Tobias Menzies

Tobias Menzies
Born	7 March 1974 (1974-03-07) London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present

Tobias Menzies (born 7 March 1974) is an English stage, television, and film actor, best known for his role as Brutus in the 2005/2007 TV series Rome.

Early years

Menzies attended the liberal Frensham Heights School near Farnham in Surrey at the same time as Hattie Morahan and Jim Sturgess. He went on to attend Stratford-upon-Avon College's "Year-out" drama course in 1993–94. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1998) and was trained in the Steiner System, which includes movement, singing and musical instrumentation.

Career

Menzies worked with the Spontaneity Shop, the UK's premiere 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 but short-lived HBO/BBC epic series Rome (2005/2007).

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 is due to appear as Derrick Sington in Channel 4's dramatisation of The Relief of Belsen and is currently on the set of Forget Me Not, a Quicksilver Films production, in which he stars alongside Genevieve O'Reilly.

Menzies' latest role is the Home Secretary in the long-running television drama Spooks, since December 2009.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The Low Down	John
2002	The Knowledge	David	short film
2004	Piccadilly Jim	Reg
2004	Finding Neverland	Theatre Patron
2005	Pierrepoint	Lt. Llewelyn	Known as 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	Anton Chekhov's The Duel	Von Koren	adaptation of a 1891 novella by Anton Chekhov, The Duel
2010	Forget Me Not	Will
2011	Hysteria

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Longitude	Halleys Secretary
2000	Summer in the Suburbs	School Psychologist
2000	Midsomer Murders	Jack Dorset
2000	Casualty	Frank Gallagher
2001	The Escapist	Policeman
2002	I Saw You	Vince
2002	Ultimate Force	Box 500
2002	Foyle's War	Stanley Ellis
2005	A Very Social Secretary	Keith
2007	Rome	Marcus Junius Brutus
2007	Persuasion	William Elliot
2007	The Relief of Belsen	Derrick Sington
2009	Pulling	Stephan
2009	Spooks	Andrew Lawrence
2010	The Deep	Raymond
2011	The Shadow Line	Ross McGovern
2012	Eternal Law	Richard Pembroke

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Light		Directed by Simon McBurney, Complicite,
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 Northampton Royal.
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
2007	The Cherry Orchard	Peter Trifimov	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
2011	The Children's Hour	Dr Joseph Cardin	Directed by Ian Rickson at the Comedy Theatre, London
2011	The Recruiting Officer		Directed by Josie Rourke at the Donmar Warehouse, London

Awards and nominations

• Nominated for the Sunday Times-Royal National Theatre 2003 Ian Charleson Award for his performance as Tusenbach in Michael Blakemore's production of Three Sisters.

References

• Telegraph – The History Boys Review (6 January 2006)
• Broadway.com – The History Boys Review (5 November 2005)
• Guardian – College Days article (22 November 2005)
• Sunday Times – Hamlet Review (27 March 2005)
• The Independent – Hamlet Review (25 March 2005)
• HBO's official Rome website
• BBC's official Casualty website

External links

• Tobias Menzies at the Internet Movie Database