Acting
Simon Russell Beale
Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE (born January 12, 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2019. He has spent much of his theatre career working in productions for both the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. He has received ten Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning three awards for his performances in Volpone (1996), Candide (2000), and Uncle Vanya (2003). For his work on the Broadway stage he has received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for his performance as George in the Tom Stoppard play Jumpers in 2004. For his role as Henry Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and was nominated for an Olivier Award. Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation". Beale made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama Orlando (1992). He continued acting in films such as Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Into the Woods (2014), and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). In 2017, he starred in Armando Iannucci's dark comedy The Death of Stalin playing Lavrentiy Beria for which he received the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also appeared in the television projects The Young Visiters (2003), Dunkirk (2004), and as Falstaff in the BBC made-for-television films Henry IV, Part I and Part II (2012). He was part of the main cast of Showtime's Penny Dreadful.
Filmography
De Gaulle: Résistance
Film · 2026
The Magic Faraway Tree
Film · 2026
De Gaulle: Liberté
Film · 2026
Prima Facie
Film · 2026
The Choral
Film · 2025
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Film · 2025
Firebrand
Film · 2024
Home! Home!
Film · 2024
Mary & George
Series · 2024
Douglas Is Cancelled
Series · 2024
Thor: Love and Thunder
Film · 2022
Operation Mincemeat
Film · 2022
The Outfit
Film · 2022
House of the Dragon
Series · 2022
Remembers…
Series · 2022
Benediction
Film · 2021
The Hour
Film · 2020
Radioactive
Film · 2020
A Christmas Carol
Film · 2020
National Theatre Live: The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
Film · 2019
National Theatre Live: The Lehman Trilogy
Film · 2019
Museo
Film · 2018
Operation Finale
Film · 2018
Mary Queen of Scots
Film · 2018
Vanity Fair
Series · 2018
The Death of Stalin
Film · 2017
RSC Live: The Tempest
Film · 2017
My Cousin Rachel
Film · 2017
The Legend of Tarzan
Film · 2016
Cunk on Shakespeare
Film · 2016
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Film · 2016
Monteverdi in Mantua - The Genius of the Vespers
Film · 2015
The Mysterious Mr Webster
Film · 2014
Into the Woods
Film · 2014
National Theatre Live: King Lear
Film · 2014
Penny Dreadful
Series · 2014
Lava Land - Glowing Hawaii
Film · 2013
Legacy
Film · 2013
Muse of Fire
Film · 2013
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Film · 2013
National Theatre Live: Timon of Athens
Film · 2012
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Film · 2012
Simon Schama's Shakespeare
Series · 2012
The Hollow Crown
Series · 2012
The Deep Blue Sea
Film · 2011
My Week with Marilyn
Film · 2011
National Theatre Live: Collaborators
Film · 2011
Royal Opera House: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Film · 2011
A Musical Nativity with John Rutter
Film · 2011
Sacred Music: God's Composer
Film · 2011
Symphony
Series · 2011
BBC Proms: Sondheim's 80th Birthday
Film · 2010
National Theatre Live: London Assurance
Film · 2010
Sacred Music: A Christmas History
Film · 2010
An Easter Celebration
Film · 2008
Sacred Music
Series · 2008
Deep Water
Film · 2006
Dunkirk
Series · 2004
The Young Visiters
Film · 2003
The Gathering
Film · 2003
Spooks
Series · 2002
Spooks
Series · 2002
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Film · 1999
Alice in Wonderland
Film · 1999
An Ideal Husband
Film · 1999
The Temptation of Franz Schubert
Film · 1997
A Dance to the Music of Time
Series · 1997
Hamlet
Film · 1996
Persuasion
Film · 1995
The Mushroom Picker
Series · 1993
Orlando
Film · 1992
Downtown Lagos
Series · 1992
American Experience
Series · 1988
A Very Peculiar Practice
Series · 1986
Time and the Conways
Film · 1985
This Is Your Five Minute Call
Film