Benedict Cumberbatch
Encyclopedia
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking
in the BBC drama Hawking (2004); William Pitt
in the historical film Amazing Grace
(2006); the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy
(2008); Paul Marshall in Atonement
(2007); Bernard in Small Island
(2009); and Sherlock Holmes
in the modern BBC adaptation series Sherlock (2010). He will also portray Smaug
the Dragon through motion capture and voice the Necromancer in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
(birth name Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch) and Wanda Ventham
.
Cumberbatch was educated at two independent schools, Brambletye School
in West Sussex
and Harrow School
in northwest London, where he began performing as an actor. After school, he took a gap year
to teach English in a Tibet
an monastery. He then attended the University of Manchester
, where he studied drama. After graduating, Cumberbatch continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
.
, Almeida Theatre
, Royal Court Theatre
, and the National Theatre
. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his performance as Tesman in Hedda Gabler
, a role he performed at the Almeida Theatre on 16 March 2005, as well as at the Duke of York's Theatre
when it transferred to the West End
on 19 May 2005.
Cumberbatch acted in The Children’s Monologues, a star-studded theatrical event at London's Old Vic Theatre on 14 November 2010. The show was produced by Dramatic Need
. In February 2011, he began playing, on alternate nights, both Dr Frankenstein and his creature, opposite Jonny Lee Miller
, in the stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
at the National Theatre
. Frankenstein was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live
in March 2011. Both The Children’s Monologues and Frankenstein are directed by Danny Boyle
.
(2002), Edward Hand in Cambridge Spies
(2003), and Rory in the ITV
comedy drama series Fortysomething
(2003). He was also featured in Spooks
and Silent Witness
.
In 2004, he starred as Stephen Hawking
in Hawking. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor
and won the Golden Nymph for Television Films – Best Performance by an Actor
. (He later provided Hawking's voice in the first episode of the Curiosity
television series.) He also appeared in the BBC miniseries Dunkirk
as Lieutenant Jimmy Langley.
In 2005, Cumberbatch starred as the protagonist Edmund Talbot in the miniseries To The Ends of the Earth
, based on William Golding
's trilogy. Director David Attwood
said:
Producer Lynn Horsford added:
He also made brief appearances in the comedy sketch show Broken News
in 2005.
Cumberbatch next starred alongside Tom Hardy
in the television adaptation of the book Stuart: A Life Backwards
, which aired on the BBC in September 2007. In 2008, he starred in the BBC miniseries drama The Last Enemy
, for which he was nominated for a Satellite Award
for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film.
In 2009, Cumberbatch starred in Marple: Murder Is Easy
as Luke Fitzwilliam. He played Bernard in the TV adaptation of Small Island
; the performance earned him a nomination for BAFTA Television Award
for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred in Michael Dobbs' play Turning Point which aired as one of a series of TV plays broadcast live on Sky Arts channel. The two-hander
depicted a little-known October 1938 meeting between Soviet spy Guy Burgess
, then a young man working for the BBC, and Winston Churchill
. Cumberbatch portrayed Burgess; Churchill was played by Matthew Marsh
, who had played a supporting role in Hawking.
Cumberbatch narrated the 6-part series South Pacific
(U.S. title: Wild Pacific), which aired May to June 2009 on BBC 2.
Cumberbatch, a fan of long-running British science fiction
show Doctor Who
, suggested in a July 2010 interview that he would be interested in appearing as a main or recurring character on the show, run by Sherlock producer and personal friend Steven Moffat
. In 2008 he had discussed with David Tennant
taking over the part of The Doctor but had decided not to try for the role.
In 2010, Cumberbatch portrayed Vincent van Gogh
in Van Gogh: Painted with Words. The Telegraph
called his performance "[a] treat ... vividly bringing Van Gogh to impassioned, blue-eyed life." Also in 2010, Cumberbatch began playing Sherlock Holmes
in the first series of the BBC
television programme Sherlock, to critical acclaim.
in Amazing Grace
. The film is the story of William Wilberforce
's intense and lengthy political fight in the late 18th century to eliminate slave trade in the British Empire
. Pitt was Wilberforce's closest friend and staunchest political ally, and became Prime Minister at an early age. The role garnered Cumberbatch a nomination for the London Film Critics Circle
British Breakthrough Acting Award.
Cumberbatch subsequently appeared in major roles in Atonement
(2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). In 2009, he appeared in the Darwin
bio-pic Creation
as Darwin's friend Joseph Hooker
. In 2010, he appeared in The Whistleblower
.
He plays Peter Guillam
in the 2011 adaptation of the John le Carré
novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
, directed by Tomas Alfredson
, also starring Gary Oldman
, Colin Firth
and Tom Hardy
.
He is scheduled to appear in Steven Spielberg
's War Horse
(2011) and will also portray Smaug
the Dragon through motion capture and voice the Necromancer in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 2012 and 2013.
broadcast an adaptation of John Mortimer
's novel Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders
. Cumberbatch played the "young Rumpole", and Timothy West
took the part of the "old Rumpole". Cumberbatch plays Capt Martin Crieff in the BBC's Cabin Pressure
.
, whom he met at university, for over 12 years. They broke up in 2010.
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
in the BBC drama Hawking (2004); William Pitt
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
in the historical film Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace (2006 film)
Amazing Grace is a 2006 U.S.–UK co-production film, directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn...
(2006); the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy
The Last Enemy (TV series)
The Last Enemy is a BBC TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and featuring Robert Carlyle and Max Beesley which first aired on 17 February 2008.-Plot:...
(2008); Paul Marshall in Atonement
Atonement (film)
Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006...
(2007); Bernard in Small Island
Small Island (television drama)
Small Island is a two-part 2009 BBC One television drama adapted from the 2004 novel of the same title by Andrea Levy. The programme stars Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson as joint respective female protagonists Hortense Roberts and Queenie Bligh, two women who struggle to fulfil their personal...
(2009); and Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
in the modern BBC adaptation series Sherlock (2010). He will also portray Smaug
Smaug
Smaug is a fictional character in the novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is a dragon, and the main antagonist within the story.-The Hobbit:...
the Dragon through motion capture and voice the Necromancer in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
Early life and education
Cumberbatch was born in London, England, the son of actors Timothy CarltonTimothy Carlton
Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English character actor. Among other work, he appeared in the sitcoms Executive Stress, Next of Kin and in the television film The Scarlet Pimpernel....
(birth name Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch) and Wanda Ventham
Wanda Ventham
Wanda Ventham is an English actress, mainly on television. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama....
.
Cumberbatch was educated at two independent schools, Brambletye School
Brambletye School
Brambletye was founded at Sidcup Place, Kent in 1919 and moved to its present glorious location in rolling Sussex countryside on the southern outskirts of East Grinstead in 1933. The large country house, in its own wooded estate of 100 acres, overlooks Ashdown Forest and Weir Wood Reservoir. The...
in West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
and Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
in northwest London, where he began performing as an actor. After school, he took a gap year
Gap year
An expression or phrase that is associated with taking time out to travel in between life stages. It is also known as sabbatical, time off and time out that refers to a period of time in which students disengage from curricular education and undertake non curricular activities, such as travel or...
to teach English in a Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an monastery. He then attended the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, where he studied drama. After graduating, Cumberbatch continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
.
Theatre
Since 2001, Cumberbatch has had major roles in a dozen classic plays at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's ParkOpen Air Theatre, Regent's Park
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:...
, Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
, Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, and the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his performance as Tesman in Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
, a role he performed at the Almeida Theatre on 16 March 2005, as well as at the Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
when it transferred to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
on 19 May 2005.
Cumberbatch acted in The Children’s Monologues, a star-studded theatrical event at London's Old Vic Theatre on 14 November 2010. The show was produced by Dramatic Need
Dramatic Need
Dramatic Need is a UK-registered charity that sends international arts professionals to host workshops in underprivileged and rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa...
. In February 2011, he began playing, on alternate nights, both Dr Frankenstein and his creature, opposite Jonny Lee Miller
Jonny Lee Miller
Jonathan "Jonny" Lee Miller is an English actor. During the initial days he was best known for his roles in the 1996 films Trainspotting and Hackers...
, in the stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Frankenstein (2011 play)
Frankenstein is a stage adaptation by Nick Dear of the novel of the same name.-Production:Its world premiere was at the Royal National Theatre on 5 February 2011, where it officially opened on 22 February...
at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. Frankenstein was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live
National Theatre Live
National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions to movie theaters, cinemas and arts centres around the world.-About:...
in March 2011. Both The Children’s Monologues and Frankenstein are directed by Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
.
Television
Cumberbatch's television roles include two separate guest roles in Heartbeat (2000, 2004), Freddy in Tipping the VelvetTipping the Velvet (TV serial)
Tipping the Velvet is a 2002 BBC television drama serial based on the bestselling debut novel by Sarah Waters of the same name. It originally screened in three episodes on BBC Two and was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Sally Head Productions...
(2002), Edward Hand in Cambridge Spies
Cambridge Spies
Cambridge Spies is a 2003 four-part BBC television drama concerning the lives of the best-known quartet of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies from 1934 to the 1951 defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean to the Soviet Union...
(2003), and Rory in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
comedy drama series Fortysomething
Fortysomething (UK series)
Fortysomething is a 2003 UK television series, starring and directed by Hugh Laurie as Paul Slippery, a doctor facing a mid-life crisis. His wife Estelle is starting a new career as a headhunter. His three sons, Rory , a student at the fictitious University of Reigate, Daniel and Edwin , are...
(2003). He was also featured in Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
and Silent Witness
Silent Witness
Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
.
In 2004, he starred as Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
in Hawking. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
and won the Golden Nymph for Television Films – Best Performance by an Actor
Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival was created in 16-20 January 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who wished to “encourage a new art form, in the service of peace and understanding between men”....
. (He later provided Hawking's voice in the first episode of the Curiosity
Curiosity (TV series)
Curiosity is a Discovery Channel show. It premiered on Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 8 pm. Each episode focuses on one question in science, technology, and society, such as why the Titanic sank, and features a different celebrity host...
television series.) He also appeared in the BBC miniseries Dunkirk
Dunkirk (TV series)
Dunkirk is a 2004 BBC television docudrama about the Battle of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk evacuation in World War II.-Awards:*BAFTA Awards 2005**Won: Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist Factual: Robert Warr & Alex Holmes...
as Lieutenant Jimmy Langley.
In 2005, Cumberbatch starred as the protagonist Edmund Talbot in the miniseries To The Ends of the Earth
To the Ends of the Earth
To the Ends of the Earth is a trilogy of novels by William Golding, consisting of Rites of Passage , Close Quarters , and Fire Down Below...
, based on William Golding
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
's trilogy. Director David Attwood
David Attwood
David Attwood is an English filmmaker.- Filmography :*1989 Killing Time*1990-1993 The Bill, 12 eps*1994 Saigon Baby*1995 The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders*1997 Shot Through the Heart...
said:
We found Benedict Cumberbatch fairly early. We needed a very good actor, someone young enough to be believable as an aristocratic, an almost slightly dislikeable character who is an adolescent in terms of his views of the world, his upbringing. But we also needed someone who could hold the screen for four and half hours, in every scene. We needed someone with experience who was not only a very good actor, but also with terrific comic timing. Benedict was the ideal answer to that.
Producer Lynn Horsford added:
Benedict was remarkable. He carried the Golding novels with him on set and constantly referred to them. We needed him every single day and he just didn't stop, nor complain. He simply became Edmund Talbot. And that commitment spread to every cast member. The process of making this film echoed the journey the characters went on in the story—we really got to know each other during our four months on location and we became very close.
He also made brief appearances in the comedy sketch show Broken News
Broken News
Broken News is a comedy programme shown on BBC Two in autumn 2005 and in Australia on SBS-TV from the 17 July 2006. The show poked fun at the world of 24-hour rolling news channels. The title of the show is a play on the phrase "Breaking News". It had six thirty-minute episodes...
in 2005.
Cumberbatch next starred alongside Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...
in the television adaptation of the book Stuart: A Life Backwards
Stuart: A Life Backwards
Stuart: A Life Backwards is a book by Alexander Masters, the biography of Stuart Shorter. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of Cambridge...
, which aired on the BBC in September 2007. In 2008, he starred in the BBC miniseries drama The Last Enemy
The Last Enemy (TV series)
The Last Enemy is a BBC TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and featuring Robert Carlyle and Max Beesley which first aired on 17 February 2008.-Plot:...
, for which he was nominated for a Satellite Award
Satellite Awards 2008
The winners of the 13th Annual Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film and television in 2008, were announced on December 14, 2008.-Top 10 films:*Ballast*Changeling*Doubt*The Dark Knight*Frost/Nixon*Frozen River*Milk...
for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film.
In 2009, Cumberbatch starred in Marple: Murder Is Easy
Murder is Easy
Murder is Easy is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on June 5, 1939 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September of the same year under the title of Easy to Kill...
as Luke Fitzwilliam. He played Bernard in the TV adaptation of Small Island
Small Island (television drama)
Small Island is a two-part 2009 BBC One television drama adapted from the 2004 novel of the same title by Andrea Levy. The programme stars Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson as joint respective female protagonists Hortense Roberts and Queenie Bligh, two women who struggle to fulfil their personal...
; the performance earned him a nomination for BAFTA Television Award
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred in Michael Dobbs' play Turning Point which aired as one of a series of TV plays broadcast live on Sky Arts channel. The two-hander
depicted a little-known October 1938 meeting between Soviet spy Guy Burgess
Guy Burgess
Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess was a British-born intelligence officer and double agent, who worked for the Soviet Union. He was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets before and during the Cold War...
, then a young man working for the BBC, and Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. Cumberbatch portrayed Burgess; Churchill was played by Matthew Marsh
Matthew Marsh (actor)
Matthew Marsh is an English actor. Matthew Marsh is the older brother of Jon Marsh of English dance band The Beloved. He has appeared in the films Alambrado, Spy Game, An American Haunting, Hawking and Bad Company, and guest-starred in the sixth series of the spy drama Spooks in 2007 and the...
, who had played a supporting role in Hawking.
Cumberbatch narrated the 6-part series South Pacific
South Pacific (TV series)
South Pacific is a British nature documentary series from the BBC Natural History Unit, which began airing on BBC Two on 10 May 2009. The six-part series surveys the natural history of the islands of the South Pacific region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand. It was filmed...
(U.S. title: Wild Pacific), which aired May to June 2009 on BBC 2.
Cumberbatch, a fan of long-running British science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
show Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, suggested in a July 2010 interview that he would be interested in appearing as a main or recurring character on the show, run by Sherlock producer and personal friend Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
. In 2008 he had discussed with David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
taking over the part of The Doctor but had decided not to try for the role.
In 2010, Cumberbatch portrayed Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
in Van Gogh: Painted with Words. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
called his performance "[a] treat ... vividly bringing Van Gogh to impassioned, blue-eyed life." Also in 2010, Cumberbatch began playing Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
in the first series of the BBC
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
television programme Sherlock, to critical acclaim.
Film
In 2006, Cumberbatch played William PittWilliam Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
in Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace (2006 film)
Amazing Grace is a 2006 U.S.–UK co-production film, directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn...
. The film is the story of William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
's intense and lengthy political fight in the late 18th century to eliminate slave trade in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Pitt was Wilberforce's closest friend and staunchest political ally, and became Prime Minister at an early age. The role garnered Cumberbatch a nomination for the London Film Critics Circle
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2007
The 28th Critics' Circle Awards, given by the London Film Critics Circle in February 2008, honoured the best in film for 2007.-Actor of the Year:Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood *Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah...
British Breakthrough Acting Award.
Cumberbatch subsequently appeared in major roles in Atonement
Atonement (film)
Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006...
(2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). In 2009, he appeared in the Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
bio-pic Creation
Creation (2009 film)
Creation is a 2009 British biographical drama film. Produced by Jeremy Thomas, the film was directed by Jon Amiel, and stars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles and Emma Darwin...
as Darwin's friend Joseph Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
. In 2010, he appeared in The Whistleblower
The Whistleblower
The Whistleblower is a 2010 thriller film directed by Larysa Kondracki, written by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, starring Rachel Weisz. Inspired by actual events, the film tells the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, and premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival...
.
He plays Peter Guillam
Peter Guillam
Peter Guillam is a fictional character in John le Carré's series of espionage novels. He first appears in Call for the Dead at which time he is working for the Ministry of Defence....
in the 2011 adaptation of the John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (film)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 2011 English-language espionage film directed by Tomas Alfredson, from a screenplay written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan based on the 1974 novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré...
, directed by Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson is a Swedish film director, best known internationally for directing the 2008 vampire film Let the Right One In...
, also starring Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
, Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
and Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...
.
He is scheduled to appear in Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's War Horse
War Horse (film)
War Horse is a 2011 British-American war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and is intended for release in the United States on 25 December 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012...
(2011) and will also portray Smaug
Smaug
Smaug is a fictional character in the novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is a dragon, and the main antagonist within the story.-The Hobbit:...
the Dragon through motion capture and voice the Necromancer in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 2012 and 2013.
Radio
In May 2009, BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcast an adaptation of John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
's novel Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
. Cumberbatch played the "young Rumpole", and Timothy West
Timothy West
Timothy Lancaster West, CBE is an English film, stage and television actor.-Career:West's craggy looks ensured a career as a character actor rather than a leading man. He began his career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Wimbledon Theatre in 1956, and followed this with several seasons of...
took the part of the "old Rumpole". Cumberbatch plays Capt Martin Crieff in the BBC's Cabin Pressure
Cabin Pressure (radio series)
Cabin Pressure is a radio situation comedy series written by John Finnemore. Its first series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008. The show follows the exploits of the oddball crew of the single aeroplane owned by "MJN Air" as they are chartered to take all manner of items, people or animals...
.
Personal life
Cumberbatch was in a romantic relationship with actress Olivia PouletOlivia Poulet
Olivia Poulet is an English actress. After studying drama at Manchester University, she has had roles on stage and in television and film. Her most recent productions include Day of the Flowers, Sherlock, Dappers, The Thick of It, Reggie Perrin and Outnumbered. She recently appeared in the feature...
, whom he met at university, for over 12 years. They broke up in 2010.
Film credits
| Year | Title | Role | Notes, awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Hills Like White Elephants (short Short subject A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all... ) |
The Man | |
| 2003 | To Kill a King To Kill a King To Kill a King is a UK 2003 English Civil War film directed by Mike Barker, starring Tim Roth and Dougray Scott. It relates the relationship between Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax in the post-war period from 1648 until the former's death, in 1658. It deals with the corruption of Parliament... |
Royalist | |
| 2006 | Starter for 10 | Patrick Watts | |
| 2006 | Amazing Grace Amazing Grace (2006 film) Amazing Grace is a 2006 U.S.–UK co-production film, directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn... |
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806... |
London Film Critics Circle Award London Film Critics Circle Awards 2007 The 28th Critics' Circle Awards, given by the London Film Critics Circle in February 2008, honoured the best in film for 2007.-Actor of the Year:Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood *Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah... for British Breakthrough – Acting (Nominated) |
| 2007 | Inseparable (short) | Joe/Charlie | |
| 2007 | Atonement Atonement (film) Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006... |
Paul Marshall | |
| 2008 | The Other Boleyn Girl | William Carey | |
| 2008 | Burlesque Fairytales | Henry Clark | |
| 2009 | Creation Creation (2009 film) Creation is a 2009 British biographical drama film. Produced by Jeremy Thomas, the film was directed by Jon Amiel, and stars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles and Emma Darwin... |
Joseph Hooker Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend... |
|
| 2010 | Four Lions Four Lions Four Lions is a 2010 British satirical comedy film. It is the debut feature from director Chris Morris, written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film is a jihad satire following a group of homegrown Islamist terrorist jihadis from Sheffield, England.-Plot:A group of young Muslim men... |
Ed | |
| 2010 | Third Star Third Star Third Star is a 2010 British comedy-drama film directed by Hattie Dalton and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, J. J. Feild, Tom Burke, Adam Robertson, and Hugh Bonneville... |
James | |
| 2010 | The Whistleblower The Whistleblower The Whistleblower is a 2010 thriller film directed by Larysa Kondracki, written by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, starring Rachel Weisz. Inspired by actual events, the film tells the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, and premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival... |
Nick Kaufman | |
| 2010 | Wreckers | David | |
| 2011 | War Horse War Horse (film) War Horse is a 2011 British-American war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and is intended for release in the United States on 25 December 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012... |
Major Stewart | Post-production |
| 2011 | Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (film) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 2011 English-language espionage film directed by Tomas Alfredson, from a screenplay written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan based on the 1974 novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré... |
Peter Guillam Peter Guillam Peter Guillam is a fictional character in John le Carré's series of espionage novels. He first appears in Call for the Dead at which time he is working for the Ministry of Defence.... |
|
| 2012-2013 | The Hobbit | Smaug Smaug Smaug is a fictional character in the novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is a dragon, and the main antagonist within the story.-The Hobbit:... (portray through motion capture) Necromancer Sauron Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit... (voice) |
Filming |
Television credits
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Awards and nominations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Fields of Gold | Jeremy | TV film | ||
| 2002 | Tipping the Velvet Tipping the Velvet (TV serial) Tipping the Velvet is a 2002 BBC television drama serial based on the bestselling debut novel by Sarah Waters of the same name. It originally screened in three episodes on BBC Two and was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Sally Head Productions... |
Freddy | Drama serial | ||
| 2002 | Silent Witness Silent Witness Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was... |
Warren Reid | Drama series; 2 episodes | ||
| 2003 | Cambridge Spies Cambridge Spies Cambridge Spies is a 2003 four-part BBC television drama concerning the lives of the best-known quartet of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies from 1934 to the 1951 defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean to the Soviet Union... |
Edward Hand | Drama serial; 1 episode | ||
| 2003 | Spooks Spooks Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a... |
Jim North | Drama series; 1 episode | ||
| 2003 | Fortysomething | Rory Slippery | Comedy drama | ||
| 2004 | Dunkirk Dunkirk (TV series) Dunkirk is a 2004 BBC television docudrama about the Battle of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk evacuation in World War II.-Awards:*BAFTA Awards 2005**Won: Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist Factual: Robert Warr & Alex Holmes... |
Lt. Jimmy Langley | Docu-drama | ||
| 2004 | Hawking | Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity... |
TV film | Golden Nymph Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo The Monte-Carlo Television Festival was created in 16-20 January 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who wished to “encourage a new art form, in the service of peace and understanding between men”.... for Television Films – Best Performance by an Actor (Won) BAFTA Television Awards British Academy Television Awards 2005 The 2005 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 17 April at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The ceremony was hosted by Irish comedian and television presenter Graham Norton.-Winners:*Best Actor... – Best Actor (Nominated) |
|
| 2005 | To the Ends of the Earth To the Ends of the Earth To the Ends of the Earth is a trilogy of novels by William Golding, consisting of Rites of Passage , Close Quarters , and Fire Down Below... |
Edmund Talbot | Drama serial | ||
| 2005 | Broken News Broken News Broken News is a comedy programme shown on BBC Two in autumn 2005 and in Australia on SBS-TV from the 17 July 2006. The show poked fun at the world of 24-hour rolling news channels. The title of the show is a play on the phrase "Breaking News". It had six thirty-minute episodes... |
Will Parker | Comedy series; 3 episodes | ||
| 2005 | Nathan Barley Nathan Barley Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4... |
Robin | Comedy series; 2 episodes | ||
| 2007 | Stuart: A Life Backwards Stuart: A Life Backwards Stuart: A Life Backwards is a book by Alexander Masters, the biography of Stuart Shorter. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of Cambridge... |
Alexander Masters | TV film | ||
| 2008 | The Last Enemy The Last Enemy (TV series) The Last Enemy is a BBC TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and featuring Robert Carlyle and Max Beesley which first aired on 17 February 2008.-Plot:... |
Stephen Ezard | Drama serial | Satellite Award Satellite Awards 2008 The winners of the 13th Annual Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film and television in 2008, were announced on December 14, 2008.-Top 10 films:*Ballast*Changeling*Doubt*The Dark Knight*Frost/Nixon*Frozen River*Milk... – Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film (Nominated) |
|
| 2009 | Marple: Murder Is Easy Murder is Easy Murder is Easy is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on June 5, 1939 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in September of the same year under the title of Easy to Kill... |
Luke Fitzwilliam | TV film | ||
| 2009 | Small Island Small Island (television drama) Small Island is a two-part 2009 BBC One television drama adapted from the 2004 novel of the same title by Andrea Levy. The programme stars Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson as joint respective female protagonists Hortense Roberts and Queenie Bligh, two women who struggle to fulfil their personal... |
Bernard Bligh | Drama serial | BAFTA Television Award British Academy Television Awards 2010 The 2010 British Academy Television Awards were held on 6 June 2010. The nominations were announced on 10 May.This year new awards were added including the award for Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role. Graham Norton hosted the ceremony... – Best Supporting Actor (Nominated) |
|
| 2010 | Van Gogh: Painted with Words | Vincent van Gogh Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is... |
Docudrama | ||
| 2010 | Have I Got News For You Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show... |
Guest host | Panel show | ||
| 2010– present | Sherlock | Sherlock Holmes | Drama series | Crime Thriller Awards – Best Actor (Won) National Television Awards 16th National Television Awards The 16th National Television Awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London on 26 January 2011 and was hosted by Dermot O'Leary. The awards are voted by the public and the winners are revealed live on ITV1. Ant & Dec won the award for Most Popular Entertainment Presenter for the tenth year in a... – Outstanding Drama Performance (Nominated) Broadcasting Press Guild Awards – Best Actor (Won) BAFTA Television Award British Academy Television Awards 2011 The 2011 British Academy Television Awards were held on 22 May 2011. The nominations were announced on 26 April.Graham Norton hosted the ceremony.-Nominations:*Actor**Jim Broadbent — Any Human Heart... – Best Leading Actor (Nominated) TV Choice Awards 2011 - Best Actor (Nominated) |
|
| 2011 | The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch | Presenter | Documentary | ||
| 2012 | Parade's End Parade's End (television series) Parade's End is a forthcoming HBO/BBC Two television miniseries, expected for release in 2012. It is an adaptation of the tetralogy of novels of the same name by Ford Madox Ford. Its five episodes will be directed by Susanna White and written by Tom Stoppard... |
Christopher Tietjens | Drama series | ||
Theatre credits
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:... |
Ferdinand | Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:... |
|
| 2001 | A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta... |
Demetrius | Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:... |
|
| 2002 | As You Like It As You Like It As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility... |
Orlando Orlando (As You Like It) Orlando is a fictional character and the romantic male lead in the comedy As You Like It by William Shakespeare.Orlando is the youngest son of the deceased Sir Rowland de Boys and a brother to Oliver. He was resents the harsh treatment he receives at Oliver's hands and complains that Oliver... |
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:... |
|
| 2002 | Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a... |
Benvolio Benvolio Benvolio Montague is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet.-Sources:In 1554, Matteo Bandello published the second volume of his Novelle which included his version of Giuletta e Romeo. Bandello emphasises Romeo's initial depression and the feud between the families,... |
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:... |
|
| 2002 | Oh, What a Lovely War! Oh, What a Lovely War! Oh, What a Lovely War! is an epic musical originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963... |
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:... |
||
| 2004 | The Lady from the Sea The Lady from the Sea The Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.Kvinnan från havet is a ballet by choreographer Birgit Cullberg, and based on Ibsen's play... |
Lyngstrand | Almeida Theatre Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of... |
|
| 2005 | Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama... |
Tesman | Almeida Theatre Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of... Duke of York's Theatre Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding... |
Olivier Award – Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Nominated) |
| 2006 | Period of Adjustment Period of Adjustment Period of Adjustment is a 1960 play by Tennessee Williams that was adapted for the screen in 1962.Both the stage and film versions are set on Christmas Eve and tell the gentle, light-hearted story of two couples, one newlywed and the other married for five years, both experiencing pains and... |
George | Almeida Theatre Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of... |
|
| 2007 | Rhinoceros Rhinoceros (play) Rhinoceros is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd... |
Bérenger | Royal Court Theatre Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre... |
|
| 2007 | The Arsonists | Eisenring | Royal Court Theatre Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre... |
|
| 2008 | The City | Chris | Royal Court Theatre Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre... |
|
| 2010 | After the Dance After the Dance (play) After the Dance is a play by Terence Rattigan which premièred at the St James's Theatre, London, on 21 June 1939. It was not one of Rattigan's more successful plays, closing after only sixty performances, a failure that led to its exclusion from his first volume of Collected Plays... |
David Scott-Fowler | National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... |
|
| 2011 | Frankenstein | The Creature/Victor Frankenstein | National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... |
Evening Standard Theatre Awards – Best Actor (jointly with Jonny Lee Miller Jonny Lee Miller Jonathan "Jonny" Lee Miller is an English actor. During the initial days he was best known for his roles in the 1996 films Trainspotting and Hackers... ) (Won) |
Voice credits
| Year | Title | Role | Format | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Raj Quartet | Nigel Rowan | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... series |
|
| 2008 | Casanova | Narrator | Audiobook | |
| 2008 | Death in a White Tie | Narrator | Audiobook | |
| 2008– | Cabin Pressure Cabin Pressure (radio series) Cabin Pressure is a radio situation comedy series written by John Finnemore. Its first series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008. The show follows the exploits of the oddball crew of the single aeroplane owned by "MJN Air" as they are chartered to take all manner of items, people or animals... |
Capt. Martin Crieff | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... comedy series |
|
| 2009 | South Pacific South Pacific (TV series) South Pacific is a British nature documentary series from the BBC Natural History Unit, which began airing on BBC Two on 10 May 2009. The six-part series surveys the natural history of the islands of the South Pacific region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand. It was filmed... |
Narrator | TV documentary | |
| 2009 | Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders | Young Rumpole | BBC Radio 4 series | |
| 2009 | Metamorphosis | Narrator | BBC Radio 7 | |
| 2010 | Stephen Hawking's Universe Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking is a 2010 science documentary television mini-series written by British physicist Stephen Hawking. The series was created for Discovery Channel by Darlow Smithson Productions and features computer generated imagery of the universe created by Red Vision... |
Narrator | Discovery Channel Discovery Channel Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav... /Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... series |
|
| 2010 | Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway and Other Stories | Narrator | Audiobook | |
| 2011 | Tom and Viv | TS Eliot | BBC Radio 7 | |
| 2011 | The Nightjar | Narrator | Video game |