Matthew Macfadyen
{{Short description|English actor (born 1974)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Matthew Macfadyen
| image = Matthew Macfadyen 2019.jpg
| caption = Macfadyen in 2019
| birth_name = David Matthew Macfadyen
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|10|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Great Yarmouth, England
| spouse = {{Marriage|Keeley Hawes|November 2004}}
| children = 2
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1994–present
| education = Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA)
}}
David Matthew Macfadyen ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|k|'|f|æ|d|i|ən}}; 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.
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.
Early life and education
Macfadyen was born on 17 October 1974{{cite news |author= |date=17 October 2023 |title= Celebrity Birthdays: Oct. 17 |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/nation-world/celebrity-birthdays-oct-17 |newspaper=St. Louis Post Dispatch |access-date=29 October 2023}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023}}{{Cite Instagram |author=W Magazine |author-link=W (magazine) |user=wmag |postid=CyggoOPJXBJ |title=Matthew Macfadyen Directed by Lynn Hirschberg |date=17 October 2023 |access-date=29 October 2023 |link=https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyggoOPJXBJ/}} in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, the son of Meinir (née Owen), a drama teacher and former actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil engineer.{{cite news|last=Macdonald |first=Marianne |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3646503/Leading-question.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3646503/Leading-question.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Leading question |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=12 September 2005 |access-date=26 March 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|title=With 'Succession', Matthew Macfadyen finds himself a long way from Mr. Darcy|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/01/26/1075741669/succession-actor-matthew-macfadyen|access-date=27 January 2022|website=NPR.org|language=en}} His paternal grandparents were Scottish and his maternal grandparents were Welsh.{{cite news|last=Cavendish |first=Dominic |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-features/7139221/Matthew-Macfadyen-interview.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-features/7139221/Matthew-Macfadyen-interview.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Matthew Macfadyen interview |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=2 February 2010 |access-date=26 March 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-102942369 |title=A man of mystery; Graham Keal talks to Spooks star Matthew Macfadyen about the new series, his Welsh roots and being hounded by the paparazzi.(Features) – Daily Post (Liverpool) |publisher=|date=7 June 2003 |access-date=}}{{dl|date=July 2021}} Macfadyen was brought up in a number of places, including Jakarta, Indonesia, as a result of his father's occupation.
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".{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/21/matthew-macfadyen-fanny-and-alexander | title=The Observer | work=The film that changed my life: Matthew Macfadyen | date=21 August 2011 | access-date=26 February 2012 | author=Lamont, Tom}} He studied at RADA from 1992 to 1995.{{cn|date=September 2023}}
Career
File:Bust of Matthew Macfadyen as Fitzwilliam Darcy.jpg of Matthew Macfadyen's Mr. Darcy.]]
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.{{cn|date=September 2023}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Deans |first=Jason |date=2002-11-07 |title=BBC's New Labour drama 'based on fact' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/nov/07/broadcasting.politics |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/12860732.TV_star_defends_paedophile_role/|title=TV star defends paedophile role|website=Evening Times|date=11 April 2007}} 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.{{cn|date=September 2023}} 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.{{Cite web|title=In My Father's Den|url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/my-fathers-den|access-date=28 August 2021|website=New Zealand Film Commission|language=en}} He starred as the romantic lead Fitzwilliam Darcy in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, released in the UK in September 2005.{{cite web|url= https://variety.com/2024/film/global/matthew-macfadyen-miscast-mr-darcy-pride-prejudice-1236082624/|title= Matthew Macfadyen 'Felt a Bit Miscast' as Mr. Darcy in 'Pride & Prejudice': 'I'm Not Dishy Enough'|website= Variety|date= 24 July 2024|accessdate= October 14, 2024}}
File:Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen 2024 Emmys 01.png and Macfayden at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2024]]
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.{{cn|date=September 2023}} 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.{{cn|date=September 2023}} 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.{{cite web|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/ripperstreet/matthew-macfadyen/|title= Matthew Macfadyen plays Inspector Edmund Reid|website= BBC|accessdate= October 14, 2024}}
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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/nov/13/jeeves-and-wooster-perfect-nonsense|title=Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense – review|first=Michael|last=Billington|date=13 November 2013|newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10444954/Jeeves-and-Wooster-Duke-of-Yorks-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10444954/Jeeves-and-Wooster-Duke-of-Yorks-review.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Jeeves & Wooster, Duke of York's, review|date=13 November 2013|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}2014 Laurence Olivier Awards 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{{spnd}}blood and guts, pocket watches and Victorian headgear, wonderfully dark, moving and mysterious story lines from Mr Richard Wardlow".{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/13/ripper-street-to-return-for-two-more-series-of-blood-guts-and-pocket-watches|title=Ripper Street to return for two more series of 'blood, guts and pocket watches'|first=Richard|last=Vine|date=13 May 2015|work=The Guardian}} 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.{{cn|date=September 2023}}
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,{{cite web |title=Matthew Macfadyen Awards and Nominations |url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/matthew-macfadyen |website=Television Academy |publisher=Emmys |access-date=16 January 2024}} and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television in 2024.{{cite web |title=Matthew Macfadyen |url=https://goldenglobes.com/person/matthew-macfadyen/ |website=Golden Globe Awards |access-date=16 January 2024}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.itvmedia.co.uk/making-an-impact/itv-has-commissioned-quiz-a-three-part-drama-directed-by-stephen-frears-starring-hollywood-star-michael-sheen|title=ITV has commissioned 'Quiz' a three-part drama directed by Stephen Frears starring Hollywood star, Michael Sheen|website=ITV Media|language=en|access-date=15 November 2019}} In 2024, Macfadyen played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine.{{cite web |last1=Couch |first1=Aaron |title=Deadpool 3 Adds 'Succession' Actor Matthew Macfadyen |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/deadpool-3-casts-succession-actor-matthew-macfadyen-1235330298/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=23 May 2023 |date=28 March 2023}}
Personal life
In 2002, Macfadyen began a relationship with his Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes. They were married in November 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/ashes-to-ashes-star-keeley-hawes-on-surviving-a-showbiz-marriage-6455459.html|title=Ashes to Ashes star Keeley Hawes on surviving a shobiz marriage|date=1 April 2010|author=Liz Hoggard|work=London Evening Standard|access-date=3 June 2012}} The couple have two children.{{cite web|url=http://celebritybabies.people.com/2007/01/11/matthew_macfady/|title=Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes welcome second child|date=11 January 2007|publisher=People.com|access-date=3 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620214819/http://celebritybabies.people.com/2007/01/11/matthew_macfady/|archive-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead}} Macfadyen is stepfather to Hawes's son from her previous marriage.{{CN|date=February 2025}} In March 2024, it was reported that Macfadyen is a member of the Garrick Club.{{cite news |last1=Gentleman |first1=Amelia |title=Garrick Club's men-only members list reveals roll-call of British establishment |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/18/garrick-club-men-only-members-list-roll-call-british-establishment |access-date=20 March 2024 |newspaper=The Guardian}}
Acting credits
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable unsortable"
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Film roles}} |
| scope=col | Year
! scope=col | Title ! scope=col | Role ! scope=col | Notes |
|---|
| 2000
| Nigel | |
| 2001
| Enigma | Lt. Cave | |
| 2002
| Paul Tibbenham | |
| rowspan="2"| 2004
| King's Justice | |
| In My Father's Den
| Paul Prior | |
| 2005
| |
| 2006 Middletown
| rowspan="2"| 2007 | Eye Gouging Victim | Segment: Don't |
| Death at a Funeral
| Daniel Howells | |
| rowspan="2"| 2008
| Terence Butcher | |
| Frost/Nixon
| |
| 2010
| |
| 2011
| Athos | |
| 2012
| Oblonsky | |
| 2014
| Emil Forester | |
| 2015
| The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music | |
| 2016
| Revolution: New Art for a New World | Vladimir Lenin (voice) | Documentary |
| 2017
| |
| 2018
| The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | Benjamin Stahlbaum | |
| 2019
| Wilcock | |
| 2021
| |
| 2024
| |
| 2025
| Holland | Fred Vandergroot | |
= Television =
=Radio=
=Documentary=
= Theatre =
Awards and nominations
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/faces/matthew_macfadyen.shtml BBC Drama Faces: Matthew Macfadyen]
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Matthew Macfadyen
|list =
{{British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor}}
{{EmmyAward DramaSupportingActor}}
{{Golden Globe Supporting Actor TV}}
{{RTS Programme Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfadyen, Matthew}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:Actors from Great Yarmouth
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award (television) winners
Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male Shakespearean actors
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English people of Scottish descent
Category:English people of Welsh descent