Toby Kebbell

Toby Kebbell
Kebbell at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Tobias Alistair Patrick Kebbell (1982-07-09) 9 July 1982 (age 39) Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England[1]
Alma mater	Central Junior Television Workshop
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present

Tobias Alistair Patrick Kebbell^[2][3] (born 9 July 1982) is an English film, television and stage actor. He is known for his roles in films such as Dead Man's Shoes (2004), RocknRolla (2008), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), War Horse (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Fantastic Four (2015), Warcraft (2016), A Monster Calls (2016), Ben-Hur (2016), and Gold (2016). He is also known for his work in the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You". He also starred in the second film of the MonsterVerse film series, Kong: Skull Island, which was released in March 2017, and the Apple TV+ series Servant in 2019.

Early life[]

Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in Pontefract, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire where he attended The Grove School (now the Newark Academy) in Balderton. He was brought up by his mother, Michelle (née Mathers), a cook and landscape gardener and his father, Robert Kebbell, an engineer^[4] from Zimbabwe.^[5] He was raised Catholic, and went to a Catholic primary school.^[6][1]

Career[]

Kebbell trained in acting at the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham along with Andrew Shim and Vicky McClure.^[7] He first came to notice when director Shane Meadows cast him in the role of Anthony in the film Dead Man's Shoes. He was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards and was widely lauded for his sensitive, moving portrayal of a young man with a learning difficulty. Kebbell then appeared in Oliver Stone's Alexander and Match Point, which Woody Allen cast him in without audition after being impressed with his performance in Dead Man's Shoes.^{[citation needed]}

Kebbell's most critically acclaimed role^{[citation needed]} came in 2007 when he played Rob Gretton, the manager of Joy Division in Anton Corbijn's award-winning biopic of Ian Curtis, Control. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the British Independent Film Awards;^[8] other nominees for the award included Cate Blanchett, Colin Firth and Control co-star Samantha Morton. He was also nominated for the London Critics' Circle Best Supporting Actor Award alongside Albert Finney and Tom Wilkinson.

In December 2007, Kebbell took the lead in an episode of Jimmy McGovern's BBC series The Street, which subsequently won the BAFTA for Best Drama series. His other work for the BBC included a modern retelling of Macbeth alongside James McAvoy, while his theatre roles included spells at the Almeida Theatre in David Hare's reworking of Maxim Gorky's Enemies and at the Playhouse in R.C. Sherriff's classic, Journey's End.

In September 2008, Kebbell was featured in the film RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, alongside actors Tom Wilkinson, Gerard Butler and Thandiwe Newton. Kebbell played a heroin-addicted musician, Johnny Quid. To play the role Toby Kebbell learned to play the piano and operate a semi automatic.

In January 2009, Kebbell was nominated in the "Orange Rising Star Award" category of the 2009 BAFTA Awards.^[9] This award is voted for by the public. Kebbell appeared in the 2009 film Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, in which he took a small role alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. He filmed in Morocco and London with Jake Gyllenhaal for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

Toby Kebbell at the 2009 Orange British Academy Film Awards on 8 February 2009.

In 2011, Kebbell played a leading role in "The Entire History of You", the finale of the first series of Charlie Brooker's critically acclaimed anthology series Black Mirror, which was written by Jesse Armstrong. Robert Downey Jr. has since bought the rights to adapt the script for a forthcoming film.^[10]

In 2014, Kebbell took over the role of Koba in the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.^[11]

Kebbell played the Marvel antagonist, Doctor Doom, in the 2015 Fantastic Four film,^[12] and an orc, Durotan, in the 2016 Warcraft.^[13] He played Jack Chapman in the fantasy action film Kong: Skull Island (2017), while also providing guidance for Kong's motion capture sequences.^[14]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Video games[]

Music videos[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toby Kebbell.

• Toby Kebbell at IMDb