Toby Stephens
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| Toby Stephens | |
 Toby Stephens in Die Another Day |
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| Born | April 21, 1969 (age 37) London, England |
| Spouse(s) | Anna-Louise Plowman |
Toby Stephens (born April 21, 1969) is an English stage, television and film actor, best known for playing supervillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002) and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (2006).
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[edit] Biography
Stephens, the son of actors Maggie Smith and the late Robert Stephens, was born in London, England. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and began his film career with the role of Othello in 1992's Orlando. He has since made regular appearances on television (including in The Camomile Lawn) and on stage.
He has gained acclaim as a stage actor of distinction, notably playing the title role in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus shortly after graduation from LAMDA; that same season he played Claudio in Measure for Measure for the RSC. He also played Stanley Kowalski in a West End production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and Hamlet in 2004. He has appeared on Broadway in Ring Round the Moon. He played the lead in the film Photographing Fairies and played Orsino in Trevor Nunn's film of Twelfth Night. He recently played the role of a British army captain in the 2005 Indian movie, Mangal Pandey: The Rising, portraying events in the Indian rebellion of 1857 and a renegade British East India Company officer in Sharpe's Challenge.
In Autumn 2006 he starred as Edward Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and has recently completed filming The Wild West for the BBC in which he plays General George Armstrong Custer in Custer's Last Stand.
On 22nd November 2006 The Daily Mail announced that New Zealand actress Anna-Louise Plowman, wife of Toby Stephens (since 2001) is expecting their first child in the spring of 2007.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2006 | Severance (film) | Harris | Directed by Christopher Smith |
| 2006 | Dark Corners | Dr Woodleigh | Directed by Ray Gower |
| 2005 | Mangal Pandey: The Rising | Captain William Gordon | Directed by Ketan Mehta |
| 2002 | Die Another Day | Gustav Graves | Directed by Lee Tamahori |
| 2001 | Possession | Fergus Wolfe | Directed by Neil LaBute |
| 2000 | Space Cowboys | Frank | Directed by Clint Eastwood |
| 2000 | The Announcement | Ross | Directed by Troy Miller |
| 1999 | Onegin | Vladimir Lensky | Directed by Martha Fiennes |
| 1998 | Cousin Bette | Victorin Hulot | Directed by Des McAnuff |
| 1997 | Photographing Fairies | Charles Castle | Directed by Nick Willing |
| 1997 | Sunset Heights | Luke Bradley | Directed by Colm Villa |
| 1996 | Twelfth Night | Duke Orsino | Directed by Trevor Nunn |
| 1992 | Orlando | Othello | Directed by Sally Potter |
[edit] Television
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2007 | The Wild West - Custer's Last Stand | General George Armstrong Custer | BBC series. Filmed in South Dakota, summer 2006 |
| 2006 | Jane Eyre | Edward Fairfax Rochester | Written by Sandy Welch based on the book by Charlotte Bronte |
| 2006 | Sharpe's Challenge | William Dodd | Written by Russell Lewis based on the book by Bernard Cornwell |
| 2006 | The Best Man | Peter | Written by Russell Lewis |
| 2005 | The Queen’s Sister | Anthony Armstrong Jones | Written by Craig Warner |
| 2005 | Waking the Dead (TV series), | Dr Nick Henderson | Written by Barbara Machin and Ed Whitmore |
| 2004 | London (television) | Casanova | Written by Peter Ackroyd and Chris Granlund |
| 2003 | Poirot Five Little Pigs | Philip Blake | Written by Kevin Elyot based on the book by Agatha Christie |
| 2003 | Cambridge Spies | Kim Philby | Written by Peter Moffat |
| 2003 | Essential Byron | Reader | Dramatised documentary focusing on poet Lord Byron's work |
| 2002 | Napoleon | Tsar Alexander I | Written by Didier Decoin based on the book by Max Gallo |
| 2001 | Perfect Strangers (BBC TV series) | Charles | Written by Steven Poliakoff |
| 2000 | The Great Gatsby | Jay Gatsby | Written by John McLaughlin based on the book by F Scott Fitzgerald |
| 1996 | The Tenant of Wildfell Hall | Gilbert Markham | Written by Janet Barron based on the book by Anne Bronte |
| 1992 | The Camomile Lawn | Oliver | Written by Kenneth Taylor based on the book by Mary Wesley |
[edit] Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2004 | Hamlet | Hamlet | Directed by Michael Boyd (RSC) |
| 2004 | The Pilate Workshop | Jesus | Directed by Michael Boyd (RSC) |
| 2001 | The Royal Family | Anthony Cavendish | Directed by Sir Peter Hall (The Haymarket) |
| 2001 | Japes | Japes | Directed by Sir Peter Hall |
| 1999 | Ring Round the Moon | Hugo/Frederick | Directed by Gerry Gutterrez (Lincoln Center Theatre NY) |
| 1998/99 | Britannicus | Nero | Directed by Jonathen Kent (Almeida & Brooklyn Academy) |
| 1998/99 | Phedre | Hippolytus | Directed by Jonathen Kent (Almeida & Brooklyn Academy) |
| 1996 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stanley Kowalski | Directed by Sir Peter Hall (The Haymarket) |
| 1994 | Measure for Measure | Claudio | Directed by Steven Pimlott (RSC) |
| 1994 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Lysander | Directed by Adrian Noble (RSC) |
| 1994 | Coriolanus | Coriolanus | Directed by David Thacker (RSC) |
| 1994 | Unfinished Business | Beamish | Directed by Steven Pimlott (RSC) |
| 1993 | Walenstein | Max Piccolomini | Directed by Tim Albery (RSC) |
| 1992 | All's Well That Ends Well | Bertram | Directed by Sir Peter Hall (RSC) |
| 1992 | Anthony and Cleopatra | Pompey | Directed by John Caird (RSC) |
| 1992 | Tamburlaine | Celebinus/King of Algier | Directed by Terry Hands (RSC) |
| 1992 | Tartuffe | Damies | Directed by Sir Peter Hall (Playhouse) |
[edit] Radio and CD Audio Drama
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2005 | Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick | BBC dramatised recording |
| 2004 | Will in the World | Reader | A reconstruction of Shakespeare's life & era |
| 2003 | Dionysos | King Pentheus | BBC dramatised recording with Paul Scofield |
| 2002 | Aeneid | Aeneas | Virgil's Classical Poem abridged by James Burbidge with Paul Scofield |
| 2002 | The Woman in White | Walter Hartright | BBC dramatised recording |
| 2002 | The Riddle of the Sands | Narrator | Penguin Audio Book |
| 2001 | King Lear | Edmund | Paul Scofield is King Lear |
| 2000 | Conversations with Napoleon | Reader | The words of Napoleon Bonaparte |
| 1998 | The Troy Trilogy | Achilles | 3 x 90 minute plays for the BBC with Paul Scofield |
| 1997 | Anna Karenina | Count Vronsky | BBC dramatised recording |
| 1997 | France 1910 | Stephen Wraysford | BBC three part Sebastian Faulks drama |
| 1997 | The Guns of Navarone | Mallory | BBC two part dramatised recording |
| 1997 | The Lifted Veil | Latimer | BBC dramatised recording |
| 1997 | As You Like It | Orlando | BBC dramatised recording |
| 1995 | The Prince's Choice | Not known | A selection from Shakespeare's works |
| 1994 | Time and the Conways | Robin | By J.B. Priestley |
| Not known | Tales from the Arabian Nights | Narrator | Includes Aladdin and His Magic Lamp, Sinbad and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves |
[edit] Awards
- 1994 — Ian Charleson Award (best classical actor under 30): Coriolanus
- 1994 — Sir John Gielgud Award (best actor): Coriolanus
- 1999 — Theatre World Award (debut performance on Broadway): Ring Round the Moon
[edit] External links
- Toby Stephens Fan SiteThe Ultimate Toby Stephens Fan Site
- RSC Hamlet websiteIncludes clips of Toby Stephens and the cast rehearsing the 2004 production of Hamlet.
- Switzer's Guide to Hamlet Backstage story of Toby Stephens' RSC Hamlet performance from an extra's viewpoint.
- Toby Stephens at the Internet Movie Database
- Toby Stephens Agent's page
- Toby Stephens You Tube Group
[edit] Interviews and articles
- The Independent - Theatre Debut - Toby Stephens (7 February,2001)
- The Evening Standard - Toby's Second Act (15 November,2002)
- The Sunday Telegraph - Villain with a past (16 December,2002)
- The Independent on Sunday - This Cultural Life (5 December,2004)
- The Independent - How do I look? (13 August,2005)
- The Telegraph - The perils of being posh on TV (16 March,2006)
- The Independent - Toby Stephens (18 March,2006)
- The Evening Standard - The Eyre Affair (22 September,2006)
- The Evening Standard - Why I Fled From Mr Rochester (13 October,2006)
| Preceded by Sophie Marceau & Robert Carlyle |
Official James Bond villain actor 2002 |
Succeeded by Mads Mikkelsen |
