Rory Kinnear

Rory Kinnear
Kinnear in 2012
Born	17 February 1978 London, England
Alma mater	St Paul's School, London Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation	Actor, playwright
Years active	2000–present
Partner(s)	Pandora Colin
Children	2
Parent(s)	Roy Kinnear Carmel Cryan

Rory Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.

He is best known for playing Bill Tanner in the James Bond films Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre, and in various video games of the franchise. He is the youngest actor to play the role of Bill Tanner. He also won a Laurence Olivier Award for portraying Fopling Flutter in a 2008 version of The Man of Mode, and a British Independent Film Award for his performance in the 2012 film Broken. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Shakespeare's villain Iago in the National Theatre production of Othello.

Early life

Kinnear was born in London, England, the son of actor Roy Kinnear and actress Carmel Cryan. He has two sisters, Kirsty and Karina. Through his father, a well-known British comedy actor, he is the grandson of the international rugby union and rugby league player Roy Muir Kinnear, and he is the godson of actor Michael Williams. Educated at Tower House School and St Paul's School, London, he read English at Balliol College, Oxford and then studied acting at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[1]

Career

Theatre

Kinnear's performances in Phyllida Lloyd's production of Mary Stuart and Trevor Nunn's Hamlet, in which he played Laertes, met with acclaim. He also achieved recognition as the outrageous Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode at the National Theatre, winning a Laurence Olivier Award and Ian Charleson Award. Other notable theatre work includes the lead in Thomas Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, the role of Pyotr in Gorky's Philistines and the role of Mitia in a stage adaptation of the Nikita Mikhalkov film Burnt by the Sun, all for the National Theatre.

In 2010, he played Angelo in Measure For Measure at the Almeida Theatre.^[2] Later in 2010 he played the title role in Hamlet at the National Theatre.^[3] The two portrayals won him the best actor award in the Evening Standard drama awards for 2010.^[4]

Kinnear appeared in The Last of the Haussmans by Stephen Beresford at the Royal National Theatre during the summer of 2012. The production was broadcast to cinemas around the world on 11 October 2012 through the National Theatre Live programme.^[5]

He starred as Iago opposite Adrian Lester in the title role of Othello in 2013 at the National Theatre throughout the summer of 2013. Both actors won the Best Actor award in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for their roles; the award is traditionally given to only one actor, but the judges were unable to choose between the pair.^[6]

In 2013, he wrote the play The Herd which premiered at Bush Theatre in London directed by Howard Davies.^[7] From September 2013 the Bush Theatre in London staged Rory's debut play.^[8] The play ran at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago beginning April 2, 2015. ^[9]

Opera

In February 2017 Kinnear makes his directing debut with The Winter's Tale, a new opera written by Ryan Wigglesworth and based on Shakespeare's play, for English National Opera.^[10]

Film

He currently portrays Bill Tanner in the Daniel Craig era James Bond film series after taking over from Michael Kitchen. He is the fourth person to play the character. He has appeared in Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). As well as the films, Kinnear also lends his voice and likeness to the Bond video games; GoldenEye 007 (2010), James Bond 007: Blood Stone (2010) and 007 Legends (2012).

TV

Further to his theatre work he received particularly positive reviews for his sympathetic portrayal of Denis Thatcher in The Long Walk to Finchley (2008), a BBC dramatisation of the early years of Margaret Thatcher's political career, which also starred Andrea Riseborough and Samuel West.

He also starred alongside Lucy Punch and Toby Stephens in the BBC Two series Vexed. Broadcast on 19 October 2010, he was the co-lead in the BBC4 TV drama, The First Men in the Moon written by and co-starring Mark Gatiss.

In 2011, he provided narration during the BBC Proms production of 'Henry V – suite' arranged by Muir Mathieson during their Film Music Prom.^[11] He appeared in the lead role of Prime Minister Michael Callow in 'The National Anthem', the first instalment of Charlie Brooker's miniseries Black Mirror.^[12]

In July 2012, Kinnear appeared as Bolingbroke in Richard II, a BBC Two adaptation of the play of the same name, with Ben Whishaw as King Richard and Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt.^[13]

He starred in the BBC series Count Arthur Strong as Michael and also appeared in the Channel 4 drama Southcliffe.

In December 2013 he appeared as the main character Lord Lucan in the two-part ITV series Lucan.

He appeared as Frankenstein's monster in the Showtime television series Penny Dreadful, which premiered 11 May 2014.^[14]

Radio

In 2010, he played Flugkapitän Jürgen Rahl in the BBC Radio drama Slipstream as a disaffected German pilot who joins a mission to steal an alien spacecraft harboured by the Nazis.

Personal life

Kinnear is engaged to actress Pandora Colin.^[15] The couple have a son, Riley, born in 2010 and a daughter, Hope, born in 2014.^[16][17]

Selected credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	The Seagull	Konstantin	stage play: Theatre Royal, Northampton
2002	The Tempest	Caliban	stage play: Theatre Royal, Plymouth
2003	The Taming of the Shrew	Tranio	stage play: RSC
2003	The Tamer Tamed		stage play: RSC
2003	Cymbeline	1st Lord	stage play: RSC
2004	Festen	Michael	stage play: Almeida
2004	Hamlet	Laertes	stage play: The Old Vic
2005	Mary Stuart	Mortimer	stage play: Donmar Warehouse
2005	Silent Witness "The Meaning of Death"	Paul	BBC series
2006	Southwark Fair	Simon	stage play: NT
2007	Five Days	Kyle Betts	BBC/HBO TV series
2007	Mansfield Park	James Rushworth	TV film
2007	The Man of Mode	Sir Fopling Fluter	stage play: NT
2007	Philistines	Pyotr	stage play: NT
2008	The Curse of Steptoe	Alan Simpson	TV film
2008	The Revenger's Tragedy	Vindice	stage play: NT
2008	The Long Walk to Finchley	Denis Thatcher	TV film
2008	Quantum of Solace	Bill Tanner	feature film
2009	Burnt by the Sun	Mitia	stage play: NT
2009	Waking the Dead		TV guest role
2009	Wish 143		short film
2009	Ashes to Ashes	Jeremy (psychoanalyst)	TV series
2010	Measure For Measure	Angelo	stage play: Almeida Theatre, London)
2010	Lennon Naked	Brian Epstein	BBC Four
2010	Vexed	Dan Bishop	BBC Two
2010	GoldenEye 007	Bill Tanner	voice, video game
2010	James Bond 007: Blood Stone	Bill Tanner	voice
2010	Hamlet	Hamlet	stage play: National Theatre, London)
2010	The First Men in the Moon	Julius Bedford	feature film
2011	Women in Love	Rupert Birkin	BBC series
2011	Black Mirror: The National Anthem	Prime Minister Michael Callow
2012	The Mystery of Edwin Drood	Reverend Septimus Crisparkle
2012	007 Legends	Bill Tanner	voice
2012	Skyfall
2012	The Hollow Crown, episode 1 Richard II	Bolingbroke
2012	Last of the Haussmans	Nick	stage play:National Theatre, London)
2012	Broken	Bob Oswald
2013	Othello	Iago	stage play: National Theatre, London
2013	Count Arthur Strong	Michael	BBC Two sitcom written by Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan
2013	Southcliffe	David Whitehead	TV mini-series, Channel 4
2013	Lucan	Lord Lucan	TV two-part series, ITV
2014	Cuban Fury	Gary
2014	Penny Dreadful	The Creature	TV series
2014	The Imitation Game	Detective Nock[18]
2015	The Casual Vacancy	Barry Fairbrother
2015	Man Up[19]	Sean
2015	Spectre	Bill Tanner
2015	Trespass Against Us
2015	The Trial	K	stage play: Young Vic, London

References

1. "Rory Kinnear: Good show, sweet prince". London Evening Standard. November 29, 2010.
2. Bamigboye, Baz (26 September 2009). "Gemma Arterton takes her bow in West End debut". Daily Mail (London).
3. "National Theatre's 2010 Ł10 Season to Feature Grandage Debut and Kinnear's Hamlet". Playbill.com. 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2012-10-18.
4. Brown, Mark (29 November 2010). "Kinnear and Carroll land top theatre awards". The Guardian (London).
5. "The Last of the Haussmans". National Theatre. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2012-10-18.
6. Kennedy, Maev (17 November 2013). "Othello and Iago share best actor prize in London Evening Standard awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
7. Billington, Michael. "The Herd". The Guardian.
8. http://www.bushtheatre.co.uk
9. "Steppenwolf Theatre". Retrieved 26 March 2015.
10. Hemley, Matthew (5 May 2016). "Rory Kinnear to make directorial debut as part of ENO’s 2016/17 season". The Stage. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
11. "Proms - Proms 2011". BBC. Retrieved 2012-10-18.
12. "Charlie Brooker: the dark side of our gadget addiction". 2011-12-01.
13. Mike Watkins (May 2011). "BBC Two to air Shakespeare works Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V". ATV Guide. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
14. Reiher, Andrea (January 16, 2014). "'Penny Dreadful,' 'Nurse Jackie' and 'Californication' get premiere dates". Zap2It. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
15. "Rory Kinnear: why he made the headlines in 2010". The Guardian.
16. "Rory Kinnear on writing his first play". London Evening Standard.
17. "Olivier Awards 2014: Rory Kinnear beats Jude Law and Tom Hiddleston to Best Actor for Othello". The Independent.
18. http://www.screendaily.com/5060461.article
19. Kemp, Stuart (21 January 2014). "Olivia Williams, Rory Kinnear, Stephen Campbell Moore Join British Rom-Com 'Man Up'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 16 May 2014.

External links

• Rory Kinnear at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with The Observer
• Wish 143 - short film starring Rory Kinnear
• The First Men in the Moon