Matthew Macfadyen

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 portrayed Henry Wilcox in Howards End (2017), Charles Ingram in Quiz (2020), John Stonehouse in Stonehouse (2023) and Charles J. Guiteau in Death by Lightning (2025). In 2024, he played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine.

Matthew Macfadyen studied at Oakham School and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are Shakespearean comedy. Distinctions recorded are British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

• Name — Matthew Macfadyen • Birth Name — David Matthew Macfadyen • Born — 17 October 1974 • Birthplace — Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England • Children — 2 • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1994–present • Education — Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA)

Macfadyen was born on 17 October 1974 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, the son of Meinir (née Owen), a drama teacher and former actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil engineer. His paternal grandparents were Scottish and his maternal grandparents were Welsh. 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". He studied at RADA from 1992 to 1995.

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. 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. • Illustration — A bust from the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice of Matthew Macfadyen's Mr. Darcy. 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. 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. 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.

He starred as the romantic lead Fitzwilliam Darcy in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, released in the UK in September 2005. 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. 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. In 2011, Macfadyen made a final cameo in Spooks, and in 2012, he played Oblonsky in Joe Wright's film Anna Karenina. From December 2012, he began portraying Detective Inspector Edmund Reid in BBC One's Ripper Street. 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. 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 Streetblood and guts, pocket watches and Victorian headgear, wonderfully dark, moving and mysterious story lines from Mr Richard Wardlow". 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. In 2018, he played Mr. Stahlbaum in the film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which received mostly negative reviews.

• Illustration — Nicholas Braun and Macfadyen at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2024 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, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television in 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. In 2024, Macfadyen played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine. He also starred as Charles J. Guiteau in the 2025 Netflix miniseries Death by Lightning. In August 2025, it was announced that Macfadyen would be voicing Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, a production of Audible and J.K. Rowling's Pottermore.

In 2002, Macfadyen began a relationship with his Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes. They were married in November 2004. The couple have two children. Macfadyen is stepfather to Hawes's son from her previous marriage. In March 2024, it was reported that Macfadyen is a member of the Garrick Club.

Television roles • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1998 — Wuthering Heights — Hareton Earnshaw — Television film • 1999 — Warriors — Alan James • 2000 — Murder Rooms — 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, 39 episodes • 2020 — Quiz — Maj. Charles Ingram — 3 episodes • 2023 — Stonehouse — John Stonehouse — Main role, 3 episodes; also executive producer • 2025 — Death by Lightning — Charles J. Guiteau — Main role • 2026 — The Miniature Wife — Les Littlejohn — Main role; also executive producer • TBA — Legacy of Spies — George Smiley — Main role; also executive producer • TBA — You Are Here — Michael — Main role

• Year — Title — Role — Playwright — Venue — Ref. • 1994 — The Crimson Island — Dymogatsky — Mikhail Bulgakov — Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts • Lorca's Death — Rafael/Intellect — Ben Benison • The Feigned Inconstancy — Chevalier — Marivaux • The Beggar's Opera — Macheath — John Gay • 1995 — One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Chief Bromden — Dale Wasserman • The Libertine — John Wilmot — Stephen Jeffreys • My Funny Valentine — Solo Performer • The Duchess of Malfi — Antonio Bologna — John Webster — Cheek by Jowl • 1996 — A Midsummer Night's Dream — Demetrius — William Shakespeare — Royal Shakespeare Company • 1998 — Much Ado About Nothing — Benedick — Cheek by Jowl • The School for Scandal — Charles Surface — Richard Brinsley Sheridan — Royal Shakespeare Company • 1999 — Battle Royal — Mr. Brougham — Nick Stafford — Royal National Theatre • 2005 — Henry IV — Prince Hal — William Shakespeare • 2006 — Total Eclipse — Paul Verlaine — Christopher Hampton — reading at Royal Court Theatre • 2007 — The Pain and the Itch — Clay — Bruce Norris — Royal Court Theatre • 2010 — Private Lives — Elyot Chase — Noël Coward — Vaudeville Theatre • 2013 — Perfect Nonsense — Jeeves — David and Robert Goodale — Duke of York's Theatre

• Year — Title — Author — Notes — Ref. • 2000 — The Voyage of the Beagle — Charles Darwin — BBC Radio 4 • 2001 — Trampoline — Meredith Oakes — BBC Radio 4 • 2004 — The Coma — Alex Garland — audio book • Getting Away From It: The Island — Tim Pears — BBC Radio 4 • 2005 — Stories We Could Tell — Tony Parsons — audio book • 2007 — The Making of Music — BBC Radio 4 • 2025 — Harry Potter — J. K. Rowling — Audible

• Year — Title — Notes — Ref. • 2003 — Essential Poems (To Fall in Love With) — BBC Two • 2004 — The Hungerford Massacre — BBC One • 2006 — The 9/11 Liars — Channel 4 • Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial — BBC Two • 2007 — The Blair Years — BBC One • Last Party at the Palace — Channel 4 • 2008 — Dangerous Jobs for Girls • Words of War — ITV1 • 2009 — Wine — BBC Four • Inside MI5 — ITV1 • 2014 — Horse Power — Sky Atlantic

• Year — Title — Role — Ref. • 2007 — Robin Hood's Quest — Robin Hood