Tom Hollander

Thomas Anthony Hollander (born 25 August 1967) is a British actor who has gained success for his roles on stage and screen, winning BAFTA and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Thomas Anthony Hollander was born on 25 August 1967 in Bristol and was raised in Oxford.

Hollander's father is a Czech Jew whose family converted to Catholicism, and his mother is English.

Hollander was brought up as a Christian.

The family background was academic and musical: his grandfather, Hans Hollander, was a musicologist who wrote books about the composer Janáček.

Hollander's parents were teachers, his father running the science department at a school in Oxford.

He attended the Dragon School, and then Abingdon School, both in Oxfordshire, where he was chief chorister.

As a youngster, he was a member of the National Youth Theatre and the National Youth Music Theatre (then known as the Children's Music Theatre).

In 1981, at the age of 14, he won the lead role in a BBC dramatisation of Leon Garfield's John Diamond.

Hollander read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge, earning a 2:2 degree.

He was actively involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Society.

Sam Mendes, a friend and fellow student, directed him in several plays while they were at Cambridge, including a critically acclaimed production of Cyrano de Bergerac (which also featured future Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg).

Hollander made his television debut at the age of 14 acting in the television film John Diamond (1981).

Hollander trained with National Youth Theatre and won the Ian Charleson Award in 1992 for his performance as Witwoud in The Way of the World.

Hollander won the 1992 Ian Charleson Award for his performance as Witwoud in The Way of the World at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.

Hollander's other early roles in television include Jonathan in the BBC drama series Harry (1993 to 1995), Paolo Ferruzzi in the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1996), and Osborne Hamley in the BBC miniseries Wives and Daughters (1999).

He had also received a special commendation for his 1996 performance of the title role in Tartuffe at the Almeida Theatre.

In all, Hollander has been the most frequent Ian Charleson Award honoree, with four appearances at the awards: one win, two commendations and one special commendation.

In 1996 he made his Broadway debut acting in David Hare's The Judas Kiss portraying Lord Alfred Douglas opposite Liam Neeson as Oscar Wilde.

Hollander made his film debut in 1996 film Some Mother's Son starring Helen Mirren about the 1981 Irish hunger strike.

That same year he starred in the sports drama True Blue (1996).

He had been nominated and commended the previous year for his Celia in an all-male production of As You Like It for Cheek by Jowl, and was again nominated and commended for his Khlestakov in The Government Inspector at the Almeida Theatre in 1997.

He made his Broadway debut in the David Hare play The Judas Kiss in 1998.

His performance as Henry Carr in a revival of the Tom Stoppard play Travesties earned nominations for both the Olivier and Tony.

He then acted in the British romantic comedy Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998), and the comedy drama Bedrooms and Hallways (1998), and the comedy The Clandestine Marriage (1999).

Other film roles include Gosford Park (2001), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Valkyrie (2008), In the Loop (2009), Hanna (2011), About Time (2013), The Invisible Woman (2013), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).

Hollander portrayed King George V in The Lost Prince (2001), King George III in the HBO miniseries John Adams (2008), and Truman Capote in the FX on Hulu series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024).

In 2001 Hollander acted in Robert Altman's British murder mystery Gosford Park and Michael Apted's thriller Enigma.

In 2003 he portrayed George V in the BBC One film The Lost Prince and Guy Burgess in the BBC Two miniseries Cambridge Spies.

Hollander has undertaken a number of voice roles for BBC Radio, including Mosca in 2004's Volpone for BBC Radio 3, Frank Churchill in Jane Austen's Emma and as Mr Gently Benevolent in the pilot of the Dickensian parody Bleak Expectations for BBC Radio 4, although he did not take part in the full series.

He has voiced a young Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man", a disembodied head named Enzio in an urban gothic comedy and Leon Theremin, the Russian inventor famous for the electronic instrument that bears his name.

Hollander gained attention portraying Mr. Collins in the 2005 Joe Wright film Pride & Prejudice, and as Lord Cutler Beckett in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

He had a memorable role as Mr. Collins in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005), a film adaptation of the Jane Austen novel of the same name.

for which he received the Evening Standard Film Awards Comedy Award, and London Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor.

He has worked repeatedly with Michael Gambon and Bill Nighy, and is a good friend of James Purefoy.

Although highly respected as a character actor and the recipient of several awards, many of Hollander's films will still play on his height (5' 5" / 165 cm). Hollander has created several memorable comedic characters that draw more on his physical energy and intensity than his height, such as the "brilliantly foul-mouthed" Leon in BBC Two's Freezing, described in The Times as a "braying swirl of ego and mania".

In television, Hollander starred in BBC sitcom Rev. (2010–2014), which he co-wrote.

He received the 2011 BAFTA Award for best sitcom for the series.

His performance in the BBC series The Night Manager earned the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Other credits include Doctor Thorne (2016), The White Lotus (2022), and Harley Quinn (2020–present).