Csopkai, a rich lawyer who pursues the bumbling heroes after they steal his car and with it a huge sum in cash. In 2013 Kamarás starred in the film Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz.
Television
In addition to Silent Witness – in which his character, detective Tibor Orban, helped to uncover a baby-farming racket in Budapest while trying to track down series regular, forensic pathologist Dr Harry Cunningham[27] – Kamarás has played Pipin, the son of Charlemagne, in the miniseries Charlemagne (1993); Louis II, King of Hungary, in the costume drama Mohacs (1995); Ivan, a man who becomes obsessed on his wedding day with his newly met twin sister in Alice and the Seven Wolves (2009);[28] and the machiavellian nightclub owner and antihero Evil in the 10-part drama First Generation (2001).[28] He was also the creative force behind Mobile Poem, a series of poetry readings done by notable Hungarian actors and filmed on mobile phone, which screened on the Hungarian TV channel MTV1 in 2009.[29] In January 2011, he played a Hungarian detective, Tibor Orban, in Bloodlines, the fourth episode in the 14th series of the BBC crime drama Silent Witness.[30] In 2014 he played the role of Rasputin in the two-part History Channel miniseries Houdini.[31]
Music
He has released two solo pop albums – Bombajó (2000),[32] and Revelation (2005)[33] – and been a contributor to two others, So We Sing (2003) and Actor Songs (2009).
Directing
Kamarás has shot an experimental film on his mobile phone, Sigh,[34] which was inspired by the Yukio Mishima drama Aoi no Ue and which screened at the Hungarian Film Festival in 2005 and the Moziünnep film festival in 2006.[35] He undertook a course in directing at UCLA in 2009 and in the same year directed a production of Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin at Keszthely Castle, Hungary.[36]
Awards
Szinikritikusok critics’ award (1996) for Othello,[37]
^www,baranyanet.huArchived 3 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine "Many times, we took him with us to rehearsals": Interview with Pál Lovas, baranyanet.hu. Accessed 20 February 2011.
^www.origo.hu Interview with Kamaras on 17 June 2005. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^ abWebpage of "Go to Casting!" Film Acting School Tanárok (Teachers) (Accessed 14 April 2015)
^www.szinhaz.net/pdf/1996_04.pdfArchived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine "Bérczes László: A Gyermek Halála: Othello: Kamaras Ivan". Review of Othello in the Hungarian theatre newspaper szinhaz.net. Accessed 20 February 2011. Also, www.criticailapok.hu, obituary and retrospective of the work of the director, Jozsef Ruszt. Accessed 24 February 2011. Also, www.youtube.com, full performance of Othello on YouTube.
^A listing of theatre roles undertaken by Kamaras and verified by the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute can be found at www.ivankamaras.com and also at hu.wikipedia.org. Accessed 18 February 2011.
^www.origo.hu Kamaras Ivan: "Nem bántam meg semmit": Interview with Kamaras on 17 June 2005 which refers to The Seagull. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^www.terasz.hu "Magnified shadow", by Andrea Stuber, interview with Kamaras in which he discusses playing Stanley, Brick, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra and Othello. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^velvet.hu "Kamaras Ivan szerelmes a motorjába": interview with Kamaras which refers to his role in A Moon for the Misbegotten, 18 May 2004. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^https://cosmopolitan.hu/ "Shakespeare: Sok hűhó semmiért", article in Cosmopolitan about Much Ado About Nothing in 14 February 2008. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^Kurir, 28 November 1995, "Tombszoroset adja": interview with Kamaras in Hungarian newspaper Kurir. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^www.kontextus.hu Cast list for Mary Stuart. Accessed 24 February 2011.
^www.xpatloop.com/news "Unconventional Musical on Palace of Arts Programme." Accessed 21 February 2011.
^The opening 12 minutes of Sigh can be viewed here. Accessed 26 April 2011.
^www.mancs.hu "Nincs megörökítve a munkánk" - Interview with Kamarás about Sigh in Magyar Narancs online 23 August 2007. Accessed 24 February 2011, and "Kamaras Ivan szokatlan kísérlete" at terminal.hu, interview with Kamaras on 10 August 2007. Accessed on 24 February 2011.
^http://www.storyonline.hu/hircikk/kamaras/2240/ "Kamaras Ivan kerüli a pszichológust": interview with Kamarás on 14 July 2007 in which he discusses some of his awards. A listing of his awards is also available at hu:Kamarás Iván, Accessed 24 February 2011.
