Rory Kinnear

Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor.

Kinnear was born on 17 February 1978, in Hammersmith, London, the son of actor Roy Kinnear and actress Carmel Cryan.

He grew up with two older sisters, Karina and Kirsty.

He is the grandson of Scottish international rugby union and rugby league player Roy Kinnear and the godson of actor Michael Williams.

He was educated at Tower House School (leaving in 1991), St Paul's School, London, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied English.

He then studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Kinnear's performances in Phyllida Lloyd's production of Mary Stuart and Trevor Nunn's Hamlet, in which he played Laertes.

Kinnear appeared in the 2007 television film Mansfield Park, with Billie Piper and Michelle Ryan.

He won two Olivier Awards, both at the National Theatre, in 2008 for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode, and for playing the William Shakespeare villain Iago in Othello in 2014.

He played Bill Tanner in four James Bond films: Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021), and in various video games of the franchise.

He also achieved recognition as the outrageous Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode at the National Theatre, winning the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role and Ian Charleson Award.

His other notable theatre work includes the lead in Thomas Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, Pyotr in Maxim Gorky's Philistines, and Mitia in a stage adaptation of the Nikita Mikhalkov film Burnt by the Sun, all for the National Theatre.

He has appeared in Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021).

He followed this in 2008, with his portrayal of Denis Thatcher in a BBC dramatisation of Margaret Thatcher's political career, The Long Walk to Finchley, which also starred Andrea Riseborough and Samuel West.

In 2010, he played Angelo in Measure for Measure at the Almeida Theatre.

Later in 2010, he played the title role in Hamlet at the National Theatre.

The two portrayals won him the best actor award in the Evening Standard Drama Awards for 2010.

As well as the films, Kinnear also lends his voice and likeness to the Bond video games; GoldenEye 007 (2010), James Bond 007: Blood Stone (2010) and 007 Legends (2012).

in 2010, he starred alongside Lucy Punch and Toby Stephens in the BBC Two series Vexed.

The same year, he was the co-lead with Mark Gatiss in the BBC4 TV drama, The First Men in the Moon.

TV roles include Michael Callow in the debut episode of the anthology Black Mirror, The National Anthem (2011), Michael Baker in the sitcom Count Arthur Strong (2013–2017), Lord Lucan in the two-part thriller Lucan (2013), the Creature in the horror drama Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) and Stephen in the dystopian mini-series Years and Years (2019).

In 2011, he provided narration during the BBC Proms production of 'Henry V – suite' arranged by Muir Mathieson during their Film Music Prom.

His other film roles include Broken (2012), for which he won a British Independent Film Award, The Imitation Game (2014), Men (2022) and Bank of Dave (2023).

Kinnear appeared in The Last of the Haussmans by Stephen Beresford at the National Theatre during the summer of 2012.

It was broadcast to cinemas around the world on 11 October 2012 through the National Theatre Live programme.

He starred as Iago opposite Adrian Lester in the title role of Othello in 2013 at the National Theatre throughout the summer of 2013.

Both actors won the Best Actor award in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for their roles; it is normally given to only one actor, but the judges were unable to choose between them.

From September 2013, the Bush Theatre in London staged Kinnear's debut play The Herd, directed by Howard Davies.

Kinnear also won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor 2014, for his performance in Othello.

In 2014, he played the fictional character, Detective Nock, in The Imitation Game based loosely on the biography Alan Turing:The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.

It ran at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago beginning 2 April 2015.

For The Threepenny Opera (a "play with songs") at the Olivier Theatre from May to October 2016, Kinnear found his "dormant" singing voice for the role of Macheath.

In October 2017, he appeared in the title role of Young Marx, the premiere production at the Bridge Theatre.

In February 2017, he made his directing debut with The Winter's Tale, a new opera written by Ryan Wigglesworth and based on Shakespeare's play, for English National Opera.

Kinnear portrays Bill Tanner in the Daniel Craig–era James Bond film series after taking over from Michael Kitchen.

He is the fourth person to play the character.

In January 2017, he portrayed Ellmann in the Netflix film iBoy.

He returned to the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre to star in the title role in Macbeth with Anne-Marie Duff from February 2018.

He played Henry Hunt in Mike Leigh's 2018 film Peterloo. In 2022, he played Geoffrey, as well as most of the other male roles, in Alex Garland's A24 horror film Men .

In 2023, Kinnear starred as Burnley wannabe banker Dave Fishwick in the film Bank of Dave, released on Netflix in January 2023.