Born:
September 22, 1970
in
London
Best Known For:
Spooks, and Whitechapel.
Early-life:
Rupert William Penry-Jones was born on September 22, 1970, in London. He is the son of To the Manor Born star Angela Thorne and her theatre-actor husband, Peter Penry-Jones. His younger brother, Laurence, also became an actor, but has since quit the profession. Rupert was educated at Dulwich College in London, where he first trod the boards at the age of 13. After a brief spell as a model, he went to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, but dropped out after two years.
Career:
Penry-Jones made his movie debut in 1994's Black Beauty. A role in Absolutely Fabulous came a year later. He gained bigger parts in Cold Comfort Farm, Cold Lazarus, and a TV adaptation of Jane Eyre. A part in acclaimed Stephen Poliakoff drama The Tribe made people sit up and take notice in 1998, the year before he won the prestigious Ian Charleson Award for his theatre performance in the RSC's Don Carlos. Projects since include Hilary and Jackie, Cambridge Spies, Charlotte Gray, The Four Feathers and the BBC drama Casanova. He's best known as MI5 agent Adam Carter in Spooks, which he left in 2008 in explosive fashion, but other projects include period drama Persuasion, Joe's Palace, The 39 Steps, Whitechapel, and Silk.
Quote:
"This job is only 25 per cent talent, the rest is luck and the ability to flirt at auditions."
Trivia:
He discovered on Who Do You Think You Are? that he had Indian ancestry.