| Born | 2 November 1978 Tunbridge Wells, England |
|---|---|
| Years active | 2000–present |
Oliver Chris (born 2 November 1978) is an English actor from Tunbridge Wells.
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He passed his Eleven plus exam and attended Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys before moving to the Michael Hall Steiner School in his fourth year. He later attended the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 2005 he completed an evening class at Birkbeck College and was subsequently accepted for a degree course in history, politics and philosophy.[1]
He has appeared in several comedy series, including The Office, Green Wing, According to Bex, Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd and Rescue Me. He appeared as the character Boyce in both the first and second series of Green Wing.[2]
In 2004, he re-wrote the lyrics to the Beatles' "Let It Be" to a song about the England football player Wayne Rooney and recorded it in collaboration with the actor Stephen Campbell Moore and a number of other actors and journalists. The song was reprised and re-recorded, with rewritten lyrics, for the 2006 Fifa World Cup and became a hit on YouTube, with 200,000 hits.
He has also orated most of the "Alex Rider" series of audiobooks by Anthony Horowitz, although Dan Stevens replaced him as reader for Snakehead, Crocodile Tears and Scorpia Rising.
In early 2006 he played the role of Captain Leonard in Sharpe's Challenge, starring Sean Bean, while 2007 has seen him in the TV comedy Bonkers, written by Sally Wainwright as well as a drunken Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew at the Wilton's Music Hall.[3][4] He later appeared in Peter Hall's production of The Portrait of a Lady. He then made his West End debut in late 2008 in Lisa Kron's comedy, Well.[5] In 2010 he appeared alongside Judi Dench in Hall's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Rose Theatre, Kingston.[6]
He was also cast in Ben Miller's feature-length debut comedy film, Huge, which premiered in June 2010.[7] 2011 has seen him appear in two episodes of Silent Witness, whilst also playing one of the leading roles in the National Theatre production of One Man, Two Guvnors alongside James Corden.
Chris has been in a relationship with fellow actor Rachael Stirling since 2007.[8]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Lorna Doone | Charley Doone | TV film |
| 2001 | The Office | Ricky Howard | 6 episodes |
| 2002 | The Gathering | Brett | |
| 2002 | Rescue Me | Luke Chatwin | Series regular |
| 2002 | The Real Jane Austen | Tom Lefroy | |
| 2003 | The Other Boleyn Girl | Henry Percy | TV film |
| 2003 | Casualty | Tim Lasky | 1 episode: "The Point of No Return" |
| 2003 | Sweet Medicine | Geoff | Episode 1.8 |
| 2003 | Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster | Percy Bysshe Shelley | TV film |
| 2004 | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Director in Gallery | |
| 2004–2006 | Green Wing | Boyce | 18 episodes |
| 2005 | Nathan Barley | Max Herbert | Series regular |
| 2005 | According to Bex | Ryan | Series regular |
| 2006 | The IT Crowd | Daniel Carey | 1 episode: 'Fifty-Fifty' |
| 2006 | Sharpe's Challenge | Leonard | TV film |
| 2006 | Tripping Over | Sam | 4 episodes |
| 2006 | Corpse | Kevin Brown | Short film |
| 2007 | Bonkers | Marcus Lewis | Series regular |
| 2008 | Fairy Tales | Vukoosin Ergovich | TV mini-series, 1 episode: 'Rapunzel' |
| 2008 | Hotel Babylon | David Duncan | Episode 3.1 |
| 2009 | FM | Matt Kyle | 1 episode: 'Blinded by the Light' |
| 2010 | Huge | Darren | Post-production |
| 2011 | Silent Witness | Dr. James Sabiston | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | One Man, Two Guvnors | Stanley Stubbers |