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David Matthew Macfadyen (/məkˈfædiən/; born 17 October 1974) is an English actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005). He gained wider recognition for playing Tom Wambsgans in the HBO drama series Succession (2018–2023), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards, two BAFTA TV Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
Matthew Macfadyen | |
|---|---|
 Macfadyen in 2019 | |
| Born | David Matthew Macfadyen 17 October 1974 Great Yarmouth, England |
| Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Macfadyen made his television debut in 1998 as Hareton Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights. He portrayed Tom Quinn in the BBC One spy series Spooks (2002–2004, 2011), and Inspector Edmund Reid in the BBC mystery series Ripper Street (2012–2016). For his role in Criminal Justice (2009), he received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred in various miniseries playing roles such as Henry Wilcox in Howards End (2017), Charles Ingram in Quiz (2020), and John Stonehouse in Stonehouse (2023).
In film, Macfadyen is known for his roles in Death at a Funeral (2007), Frost/Nixon (2008), Anna Karenina (2012), The Assistant (2019), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). In 2024, he played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine.
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Macfadyen was born on 17 October 1974[1][2] in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, the son of Meinir (née Owen), a drama teacher and former actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil engineer.[3][4][5] His paternal grandparents were Scottish and his maternal grandparents were Welsh.[3][6] Macfadyen was brought up in a number of places, including Jakarta, Indonesia, as a result of his father's occupation.[3]
He attended schools in England, including in Louth, Lincolnshire, as well as in Scotland and Indonesia. He went to Oakham School in Rutland before being accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at 17. As a student, he was inspired by Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, which he thought was "[a]n example to follow – an example of people acting with each other...", and "[f]eatured just the most extraordinary acting I'd ever seen".[7] He studied at RADA from 1992 to 1995.[citation needed]
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After leaving RADA, Macfadyen became known in British theatre primarily for his work with the stage company Cheek by Jowl, for which he played Antonio in The Duchess of Malfi, Charles Surface in The School for Scandal, and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. His Benedick was played as an officer-class buffoon with a moustache and a braying laugh. In 2005, he played Prince Hal in Henry IV, Parts One and Two at the Royal National Theatre, with Michael Gambon in the role of Falstaff. In 2007, he returned to the stage, portraying an American, Clay, a stay-at-home father with a liberal attitude in the play The Pain and the Itch.[citation needed] A TV breakthrough came when he appeared as Hareton Earnshaw in an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, screened on the ITV network in 1998. Further television drama work followed, including starring roles in the dramas Warriors (1999) and The Way We Live Now (2001), both for the BBC. Also in 2001, he earned acclaim for his starring role in the BBC Two drama serial Perfect Strangers, which was written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. In 2002, he starred in The Project, a BBC drama charting New Labour's rise to power.[citation needed]
He starred in Spooks, which became a success when screened on BBC One. A longer second season was screened in 2003, and a third season was broadcast in autumn 2004, with him leaving the series in the second episode. The series was aired as MI-5 on the A&E Network. In 2007 he appeared in the one-off Channel 4 drama Secret Life, which dealt with paedophilia.[8] Macfadyen won the Best Actor award at the Royal Television Society 2007 Awards for this part, and was nominated for a BAFTA. He also appeared in a short sketch for Comic Relief as the bridegroom in Mr. Bean's Wedding, alongside Rowan Atkinson and Michelle Ryan.[citation needed] Macfadyen appeared in films including Enigma (released in 2001), and In My Father's Den, for which he received the New Zealand Screen Award for Best Actor.[9] He starred as the romantic lead Fitzwilliam Darcy in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, released in the UK in September 2005.[10]
Macfadyen starred in Frank Oz's Death at a Funeral and the film Incendiary, based on Chris Cleave's novel alongside Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor. He also appeared in Ron Howard's film Frost/Nixon, in which he played John Birt. In 2008, he played the male lead Arthur Clennam in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit. In 2009 Macfadyen appeared alongside Academy Award-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter in the BBC Four movie Enid, based on the life of Enid Blyton, as Hugh Pollock, Blyton's publisher and first husband.[citation needed] In 2010, he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood. He starred as Prior Philip in the TV serial The Pillars of the Earth, and was the middle-aged Logan Mountstuart in Any Human Heart. In June 2010, Macfadyen won a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Criminal Justice.[citation needed] In 2011, Macfadyen made a final cameo in Spooks, and in 2012, he played Oblonsky in Joe Wright's film Anna Karenina. In December 2012 he began portraying Detective Inspector Edmund Reid in BBC One's Ripper Street.[11]
In 2013–14, he played Jeeves in the production of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End of London. The play won the 2014 Olivier award for Best New Comedy.[12][13][14] In 2015, Amazon Prime picked up Ripper Street and, after good reviews, it was recommissioned for fourth and fifth seasons. Macfadyen said he was "delighted to be embarking on another dose of Ripper Street – blood and guts, pocket watches and Victorian headgear, wonderfully dark, moving and mysterious story lines from Mr Richard Wardlow".[15] The series also aired in the U.S. on BBC America. Also in 2015, he guest starred in the pilot episode of The Last Kingdom.[citation needed]
From 2018 to 2023, he starred as Tom Wambsgans in the HBO series Succession, for which he received Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022 and 2023 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2020,[16] and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television in 2024.[17] In 2020, he appeared in the role of Major Charles Ingram in a three-part ITV drama, Quiz, based on the controversial coughing cheat scandal on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001.[18] In 2024, Macfadyen played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine.[19]
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In 2002, Macfadyen began a relationship with his Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes. They were married in November 2004.[20] The couple have two children.[20][21] Macfadyen is stepfather to Hawes's son from her previous marriage.[22] Macfadyen and Hawes are patrons of the Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham.[23] In March 2024, it was reported that Macfadyen is a member of the Garrick Club.[24]
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Maybe Baby | Nigel | |
| 2001 | Enigma | Lt. Cave | |
| 2002 | The Project | Paul Tibbenham | |
| 2004 | The Reckoning | King's Justice | |
| In My Father's Den | Paul Prior | ||
| 2005 | Pride & Prejudice | Fitzwilliam Darcy | |
| 2007 | Grindhouse | Eye Gouging Victim | Segment: Don't |
| Death at a Funeral | Daniel Howells | ||
| 2008 | Incendiary | Terence Butcher | |
| Frost/Nixon | John Birt | ||
| 2010 | Robin Hood | Sheriff of Nottingham | |
| 2011 | The Three Musketeers | Athos | |
| 2012 | Anna Karenina | Oblonsky | |
| 2014 | Lost in Karastan | Emil Forester | |
| 2015 | The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music | Georg von Trapp | |
| 2016 | Revolution: New Art for a New World | Vladimir Lenin (voice) | Documentary |
| 2017 | The Current War | J. P. Morgan | |
| 2018 | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | Benjamin Stahlbaum | |
| 2019 | The Assistant | Wilcock | |
| 2021 | Operation Mincemeat | Charles Cholmondeley | |
| 2024 | Deadpool & Wolverine | Mr. Paradox | |
| TBA | Holland, Michigan | Fred Vandergroot | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Wuthering Heights | Hareton Earnshaw | Television film |
| 1999 | Warriors | Alan James | |
| 2000 | Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes | Brian Waller | Episode: "The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes: Part 1" |
| 2001 | Perfect Strangers | Daniel Symon | 3 episodes |
| The Way We Live Now | Sir Felix Carbury | 4 episodes | |
| 2002–2004, 2011 | Spooks | Tom Quinn | 19 episodes |
| 2007 | Mr. Bean's Wedding | The Groom | Short video |
| Secret Life | Charlie | Television film | |
| 2008 | Ashes to Ashes | Gil Hollis | Episode #1.7 |
| Little Dorrit | Arthur Clennam | 8 episodes | |
| Agatha Christie's Marple | Inspector Neele | Episode: "A Pocket Full of Rye" | |
| 2009 | Enid | Hugh Pollock | Television film |
| Criminal Justice | Joe Miller | 3 episodes | |
| 2010 | The Pillars of the Earth | Prior Philip | 8 episodes |
| Any Human Heart | Logan Mountstuart | 4 episodes | |
| 2012–2016 | Ripper Street | Det. Insp. Edmund Reid | 36 episodes |
| 2013 | Ambassadors | Prince of Darkness | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | The Enfield Haunting | Guy Playfair | |
| The Last Kingdom | Lord Uhtred | Episode #1.1 | |
| 2016 | Churchill's Secret | Randolph Churchill | Television film |
| 2017 | Howards End | Henry Wilcox | 4 episodes |
| 2018–2023 | Succession | Tom Wambsgans | Main role |
| 2020 | Quiz | Maj. Charles Ingram | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Stonehouse | John Stonehouse | Main role,[25] Executive Producer |
| TBA | Death by Lightning | Charles J. Guiteau | Upcoming miniseries |
Radio
| Year | Title | Author | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Voyage of the Beagle | Charles Darwin | BBC Radio 4 | [26] |
| 2001 | Trampoline | Meredith Oakes | BBC Radio 4 | [27] |
| 2004 | The Coma | Alex Garland | audio book | [28] |
| Getting Away From It: The Island | Tim Pears | BBC Radio 4 | [29] | |
| 2005 | Stories We Could Tell | Tony Parsons | audio book | [30] |
| 2007 | The Making of Music | — | BBC Radio 4 | [31] |
Documentary
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Essential Poems (To Fall in Love With) | BBC Two | [32] |
| 2004 | The Hungerford Massacre | BBC One | [33] |
| 2006 | The 9/11 Liars | Channel 4 | [34] |
| Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial | BBC Two | [35] | |
| 2007 | The Blair Years | BBC One | [36] |
| Last Party at the Palace | Channel 4 | [37] | |
| 2008 | Dangerous Jobs for Girls | Channel 4 | [38] |
| Words of War | ITV1 | [39] | |
| 2009 | Wine | BBC Four | [40] |
| Inside MI5 | ITV1 | ||
| 2014 | Horse Power | Sky Atlantic |
Theatre
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