John Hopkins (actor)

John Hopkins (born 1975) is an English actor who has played various roles on stage and television. Some of his most well-known parts include Sgt. Dan Scott on “Midsomer Murders” (2004-2005), Lowell in “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) and role in British television series “Poldark” (2017-2018). Journalists and teachers have always admired his acting skills.^[1] Therefore, John Hopkins relatively quickly got noticed and invited to television. Despite that, he had never stopped acting on stage and exploring other forms of professional entertainment, such as doing voiceovers for video games, television and radio.

Early Life and Education[]

John Hopkins was born in Luton, England, which is a town close to London. There is no publicly available information about his family or childhood. Nevertheless, the education pathway of an actor was relatively big. Manshead CofE Upper School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, was the secondary school where John Hopkins went. Then, he studied at the University of Leeds (1993-1996), majored in English.^[2] However, since then, Hopkins started to show interest in the theatre. He joined a drama group and took part in various performance.

Moreover, he got an award “Sunday Times” for student-actors for his role in “A Short Play About Sex and Death”. With the provoked interest in acting, John Hopkins, after graduation from the University of Leeds, went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (1997-2000).^[3] He got noticed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and had his first repertory season there (2001-2002). That was the beginning of his acting career.

Career[]

Around 2002, John Hopkins became noticeable in the television world and received multiple offers.^[2] At the start, those were offers for the minor roles in such works as “Trial and Retribution 7” and “Love in a Cold Climate”.^[2] After those, he accepted the offer for the ubiquitous British television series “Midsomer Murders”, playing the role of Sgt. Dan Scott became the most recognised part of Hopkins’ career.^[2] He entered the show at the beginning of the 7th series (2004). He stayed there until the end of the 8th series playing the “ladies’ man”, due to his appearance, he received that characteristic.^[4] John Hopkins was playing along with John Nettles, who played the lead – Barnaby. To not confuse two actors, Hopkins was assigned the nickname “Hoppers”.^[4] In the filming process, they have formed a friendship.^[4] It was the first “real” job on television for the young actor that demonstrated all the subtleties of the life behind a camera.^[4] In 2004-2005 he decided to leave the show and returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company to participate in the 2006-2007 London and Stratford-upon-Avon season.^[2] At that time, he contributed to the role of Caesar as an opponent to Patrick Stewart in “Antony and Cleopatra”.^[2] He has also made an appearance in Patrick Barlow’s comedic version of “The 39 Steps” as a Richard Hannay, played Richard I at the Shakespeare’s Globe in the “Holy Warriors” and Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing”.^[2] As for television breakthrough, he committed to filming such films like “Stan Lee’s Lucky Man” and even played in BBC drama “Poldark” as a Sir Francis Basset.^[2] Billington in 2018 for The Guardian has mentioned John Hopkins as the talented actor “one of our best Shakespearean actors”,^[1] and he was placed in the list of “10 best British actors on stage now” in the Times article by Dominic Maxwell.^[5]

Interview for the Midsomer Murders Society[]

Hopkins thinks that the whole concept of the “Midsomer Murders” series is based on the idea of presenting serenity in an issued society.^[6] He considers that show is crucial for almost everyone because it demonstrates how all the problems can be solved, where the good wins the evil, and everyone returns to the ordinary life once all is done.^[6] John Hopkins joined the TV show when it already had vast popularity. Therefore, as he states, “a bit more pressure was on me (John Hopkins) than the other guys”.^[6] Hopkins describes his character as a person who is unwelcoming towards the countryside. He prefers city life and always looks for the method to escape but never achieving it.^[6] The relationship between Sergeant Scott (John Hopkins’s role) and Detective chief inspector (DCI) Barnaby (John Nettles’s role) was quite tensed at the beginning. Eventually, it became smoother, despite Barnaby’s disapproval of Scott’s ways.^[6] The significant difference between the character and the real Hopkins was the attitude towards the country life.^[6] The actor feels delighted about spending time in the country, such as his regular trips to Wales.^[6] “Midsomer Murders” opened him to the opportunities to get to know other great British actors: Diana Quick and Steve Redgrave.^[6] While filming the show, John got a chance to participate in a movie made by his friends in Prague. His part was based on playing a man who woke up in Prague with amnesia. He was an “action hero”, as he says and enjoyed this other experience in acting from the “Midsomer Murders”.^[6]

Interview of John Hopkins on Christmas & The Festive Episode[]

John Hopkins stated that he enjoys getting away on Christmas holidays either to Lake District, Peak District or Wales.^[7] He and his friends climb mountains between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.^[7] Those days remind him of childhood.^[7] Nevertheless, before the trip, Hopkins visits his family.^[7] Together they eat and watch “Midsomer Murders”, as well as tell various stories from the past or the present.^[7] However, one Christmas he had to spend shooting for the TV show.^[7] The process was held in the old abandoned house, which was believed to be haunted. As actor said, he was thinking what the story was behind the house and atmosphere it created by sudden sounds and changes in temperature.^[7]

After that, John Hopkins returned to filming as a “sidekick” of John Nettles (DCI Barnaby) – Detective Sergeant Dan Scott. The shooting was for most of the year, John Hopkins gained some weight during winter episodes as he stated in his interview.^[7]

Stage Roles of John Hopkins[]

Filmography[]

Awards[]

Over his career John Hopkins was nominated for some awards several times. It demonstrated his notability among the society. He received two nominations for his voice in the video game Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) for the voiceover of "Erend".

References[]

External links[]

• John Hopkins at IMDb