Steven Swadling was born on May 7, 1969, in Shoreham-by-Sea, England, to Christine Elizabeth (Parmiter) and Michael Barry Swadling, an electrician and has one older sibling. Heavily influenced by Richard Burton, he was steadfast to pursue an acting career at a very early age and performed on stage whenever the opportunity arose. He joined the Connaught theatre group in 1983 and wrote a stage musical production that was later entered in to the Chichester festival. He visited Orange County just outside of LA in 1985 to study martial arts for 6 weeks then returned to England with a plan. In 1987 that plan came to fruition and Steven returned to the US and earned his Black Belt in Karate. He trained hard and learned fight coordination as his segue into film. He studied at the Van Mar Academy of Motion picture and has also studied at Sanford Meisner's PlayhouseWest, founded by Robert Carnegie and Jeff Goldblum. In late 1996, Steven decided to step away from the industry to raise a family and also build a foundation for his businesses. His entrepreneurial abilities helped him form a full-service advertising agency, a children's book publishing company, a film production company, Room In The Sky Films. After establishing his place back in the industry, Steven's breakthrough moment came with Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016) starring former world champion Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Alain Moussi Gina Carano and world renowned, Jean-Claude Van Damme Steven was a fundamental component for the franchise reboot of the Kickboxer (1989) classic, and served not only as an executive producer but also the role of Joseph King. Steven went on to also executive produce the second installment of the trilogy Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018) again starring Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme with the additions of Christopher Lambert Mike Tyson and several other world champions in the sporting world including Ronaldinho Gaúcho acting debut. He also reprises his role as Joseph King. In 2016 Steven executive produced and played Detective Fripp in Point Defiance (2018) and immediately followed it up with Waterlily Jaguar (2018) directed by Melora Walters and shares the executive producing card with Paul Thomas Anderson the film stars James Le Gros Academy Award Winner Mira Sorvino and Dominic Monaghan Stacey Oristano and Christopher Backus Steven also plays Bill's (Dominic's character) business partner, Peter in the film. Other recent films include Doe (2018) where Steven portrays a crooked retired prison warden hiding from his past. He plays a suspicious ranger in The Clearing (2020) starring with Liam McIntyre and Sydelle Noel and goes on to sidekick with Ewen Bremner in the upcoming release Freedom's Path (2022). It seems a bad guy pattern is starting to be drawn as he is slated to team up alongside Orlando Jones in Dark Forces.
Read moreShow less
Biography from IMDb.
- May 7, 1969 (57)
- Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, UK
- Actor and producer
- 10 on MovieCove · 12 credits in all
What are Steven Swadling's films like?
Across their 10 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 9
Light 2 · Serious 5 · Dark 3
Grounded 8 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 6 · Intense 4
Steady 3 · Shifting 6 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 3 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 2
Resolved 9 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Steven Swadling's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 10 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (6).
Subscription and free streaming for Steven Swadling's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
12 credits, 10 with a MovieCove page.
Freedom's Path(2022)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Big Gold Brick(2022)
Midcredits score: 2nd percentile of all films
The Clearing(2020)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
Jiu Jitsu(2020)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
We Still Say Grace(2020)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Drowning(2019)
Midcredits score: 5th percentile of all films
Point Defiance (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Doe(2018)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
Waterlily Jaguar(2018)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Kickboxer: Retaliation(2018)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Kickboxer: Vengeance(2016)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Kickboxer: Armageddon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 70th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 9 titles, 8 of them dated from 2016 to 2023; peak year 2019.
Biggest box office
Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)
Highest rated
Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)
Most popular right now
Jiu Jitsu (2020)
Film career
Peak 2019 · at the high point of their film career. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2016Screen debut· Kickboxer: Vengeance
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Steven Swadling's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 11th percentile, the median of all 10; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 15th percentile for acclaim.
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th8
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 10 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Panned1
- Mixed9
Reviewers score the acting 54/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles; fans 73, detractors 29. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Steven Swadling's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Steven Swadling work with?
People who share at least 2 of Steven Swadling's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Mark Sayre shares the most, 4.
Directors
- Dimitri LogothetisShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Dimitri Logothetis
- Melora WaltersShared titles: Drowning (2019), Waterlily Jaguar (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Melora Walters
Writers
- Jim McGrathShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Jim McGrath
- Jean-Claude Van DammeShared titles: Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Mark DiSalleShared titles: Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Mark DiSalle
Actors
- Alain MoussiShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Alain Moussi
- Mira SorvinoShared titles: Drowning (2019), Doe (2018), Waterlily Jaguar (2018)See all 3 shared titles with Mira Sorvino
- Christopher BackusShared titles: Drowning (2019), Waterlily Jaguar (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Christopher Backus
- Sam MedinaShared titles: Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Sam Medina
Composers and editors
- Adam DornShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Adam Dorn
- Mel EliasShared titles: The Clearing (2020), We Still Say Grace (2020), Doe (2018)See all 3 shared titles with Mel Elias
- Mark SayreShared titles: The Clearing (2020), We Still Say Grace (2020), Doe (2018), Waterlily Jaguar (2018)See all 4 shared titles with Mark Sayre
- Daniel McDonaldShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Daniel McDonald
Producers
- Jonathan Jay PiumelliShared titles: The Clearing (2020), We Still Say Grace (2020), Doe (2018), Waterlily Jaguar (2018)See all 4 shared titles with Jonathan Jay Piumelli
- Larry NealyShared titles: Doe (2018), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Waterlily Jaguar (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 4 shared titles with Larry Nealy
- Gary WoodShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Gary Wood
- Scott PutmanShared titles: Jiu Jitsu (2020), Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Scott Putman
Mixed roles
- Justin FoiaShared titles: Doe (2018), Waterlily Jaguar (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Justin Foia