Rory Kinnear

Rory Kinnear Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: February 17, 1978

Age: 46 years old

Birth Place: Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Born into show business, Rory Kinnear took an early tragedy at age 10 and turned it into a multiple award-winning career that includes what many consider one of the greatest interpretation of Shakespeare's Iago that has ever graced British stages. Rory Kinnear was born on February 17, 1978 into a London-based entertainment family, the son of actors Roy Kinnear and Carmel Cryan, and the grandson of famous rugby player Roy Muir Kinnear. A comic performer best known to audiences as Veruca Salt's father in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971), father Roy died tragically in 1988 after a horse-riding accident on the set of Richard Lester's "The Return of the Musketeers," leading to a £650,000 settlement between the family and the production team. (Lester, who made "A Hard Day's Night" (1965) among other acclaimed films, never directed again.) Unsure of whether he wanted to follow his parents into their line of work, Kinnear studied English at that Balliol School at Oxford University with interest in becoming a lawyer. But in his early 20s, he started to feel a connection with his dad. As he told The Telegraph, "I did definitely feel a responsibility to be like him. Not so much as an actor; more as a human being. But perhaps I also felt that my becoming an actor was a way of getting to know him better." He applied to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and upon completed his two-year program, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for such plays as "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Cymbeline." Kinnear's sights were set on the Royal National Theatre in South Bank, London, where he remembered sitting in the audience with his father and "seeing Anthony Hopkins in 'Pravda' and Ian Charleston in 'Hamlet'" (Beyond the Joke). After debuting on the famed stage in 2006's "Southwark Fair," he received raves for his outrageous performance as Sir Fopling Flutter opposite Tom Hardy and Hayley Atwell in "The Man of Mode," Nicholas Hynter's update of the 16th century restoration comedy. He won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor that year, and won Best Actor six years later for his simmering performance as Iago in "Othello." Continuing to work at the National Theatre (often under the direction of Howard Davies, who also directed Kinnear's original play "The Herd" in 2013), he concurrently began appearing regularly on British television, most notably as Denis Thatcher in BBC Four's "Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley," Beatles manager Brian Epstein in BBC Four's "Lennon Naked," reporter David Whitehead in Channel 4's "Southcliffe," and a truly strange role as a zoophilic Prime Minister on the pilot of Channel 4's "Black Mirror." His most well-known role to date, however, is MI6 Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in the Daniel Craig James Bond films, including "Quantum of Solace" (2008) and "Skyfall" (2012). series, both on film and in video games spinoffs. He was next seen as Frankenstein's Creature on the horror series "Penny Dreadful" (Showtime 2014-16).

Credits

The DiplomatStream

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Bank of DaveStream

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Men: Extras

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Show
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Men

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Geoffrey
Movie
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A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint

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Edward Williams
Show
2021

Ridley RoadStream

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Colin Jordan
Miniseries
2021
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No Time to DieStream

Actor
Tanner
Movie
2021
83%

Penny Dreadful: City of AngelsStream

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Dr. Peter Craft
Series
2020
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Catherine the GreatStream

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Minister Panin
Miniseries
2019
68%

Catherine the Great: Episode 1 FREE

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Show
2019

Years and YearsStream

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Stephen Lyons
Series
2019
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Brexit: The Uncivil War

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Craig Oliver
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A Ghost Story for Christmas

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Edward Williams
Show
2018

Watership DownStream

Voice
Cowslip
Miniseries
2018
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Peterloo

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Henry Hunt
Movie
2018

Quacks

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Robert
Show
2017

GuerrillaStream

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Chief Inspector Pence
Series
2017
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iBoy

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Movie
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Trespass Against UsStream

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P.C. Lovage
Movie
2016
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The Casual VacancyStream

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Barry Fairbrother
Miniseries
2015
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SpectreStream

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Movie
2015
63%

Man UpStream

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Sean
Movie
2015
80%

The Casual Vacancy

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Barry Fairbrother
Movie
2015

Dinner at 11

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Show
2014

Penny DreadfulStream

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The Creature
Series
2014
91%

Inside No. 9Stream

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Prince Rico
Series
2014
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The Imitation GameStream

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Det. Robert Nock
Movie
2014
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Cuban Fury

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Movie
2014

Lucan

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Lord Lucan
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2013

SouthcliffeStream

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Miniseries
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Count Arthur Strong

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Loving Miss Hatto

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Show
2012

Afternoon Drama

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Show
2012

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

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Show
2012

SkyfallStream

Actor
Bill Tanner
Movie
2012
92%

Loving Miss Hatto

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Young Barrington Coupe
Movie
2012

Broken

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Bob Oswald
Movie
2012

Black MirrorStream

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Series
2011
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Love Stories

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Alexei Karenin
Show
2011

Women in Love

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Rupert Birkin
Show
2011

The First Men in the Moon

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2010

Wild Target

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Gerry Bailey
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2010

Wish 143

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Wishman
Movie
2010

Women in Love

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Movie
2010

Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley

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Denis Thatcher
Show
2009

Ashes to Ashes

Guest Star
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2008

Messiah 5: The Rapture

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Stewart Dean
Show
2008

Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley

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Denis Thatcher
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The One Show

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2006

The Thick of ItStream

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2005

Secret Smile

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Nick
Movie
2005

Judas

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Andrew
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2004

The Radio 4 Appeal

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2002

Menace

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Kevin
Movie
2002

Messiah

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Show
2001

Great PerformancesStream

Actor
Franchise
1972

Great PerformancesStream

Guest
Franchise
1972

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