Rupert Penry-Jones
Born: 22nd September 1970; London, UK
Nationality: British Height: 6' 2" (1.88 m) Spouse(s): Dervla Kerwin (2007 – present) Children: 1 daughter; Florence & 1 son; Peter Character in Spooks: Adam Carter Rupert William Penry-Jones was born in London to Welsh actor Peter Penry-Jones and English actress Angela Thorne. (His brother Laurence Penry-Jones and sister-in-law Polly Walker are also actors.) He was educated at Dulwich College in south-east London, where he struggled at school as a result of his dyslexia, until age 17. He was enrolled at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, only to be expelled in his second year for being a bad influence. He paid his way through two years of being an unemployed actor by modelling, having been scouted by Storm in a café when he was a sixth former. He did the Paris and Milan shows and was also, briefly, the face of Lypsyl lip balm. |
He made his London stage debut at the Hackney Empire theatre in 1995 playing Fortinbras to Ralph Fiennes's Hamlet in an Almeida production of Hamlet. Also in this year, he appeared with his mother on television in Cold Comfort Farm.
He was cast as Richard in the premiere staging of Stephen Poliakoff's Sweet Panic at Hampstead Theatre in 1996. The following year he appeared in both The Paper Husband at Hampstead Theatre and as the upper-class Pip Thompson in a revival of Arnold Wesker's Chips with Everything on the Lyttelton stage at the Royal National Theatre.
In 1998, he created the role of the Boy in Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby at the Almeida Theatre. In 1999, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon, playing the title role in Don Carlos at The Other Place theatre and Alcibiades in Timon of Athens at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Both productions transferred to the Barbican Centre in London in 2000, where his performance as Don Carlos won the Ian Charleson Award.
At the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in 2001 he was cast as Robert Caplan in J.B. Priestley's thriller "time-play" Dangerous Corner opposite Dervla Kirwan, who played Olwen Peel. The production then transferred for a four-month run at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. Rupert and Dervla began a romantic relationship shortly after this.
From July to October 2003 at the National's Cottesloe Theatre he played the leading role of Louis XIV in Nick Dear's historical drama Power. He returned to the theatre at the end of 2009 playing the role of Carl in Michael Wynne's new play The Priory at the Royal Court Theatre, London, from November 2009 to January 2010.
On television, he has played barrister Alex Hay in C4's ten-part serial North Square in 2000; Donald McLean in the BBC's four-part production of Cambridge Spies in 2003; and Grimani in Russell T. Davies' production of Casanova in 2005.
In 2004, he joined the cast of Spooks. He played the lead role of section leader Adam Carter for four series before leaving the show in 2008. He won ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards for his role in Spooks in 2008.
He also went on to play the role of Captain Wentworth in ITV's adaptation of Persuasion. In 2008, he starred with Bradley Whitford and Neve Campbell in Burn Up playing an oil executive who becomes embroiled in the politics surrounding global warming and oil stocks. He played Richard Hannay in the BBC adaptation of The 39 Steps which was screened at Christmas 2008.
In 2009, he was cast as the lead in the unaired ABC pilot The Forgotten but was unceremoniously replaced when the pilot was picked up and replaced by Christian Slater. Penry-Jones was apparently devastated and proceeded to give a number of interviews in the UK in which he attacked the US television industry. To make matters worse, his father became seriously ill as Rupert flew out for the screen test. He arrived home just 10 minutes before his father slipped into a coma and died.
In February 2009, he took the lead in an ITV drama, Whitechapel, a three-part thriller based on the copycat killings of Jack the Ripper. A second series of the show based around the Kray twins was broadcast in autumn 2010; the third series began in January 2012 and a fourth is due to air in late 2013. Penry-Jones was also cast opposite Maxine Peake in a legal drama Silk created by Peter Moffat. The show revolves around two barristers, played by Penry-Jones and Peake who are competing to become QCs.
He is the narrator of "The Flashman Papers" on audio CD. He is also the narrator of the the audio-books to Philippa Gregory's "The Virgin's Lover" and Ann Widdecombe's "Father Figure".
He was scheduled to appear alongside other celebrities in Soccer Aid 2010, but broke a bone in his knee during training, putting him in a plaster cast and ruling him out of the final match on 6 June 2010.
He appeared on the BBC’s genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are and discovered that his maternal grandfather, William, had served with the Indian Army Medical Corps at the Battle of Monte Cassino; treating over 1,500 casualties, and saving hundreds of lives. He also discovered that he had Anglo-Indian ancestry from the early 19th century.
He married actress Dervla Kirwan in August 2007, following a three-year engagement. They live in Hampshire with their two children: a daughter, Florence (born 2004), and a son, Peter (born 2006).
You can find a full filmography for Rupert Penry-Jones at IMDb.
He was cast as Richard in the premiere staging of Stephen Poliakoff's Sweet Panic at Hampstead Theatre in 1996. The following year he appeared in both The Paper Husband at Hampstead Theatre and as the upper-class Pip Thompson in a revival of Arnold Wesker's Chips with Everything on the Lyttelton stage at the Royal National Theatre.
In 1998, he created the role of the Boy in Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby at the Almeida Theatre. In 1999, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon, playing the title role in Don Carlos at The Other Place theatre and Alcibiades in Timon of Athens at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Both productions transferred to the Barbican Centre in London in 2000, where his performance as Don Carlos won the Ian Charleson Award.
At the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in 2001 he was cast as Robert Caplan in J.B. Priestley's thriller "time-play" Dangerous Corner opposite Dervla Kirwan, who played Olwen Peel. The production then transferred for a four-month run at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. Rupert and Dervla began a romantic relationship shortly after this.
From July to October 2003 at the National's Cottesloe Theatre he played the leading role of Louis XIV in Nick Dear's historical drama Power. He returned to the theatre at the end of 2009 playing the role of Carl in Michael Wynne's new play The Priory at the Royal Court Theatre, London, from November 2009 to January 2010.
On television, he has played barrister Alex Hay in C4's ten-part serial North Square in 2000; Donald McLean in the BBC's four-part production of Cambridge Spies in 2003; and Grimani in Russell T. Davies' production of Casanova in 2005.
In 2004, he joined the cast of Spooks. He played the lead role of section leader Adam Carter for four series before leaving the show in 2008. He won ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards for his role in Spooks in 2008.
He also went on to play the role of Captain Wentworth in ITV's adaptation of Persuasion. In 2008, he starred with Bradley Whitford and Neve Campbell in Burn Up playing an oil executive who becomes embroiled in the politics surrounding global warming and oil stocks. He played Richard Hannay in the BBC adaptation of The 39 Steps which was screened at Christmas 2008.
In 2009, he was cast as the lead in the unaired ABC pilot The Forgotten but was unceremoniously replaced when the pilot was picked up and replaced by Christian Slater. Penry-Jones was apparently devastated and proceeded to give a number of interviews in the UK in which he attacked the US television industry. To make matters worse, his father became seriously ill as Rupert flew out for the screen test. He arrived home just 10 minutes before his father slipped into a coma and died.
In February 2009, he took the lead in an ITV drama, Whitechapel, a three-part thriller based on the copycat killings of Jack the Ripper. A second series of the show based around the Kray twins was broadcast in autumn 2010; the third series began in January 2012 and a fourth is due to air in late 2013. Penry-Jones was also cast opposite Maxine Peake in a legal drama Silk created by Peter Moffat. The show revolves around two barristers, played by Penry-Jones and Peake who are competing to become QCs.
He is the narrator of "The Flashman Papers" on audio CD. He is also the narrator of the the audio-books to Philippa Gregory's "The Virgin's Lover" and Ann Widdecombe's "Father Figure".
He was scheduled to appear alongside other celebrities in Soccer Aid 2010, but broke a bone in his knee during training, putting him in a plaster cast and ruling him out of the final match on 6 June 2010.
He appeared on the BBC’s genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are and discovered that his maternal grandfather, William, had served with the Indian Army Medical Corps at the Battle of Monte Cassino; treating over 1,500 casualties, and saving hundreds of lives. He also discovered that he had Anglo-Indian ancestry from the early 19th century.
He married actress Dervla Kirwan in August 2007, following a three-year engagement. They live in Hampshire with their two children: a daughter, Florence (born 2004), and a son, Peter (born 2006).
You can find a full filmography for Rupert Penry-Jones at IMDb.