Tobias Menzies

Tobias Menzies
Menzies at the Outlander premiere in New York
Born	7 March 1974 London, England, U.K.
Education	Frensham Heights School Stratford-upon-Avon College
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1998–present

Tobias Menzies (born 7 March 1974) is an English stage, television and film actor. While working in theatre, he starred in television shows such as Rome (2005–2007) where he played Brutus and Game of Thrones (2013–2016) where he plays Edmure Tully. He is best known for his dual role as Frank Randall and Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall in Outlander (2014–present), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

Early years

Menzies was born in North London, England, the son of a teacher and a BBC producer.^[1]

Menzies attended the Perry Court Rudolf Steiner School in Canterbury, Kent, where he was trained in the Steiner System, which includes movement, singing and musical instrumentation. Next he attended the Frensham Heights School near Farnham in Surrey at the same time as Hattie Morahan and Jim Sturgess. He went on to attend Deborah Moody's Year Out Drama Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1993–94. He studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1998 with a BA in Acting degree.^[2]

Career

Menzies worked with the Spontaneity Shop, a British improv comedy company. He began his TV and film career in some of British television's most popular series, including Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders and Casualty. He also appeared in A Very Social Secretary directed by Jon Jones, which launched UK Channel 4's spin-off station, More4.

He is best known to international audiences for his starring role as Marcus Junius Brutus, Julius Caesar's friend and later co-assassin, in the award-winning HBO/BBC epic series Rome (2005–07).^[3]

Menzies had a major role in The Low Down with Aidan Gillen, and was featured in the 2006 reboot of the James Bond film franchise, Casino Royale, as M's aide, Villiers.

He has worked extensively on the stage, with credits including the young teacher Irwin in Alan Bennett's The History Boys (which Nicholas Hytner directed at the Royal National Theatre), and Michael Blakemore's West End production of Three Sisters for which he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award. Of his role in The History Boys, one reviewer wrote:

There is a remarkable performance, too, from Tobias Menzies as the slick supply-teacher historian, who believes academic success is merely a matter of tricks and spin. But Menzies also discovers a surprisingly attractive vulnerability in the character I missed the first time around.

— Charles Spencer, The Telegraph

Menzies played the title role in Rupert Goold's production of Hamlet, at the Royal Theatre, Northampton to an appreciative critical reception:

One of Shakespeare's greatest innovations was to dramatise people's thought processes: the articulation of the mind's search for meaning and identity. This is where Menzies' performance is most thrilling. He shows how language strives to express the self and to pin down the truth. Who am I? What do I think and feel? Menzies' delivery of the "To be or not to be..." speech burns with intelligence. This is one of the finest and most exciting Hamlets I’ve seen. Observe his face: it seems to mature, grow softer, more observant and expressive, and his death becomes a fulfilment as well as a failure

— John Peter, The Sunday Times

The Independent noted that Menzies, "enjoying his antic disposition ... plays the fool dazzlingly: a stage natural.... He gives it everything, even the fight."

In April 2007 Menzies appeared as William Elliot in ITV's production of Jane Austen's classic, Persuasion, and also played Peter Trifimov in The Cherry Orchard with Joanna Lumley (at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield). The Yorkshire Post said, "The one who burns the brightest is Tobias Menzies as the idealistic perpetual student Trofimov. His performance is breathtaking."

He appeared as Derrick Sington in Channel 4's dramatisation of The Relief of Belsen broadcast 15 October 2007 and then he filmed Forget Me Not, a Quicksilver Films production, in which he starred alongside Genevieve O'Reilly.^[4]

He also was the Home Secretary in the long-running television drama Spooks, since December 2009.

Menzies plays Edmure Tully, the heir to House Tully of Riverrun in HBO's Game of Thrones.

In 2012, he appeared in the political satire series The Thick of It during series 4 as Simon Weir, as part of the Goolding Inquiry.

In 2014, Menzies played Maggie Gyllenhaal's bodyguard, Nathaniel Bloom, in the TV mini-series The Honourable Woman.^[5] The same year, Menzies also began co-starring in the Starz period TV series, Outlander as two characters: Frank Randall, a 20th-century historian, and Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, his brutal 18th-century ancestor.^[6][7][8]

Filmography

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	A Nice Little Holiday	Tony Richardson	BBC Radio 4
2011	Now All Roads Lead to France	Narrator	BBC Radio 4
2012	John Charrington's Wedding	Narrator	BBC Radio 4 Extra
2013	Plays inspired by James Lees-Milne diaries: Sometimes into the Arms of God The Unending Battle What England Owes	James Lees-Milne	BBC Radio 4
2013	Serious Money	Zak Zackerman	BBC Radio 3
2014	As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning	Narrator	BBC Radio 4
2015	Landmarks	Narrator	BBC Radio 4
2015	Fifteen Minutes	Andy Warhol	BBC Radio 4

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The Audition		short film
2000	The Low Down	John
2002	The Knowledge	David	short film
2004	Piccadilly Jim	Reg
2004	Finding Neverland	Theatre Patron
2005	Pierrepoint	Lt. Llewelyn	Titled Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman in the US
2006	Casino Royale	Villiers	M's assistant
2007	Atonement	Naval Officer
2009	Jackboots on Whitehall	Captain English (voice)	Spoof war film using puppets.
2010	The Duel	Von Koren	adaptation of an 1891 novella by Anton Chekhov, The Duel
2010	Forget Me Not	Will
2011	The Door	Man with the Wings of a Swan	short film
2011	Hysteria	Mr. Squyers
2012	Nora	Richard	short film
2014	The Birthday Gift	David	short film
2014	Black Sea	Lewis
2014	Off the Page: Groove Is in the Heart	Mark	short film London Film Festival 2015 official selection
2016	Una	Mark	Completed
2016	Underworld: Blood Wars	Marius	Post-production
2016	The Velvet Abstract	Narrator	short film Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998-2000	Casualty	Frank Gallagher	11 episodes
2000	Longitude	Halleys Secretary
2000	Summer in the Suburbs	School Psychologist
2000	Midsomer Murders	Jack Dorset
2002	The Escapist	Policeman
2002	I Saw You	Vince
2002	Ultimate Force	Box 500	3 episodes
2002	Foyle's War	Stanley Ellis
2005	A Very Social Secretary	Keith
2005–2007	Rome	Marcus Junius Brutus	Main cast, 17 episodes
2007	Persuasion	William Elliot
2007	The Relief of Belsen	Derrick Sington
2008	Fairy Tales	Aidee
2008	Bonekickers	Scott Wilson
2009	Kingdom	David Morston
2009	Pulling	Stephan
2009	Spooks	Andrew Lawrence	2 episodes
2010	The Deep	Raymond	5 episodes
2010	Any Human Heart	Ian Fleming	2 episodes
2011	The Shadow Line	Ross McGovern	5 episodes
2012	Eternal Law	Richard Pembroke	Main cast, 6 episodes
2012	Simon Schama's Shakespeare	Henry V	miniseries
2012	Secret State	Charles Flyte	1 episode
2012	The Thick of It	Simon Weir	1 episode
2012	Getting On	Dr. Tom Kersley	3 episodes
2013	Black Mirror	Liam Monroe	Episode "The Waldo Moment"
2013–present	Game of Thrones	Edmure Tully	5 episodes
2013	Doctor Who	Lieutenant Stepashin
2014	Silent Witness	Greg Walker
2014	Puppy Love	Alexander	1 episode
2014	The Honourable Woman	Nathaniel Bloom	miniseries, 3 episodes
2014–present	Outlander	Frank Randall/Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall	Main cast, 16 episodes
2015	Catastrophe	Dr Kenneth Harries	3 episodes
2016	The Night Manager	Geoffrey Dromgoole	miniseries, 5 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	The Colonel Bird	Deaf Actor	Directed by Rupert Goold for The Gate Theatre, London[9]
2000	Light		Directed by Simon McBurney for the Complicite theatre company
2000	The Way of the World	Witwoud	Directed by Matthew Lloyd at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
2001	Platonov	Sergei Voynitzev	Directed by Jonathan Kent at the Almeida
2002	Arcadia	Valentine Coverly	Directed by Rupert Goold at the Royal Theatre, Northampton and at the Salisbury Playhouse
2003	Three Sisters	Tusenbach	Directed by Michael Blakemore at the Playhouse Theatre, London. Filmed by BBC Four and aired in 2004
2003	Serjeant Musgrave's Dance	Hurst	Directed by Sean Holmes. Oxford Stage Company
2005	Hamlet	Hamlet	Directed by Rupert Goold at the Royal Theatre, Northampton
2005	The History Boys	Irwin	Directed by Nicholas Hytner. Touring cast and Royal National Theatre, London
2006	As You Desire Me		Directed by Jonathan Kent at the Playhouse Theatre, London[10]
2007	The Cherry Orchard	Peter Trofimov	Directed by Jonathan Miller at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
2007	Cloud Nine	Harry Bagley/Martin	Directed by Thea Sharrock at the Almeida Theatre, London
2009	King Lear	Edgar	Directed by Rupert Goold at the Young Vic Theatre, London and at the Liverpool Playhouse
2011	The Children's Hour	Dr Joseph Cardin	Directed by Ian Rickson at the Comedy Theatre, London (currently known as Harold Pinter Theatre)[11]
2011	Decade	Scott Forbes	Directed by Rupert Goold for Headlong, London[12]
2012	The Recruiting Officer	Captain Plume	Directed by Josie Rourke at the Donmar Warehouse, London[13]
2013	Rough Cuts: Searched		Directed by Carrie Cracknell at the Royal Court Theatre, London[14]
2013	The Hush		Directed by Matthew Herbert at the Shed for the Royal National Theatre, London[15][16]
2015	The Fever	Man	Directed by Robert Icke at the Almeida (performances at the May Fair Hotel), London[17]
2015	The Iliad		Live reading directed by Rupert Goold and Robert Icke at the Almeida, London[18]
2016	Uncle Vanya	Dr. Michael Astrov	Directed by Robert Icke at the Almeida, London[19]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2003	Ian Charleson Awards	Commendation for the best classical stage performance in Britain by actor under age 30	Three Sisters	Nominated[20][21]
2015	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on Television	Outlander	Nominated[22]
2016	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Outlander	Nominated

References

1. Roberts, Alison (16 February 2011). "The man who kisses Keira, nightly". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
2. "Student & Graduate Profiles". RADA. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
3. Friedlander, Noam (16 June 2007). "No place like Rome: Tobias Menzies tells Noam Friedlander why he hails the return of the BBC's lavish and lusty Roman series". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
4. Quinn, Anthony (6 May 2011). "Forget Me Not (15)". Independent. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
5. Debnath, Neela (11 July 2013). "Q&A interview with 'Game of Thrones' star Tobias Menzies". Independent. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
6. Goldberg, Lesley (8 August 2013). "'Game of Thrones' Alum Nabs Dual Role in Starz's 'Outlander' (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
7. Abrams, Natalie (8 August 2013). "Game of Thrones' Tobias Menzies Joins Ron Moore's Outlander". TV Guide. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
8. Merriam, Allie (1 August 2014). "Outlander Star Tobias Menzies Promises Plenty of Bodice-Ripping" (Video interview). PopSugar. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
9. Taylor, Paul (12 April 1999). "Theatre: It's a mad world, my masters". The Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
10. Gilbey, Ryan (27 July 2007). "The three stages of Kristin". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 16 January 2016.
11. Wilson, Benji (16 April 2011). "In a taxi with... actor Tobias Menzies". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
12. Fricker, Karen (9 September 2011). "Review: ‘Decade’". Variety. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
13. "Theatre review: The Recruiting Officer". 23 February 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
14. "Rough Cuts: Searched". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
15. "Theatre review: The Hush". 26 July 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
16. Collins, Katie (16 July 2013). "Matthew Herbert's The Hush: seducing theatre audiences with sound". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
17. "Theatre review: The Fever". 23 January 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
18. "The Almeida announces huge casting for ‘The Iliad’". 13 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
19. "Uncle Vanya Cast Announcement". 10 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
20. Nicol, Patricia (4 April 2004). "Do put your daughter on the stage". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
21. Paddock, Terri (29 March 2004). "Dillon Wins Ian Charleson Award for Master Builder". WhatsOnStage. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
22. "The 41st Annual Saturn Awards Nominations 2015". 3 March 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.

External links

• Tobias Menzies at the Internet Movie Database
• "Outlander Interview". ShowbizJunkies. July 2014.