Toby Stephens

English actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Toby Stephens

Toby Stephens is an English actor who has appeared in films in the United Kingdom, United States, and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor; William Gordon in the 2005 Mangal Pandey: The Rising film; and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the 2006 BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre. From 2014 to 2017, he starred as Captain Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails, followed by one of the lead roles in the Netflix science fiction series Lost in Space from 2018 to 2021. He has starred as the Greek God Poseidon in Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Quick Facts Born, Occupation ...
Toby Stephens
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Stephens in 2018
Born (1969-04-21) 21 April 1969 (age 56)
London, England
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present
Spouse
(m. 2001)
Children3
Parents
RelativesChris Larkin (brother)
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Early life and education

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Seaford College

Toby Stephens, the younger son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens,[1] was born on 21 April 1969 in London.[citation needed]

He was educated at Aldro School and Seaford College in West Sussex.[1][2]

He then trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[3]

Career

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Perspective

Stephens began his film career with the role of Othello in 1992, in Sally Potter's Orlando.[citation needed] He has since made regular appearances on television (including in The Camomile Lawn, 1992) and on stage.[citation needed]

He played the title role in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus shortly after graduation from LAMDA; that same season he played Claudio in Measure for Measure for the RSC.[citation needed] He played Stanley Kowalski in a West End production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and Hamlet in 2004.[citation needed] He has appeared on Broadway in Ring Round the Moon.[citation needed] He played the lead in the film Photographing Fairies and played Orsino in Trevor Nunn's 1996 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.[citation needed] In 2002, he took on the role of Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day. Aged 33 at the time of film's release, he remains the youngest actor to have played a Bond villain.[4] The following year, he depicted British double-agent Kim Philby in the BBC miniseries Cambridge Spies, co-starring with Tom Hollander, Samuel West, and Rupert Penry-Jones.[citation needed]

In 2005, he played the role of a British Army captain in the Indian film, The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey, portraying events in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The following year he returned to India to play a renegade British East India Company officer in Sharpe's Challenge.[citation needed] In late 2006, he starred as Edward Rochester in the highly acclaimed BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (broadcast in the United States on PBS in early 2007) and The Wild West in February 2007 for the BBC in which he played General George Armstrong Custer in Custer's Last Stand.[citation needed]

During mid-2007, Stephens played the role of Jerry in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal under the direction of Roger Michell.[citation needed] Later that year, Stephens starred as Horner in Jonathan Kent's revival of William Wycherley's The Country Wife. The play was the inaugural production of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company.[5]

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Stephens in 2014

In February 2008, the Fox Broadcasting Company gave the go-ahead to cast Stephens as the lead in a potential one-hour, primetime US television show, Inseparable, to be produced by Shaun Cassidy. Billed as a modern Jekyll and Hyde story, the show was to feature a partially paralysed forensic psychologist whose other personality is a charming criminal. Stephens' casting was highly unusual, because Fox had not yet approved a script nor purchased a pilot for the show. However, in mid-May 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that "[b]y the time the network picked up the pilot (...) [the producers'] hold on Stephens had expired (...)"[6][7]

In May 2008, Stephens performed the role of James Bond in a BBC Radio 4 production of Ian Fleming's Dr. No, as part of the centenary celebration of Fleming's birth. The production was reportedly the first BBC radio dramatisation of the novel though Moonraker was on South African radio in 1956, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond.[8] He has since appeared in a number of adaptations of other James Bond novels.[citation needed]

Also in May 2008, Stock-pot Productions announced that Stephens would have the lead role in a feature-length film entitled Fly Me, co-starring Tim McInnerny.[9] Stock-pot was the producer of One Day, a short 2006 film shown at international film festivals, in which Stephens played a small part as the boss of McInnerny's character.[citation needed]

On 5 October 2008, Stephens appeared on stage at the London Palladium as part of a benefit entitled "The Story of James Bond, A Tribute to Ian Fleming". The event, organised by Fleming's niece, Lucy Fleming, featured music from various James Bond films and Bond film stars reading from Fleming's Bond novels. Stephens took the part of James Bond himself in the readings.[citation needed]

In early December 2008, Stephens read from Coda, the last book written by friend Simon Gray, for BBC Radio 4. The excerpts from which Stephens read included Gray's description of his participation as godfather at the christening of Stephens' son Eli.[citation needed]

Early in 2009, Stephens appeared as Prince John in season 3 of the BBC series Robin Hood. The series aired on BBC America in the United States.[citation needed] Stephens appeared in two episodes of a six-part television series, Strike Back, based on the novel by Chris Ryan.[10] The series aired in May 2010.[citation needed]

In mid-2009, Stephens returned to the London stage in the Donmar Warehouse production of Ibsen's A Doll's House alongside Gillian Anderson and Christopher Eccleston.[11]

In 2010, he starred in the made-for-television film The Blue Geranium, a further sequel to the television series and films based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple character.[12] The show was broadcast in the US on PBS in June 2010. Stephens starred as a highly self-centred detective opposite Lucy Punch in a three-part comedy television series for BBC Two entitled Vexed.[13]

Stephens took on a small supporting role in a short film, The Lost Explorer, the directorial debut of photographer Tim Walker. The film is based on a short story by author Patrick McGrath.[14]

On the London stage in the spring of 2010, Stephens received outstanding reviews for his performance as Henry in a revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, directed by Anna Mackmin at the Old Vic Theatre in London.[15] Of debuting at the Old Vic, where his parents performed as part of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre Company.[16]

In 2010, Stephens appeared as Georges Danton in Danton's Death. The play was another debut for Stephens, this time at London's Royal National Theatre.[17][18]

Over the years, Stephens has continued to prolifically narrate audiobooks and perform in broadcast radio dramas. In January 2011, Stephens joined other stars in narrating portions of the King James Version of the Bible for BBC Radio 4 as part of a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Bible's publication. Stephens performed the role of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in a radio serial, which debuted in February 2011. Stephens narrated another audiobook, Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery, released in February 2011.[citation needed]

From 2014 to 2017, Stephens starred as Captain James Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails, a prequel to Treasure Island, set in the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy.[19]

In 2016, he was cast as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the film The Journey.[20]

Between 2018 and 2021, he appeared as John Robinson in Lost in Space, the Netflix remake of the 1965 TV series.[21] In 2021, he featured as Damian Cray in the second season of Alex Rider.[22]

He appeared as the Greek God Poseidon in the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Disney+ adaption of the books by the same name.[23]

Personal life

Stephens and New Zealand-born actress Anna-Louise Plowman were married in 2001. Their first child, a son, was born in 2007.[24] The British playwright Simon Gray (who wrote Japes, a stage play, and Missing Dates, a radio drama, both of which starred Stephens) was reported to be Eli's godfather.[25] Their daughters were born in 2009[26] and 2010, respectively.[27]

Plowman and Stephens performed together as Sibyl and Elyot in Jonathan Kent's revival of Private Lives – the Noël Coward play in which his mother starred in 1975 on Broadway – for the 2012 Chichester Festival,[28] reprised at the Gielgud Theatre in 2013.[29][30]

Filmography

Film

More information Year, Title ...
YearTitleRoleNotes
1992OrlandoOthello
1996Twelfth NightDuke Orsino
1997Photographing FairiesCharles Castle
1998Cousin BetteVictorin Hulot
1999OneginVladimir Lensky
1999Sunset HeightsLuke Bradley
2000The AnnouncementRoss
2000Space CowboysYoung Frank
2001PossessionFergus Wolfe
2002Die Another DayGustav Graves
2004Terkel in TroubleJustin (voice)English dub
2005Midsummer DreamDemetrius (voice)English dub
2005Mangal Pandey: The RisingCaptain William Gordon
2006Dark CornersDr Woodleigh
2006SeveranceHarris
2013BelieveDr. Farquar
2013All Things to All MenRiley
2013The MachineVincent McCarthy
201613 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of BenghaziGlen "Bub" Doherty
2016The JourneyTony Blair
2018Hunter KillerLt. Bill Beaman
TBDThe MorriganMalachy Crowley
TBDThe Severed SunTBD
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
YearTitleRoleNotes
1992The Camomile LawnOliver
1996The Tenant of Wildfell HallGilbert Markham
2000The Great GatsbyJay Gatsby
2001Perfect StrangersCharles
2002NapoléonTsar Alexander I
2003Essential ByronReader
2003Cambridge SpiesKim Philby
2003Agatha Christie's PoirotPhilip BlakeEpisode S9:E1 Five Little Pigs
2004LondonCasanova
2005Waking the DeadDr Nick HendersonEpisodes: "Subterraneans Part I" and "Subterraneans II"
2005The Queen's SisterAnthony Armstrong-Jones
2006The Best ManPeter Tremaine
2006Secrets of the Dead: The Umbrella AssassinNarrator (voice)Episode: An account of the murder of Georgi Markov
2006Sharpe's ChallengeWilliam Dodd
2006Jane EyreEdward Fairfax Rochester
2007The Wild West – Custer's Last StandGeneral George Armstrong Custer
2008WiredCrawford Hill
2009The Best Job in the WorldNarrator (voice)
2009Robin HoodPrince John of England3 episodes
2010Strike BackArlington
2010Lost: The Mystery of Flight 447Narrator (voice)
2010Agatha Christie's Marple The Blue GeraniumGeorge Pritchard
2010–2012VexedJack Armstrong
2012Law & Order: UKProf. Martin MiddlebrookEpisode: "Trial"
2012LewisDavid ConnellyEpisode: "Generation of Vipers"
2014–2017Black SailsJames McGraw / Flint38 episodes
2015And Then There Were NoneDr. Edward Armstrong
2018–2021Lost in SpaceJohn Robinson28 episodes
2019Summer of RocketsSamuel Petrukhin
2021Alex RiderDamian Cray6 episodes
2022Prisoner C33Oscar Wilde
2023Six FourPiers Fields-Turner2 episodes
2023DodgerPresident Van BurenEpisode: "Coronation"
2024Percy Jackson and the OlympiansPoseidon2 episodes[23]
2024McDonald & DoddsMark HolgateEpisode: "The Rule of Three"
2024One DayLionelEpisode 1.9
2024Batman: Caped CrusaderGentleman Ghost / James "Jim" Craddock (voice)[31]
2024The SplitArchie Moore2 part special
2025A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis StoryMelford Stevenson
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Video games

More information Year, Title ...
YearTitleVoice roleNotes
2012007 LegendsGustav GravesAlso likeness
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Theatre

Radio drama and audio books

More information Year, Title ...
YearTitleRoleNotes
1994Time and the ConwaysRobin
1995The Prince's ChoiceCoriolanus, Hamlet, Henry V, Henry IV and Edward Poins
1997As You Like ItOrlando
1997The Lifted VeilLatimer
1997The Guns of NavaroneMallory
1997Birdsong
1997Anna KareninaCount Vronsky
1998TroyAchilles
1999Tales from the Arabian NightsNarrator
1999MacbethMacbeth
2000Conversations with NapoleonReader
2001King LearEdmund
2001On the RoadNarrator
2002The Riddle of the SandsNarrator
2002The Woman in WhiteWalter Hartright
2002AeneidAeneas
2003DionysosPentheus, King of Thebes
2004Will in the WorldReader
2005Much Ado About NothingBenedick
2006ShylockBassanio
2007Heart of DarknessNarrator
2007Flashman on the MarchNarrator
2008Flashman and the DragonNarrator
2008Missing DatesJason (Japes)
2008The Good SoldierNarrator
2008Dr. NoJames Bond
2008Let's Murder VivaldiBen
2008CodaSimon Gray
2008–2009The Dark FlowerNarrator
2009My Dark PlacesJames Ellroy
2009Journey into Space: The HostJet
2009King Solomon's MinesNarrator
2009BecketKing Henry II[32]
2010Dick Barton Special Agent: The Mystery of the Missing FormulaNarrator
2010GoldfingerJames Bond
2010No Place Like HomeJonathan
2011King James Version of the BibleNarrator
2011Paul Temple and the Geneva MysteryNarrator
2011Paul Temple and the Margo MysteryNarrator
2011Paul Temple IntervenesNarrator
2011The Lady in the LakePhilip Marlowe
2011The Big SleepPhilip Marlowe
2011Farewell, My LovelyPhilip Marlowe
2011PlaybackPhilip Marlowe
2011Carte BlancheNarrator
2011The Long GoodbyePhilip Marlowe
2011The High WindowPhilip Marlowe
2011The Little SisterPhilip Marlowe
2011Poodle SpringsPhilip Marlowe
2012From Russia, with LoveJames Bond
2014On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceJames Bond
2015Diamonds Are ForeverJames Bond
2016ThunderballJames Bond
2018MoonrakerJames Bond
2018Sea of Thieves: Athena's FortuneNarrator
2019Live and Let DieJames Bond
2020The Man with the Golden GunJames Bond
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Awards

References

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