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Sam Spruell (born 1 January 1977, in Southwark, London) is a British character actor, known for playing mostly villain roles.[1]
Spruell studied at Hull University before turning to acting. His mother is actress Linda Broughton.[2]
Theatre
He made his stage debut with the Royal National Theatre. He has appeared in The Caretaker (at Trafalgar Studios); Pornography (Tricycle); The Alchemist and The Life of Galileo (the National); King Lear (Sheffield Crucible); Othello (Royal Exchange); A Midsummer Night's Dream, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and Pippin, (Bloomsbury Theatre); and elsewhere.[3]
Cinema
Spruell's first screen appearance came in Kathryn Bigelow's submarine drama K-19: The Widowmaker in 2002.
His film credits include To Kill a King (2003); London to Brighton (2006); Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007); The Hurt Locker (2008); Defiance (2008); and others. He played hit man Jack "The Hat" McVitie in the 2015 film Legend, about the story of the Kray twins.
In 2012, Spruell had a starring role in the film Snow White & the Huntsman, as brother to the Evil Queen that was played by Charlize Theron.[1]
Television
His television roles include the recurring cameo of Jason Belling in Spooks (2007 in Episode 6.9 and 2004 in Project Friendly Fire), and the recurring role of Wilkes in P.O.W. (2003). In March 2013, he appeared in one of the lead roles in the BBC One thriller drama series Mayday. He was cast in the television adaptation of The Last Ship later in the year. In 2015, Spruell played Oleg Malankov, the secondary villain in Taken 3 and then played Owen Lynch in the drama series Luther in episode 1.2. In the 13th series of Doctor Who, Spruell played Swarm.[4]
In 2023, he starred as Ole Munch in the fifth season of the Fargo series, an "immortal hired gun" figure who "exists outside of time and society's rules," a "collection of contrasts".[5] In June 2024, it was announced that Spruell would portray Maekar Targaryen in the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.[6]
- K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) as Dmitri Nevsky
- To Kill a King (2003) as the King's guard
- London to Brighton (2006) as Stuart Allen
- Venus (2006) as Hospital Director
- Tick Tock Lullaby (2007) as Steve
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) as Torturer
- The Hurt Locker (2008) as Contractor Charlie
- Defiance (2008) as Arkady Lubczanski
- Luther (2010) as Owen Lynch
- Hello Carter (2011) as Jake
- Snow White & the Huntsman (2012) as Finn
- The Counselor (2013) as Wireman
- Starred Up (2013) as Governor Hayes
- Sixteen as Liam
- Company of Heroes (2013) as Sgt. Matherson
- Good People (2014) as Jack Witkowski
- The Last Ship (2014) as Doctor Quincy Tophet
- Taken 3 (2014) as Oleg Malankov
- The Bastard Executioner (2015) as Toran Prichard / Marshal the Soldier
- Child 44 (2015) as Doctor Tyapkin
- Legend (2015) as Jack "The Hat" McVitie
- The Martian (2015) as NASA Psychologist
- The Lady in the Van (2016) as Another Young Man
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) as General Okto Bari
- Sand Castle (2017) as 1st LT Anthony
- The World Is Yours (2018) as Bruce
- Outlaw King (2018) as Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
- The Informer (2019) as Slewitt
- Small Axe: Mangrove (2020) as PC Frank Pulley
- The North Water (2021) as Cavendish
- Doctor Who (2021) as Swarm
- The Amazing Mr Blunden (2021) as Bertie
- The Hanging Sun (2022) as Aaron and Nicolas
- Fargo (2023) as Ole Munch
- The Settlers (2023) as Colonel Martin
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