Eccleston trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made his professional acting debut onstage in a Bristol Old Vic production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". He garnered attention for his film roles as Derek Bentley in "Let Him Have It" (1991) and David Stevens in "Shallow Grave" (1994), and for his television performances in "Cracker" (1993–1994) and "Hillsborough" (1996). His BAFTA Award-nominated performance as Nicky Hutchinson in the BBC miniseries "Our Friends in the North" (1996) established him as a household name in the United Kingdom, and he followed the role with appearances in the films "Jude" (1996), "A Price Above Rubies" (1998), "Elizabeth" (1998), "eXistenZ" (1999), "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000), "The Invisible Circus" (2001), "The Others" (2001), "24 Hour Party People" (2002), and "28 Days Later" (2002), as well as television roles including the drama series "Clocking Off" (2000) and a second BAFTA Award-nominated performance as Stephen Baxter in the ITV drama series "The Second Coming" (2003).