# Gwilym Lee

Gwilym Lee (born 24 November 1983) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in Midsomer Murders (2013–2016), A Song for Jenny (2015), Jamestown (2017), Top End Wedding (2019), The Great (2020–2023), and for playing guitarist Brian May in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).

## Early life

Lee was born in Bristol to Welsh parents, Tom and Ceinwen. He has three older siblings: Geraint, Owen and Rhiannon. When he was young the family moved to Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, although he identifies strongly with his Welsh heritage. He studied English literature at Cardiff University and drama at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he received the Guildhall Gold Medal in 2008. Lee lives in London.

## Career

Lee joined a drama group as a teen. He then starred in the 1997–1998 television adaptation of the Animal Ark books. Aged 16 he started working on Richard III with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Lee appeared in a leading role in the final series of Land Girls (2011) and had several guest roles on television (including Ashes to Ashes, Fresh Meat, Monroe and Henry V). He has also worked on radio (The Emerald Tiger, The Silver Turk and in an adaptation of The Cruel Sea).
Lee was commended in the 2008 Ian Charleson Awards for his appearance in the National Theatre's production of Oedipus and in 2009 played Laertes to Jude Law's Hamlet in the Donmar West End season.
He won first prize of the 2011 Ian Charleson Award for his role as Edgar in the 2010 King Lear production at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2012, Lee starred in the Donmar Trafalgar Studios production of Aleksei Arbuzov's The Promise.
At Christmas 2013, Lee began a television starring role as DCI Barnaby's new sergeant, DS Charlie Nelson, in the 16th series of Midsomer Murders, which also included the show's 100th episode, partially shot in Denmark in collaboration with the local national broadcasting corporation, DR. In early 2014 he appeared in Versailles at the Donmar Warehouse.
In April 2016, it was announced by ITV that Lee was not returning for season 19 of Midsomer Murders. Lee, on his Twitter account, indicated he would be involved in an upcoming series Jamestown. Lee played guitarist Brian May in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards.
In 2018, it was announced that Lee had joined the cast of the Hulu series The Great; on the series airing for three seasons from 2020 to 2023, Lee starred amongst the ensemble cast as Grigory "Grigor" Dymov, a composite character of Catherine the Great's historical lovers Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin, and a childhood friend of Peter III.
In 2023, it was announced that Lee had been cast in the second season of SAS: Rogue Heroes.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | The Escort | | Short film |
| 2010 | The Tourist | Senior Technician Mountain | |
| 2011 | Isle of Dogs | D.C. Block | |
| 2017 | The Agency | Alistair | Short film |
| 2018 | The Last Witness | John Underwood | |
| 2018 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Brian May | |
| 2019 | Top End Wedding | Ned | Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 |
| 2023 | Tall Dark and Handsome | James | Short film |
| 2024 | Oddity | Ted | |
| 2024 | Here | John Harter | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997–1998 | Animal Ark | James Hunter | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 2008 | Mutual Friends | Young Man | TV series, episode: #1.5 |
| 2009 | Lewis | Terry Bainbridge | Episode: "The Quality of Mercy" |
| 2009 | Waterloo Road | Steven | TV series, episode #4.11 |
| 2009 | Ashes to Ashes | Young Summers | TV series, episode #2.7 |
| 2010 | Doctors | Anatole Karpski | TV series, episode: "Idle Hands" |
| 2011 | Land Girls | Reverend Henry Jameson | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 2012 | The Hollow Crown | Williams | TV miniseries, episode: "Henry V" |
| 2012 | Fresh Meat | Giles | TV series, episode #2.1 |
| 2012 | Monroe | Alex Scholfield | TV series, episode #2.3 |
| 2012 | Restless | Sean Gilmartin | Television film |
| 2013–2016 | Midsomer Murders | DS Charlie Nelson | TV series, 15 episodes |
| 2015 | A Song for Jenny | James | Television film |
| 2017 | The Royal House of Windsor | Narrator | Documentary series |
| 2017 | Jamestown | Samuel Castell | 8 episodes |
| 2019 | The Man | Mark Baxter | Episode #1.2 |
| 2020–2023 | The Great | Grigory "Grigor" Dymov | Hulu series, main cast |
| 2024 | SAS: Rogue Heroes | Bill Stirling | BBC series, season 2 |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue/Company | Notes |
| 1999 | Richard III | Edward, Prince of Wales | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 2008 | Oedipus | The Messenger and Understudy Oedipus | National Theatre | with Ralph Fiennes |
| 2009 | About Tommy | Tommy | Southwark Playhouse | |
| 2009 | Hamlet | Laertes | Kronborg Castle and Broadhurst Theatre | with Jude Law |
| 2009 | Hamlet | Guildenstern | Donmar Warehouse | |
| 2010 | The Fairy-Queen | Demetrius | Opera-Comique and Off-Broadway | |
| 2010 | Danton's Death | Lacroix and Understudy Danton | National Theatre | |
| 2010–2011 | King Lear | Edgar | Donmar Warehouse | |
| 2011 | Othello | Cassio | Sheffield Crucible | with Lily James, Dominic West |
| 2012 | The Promise | Leonidik | Donmar Warehouse at Trafalgar Studios | |
| 2014 | Versailles | Leonard | Donmar Warehouse | with Tom Hughes |
| 2017 | Diminished | Adam | Hampstead Theatre | |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Cloud Chamber | Tom | |
| 2015 | Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below | Psaro the Manslayer | English voice |
| 2015 | Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward | Cid | English voice |
| 2019 | Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers | Cid | English voice |
| 2020 | South of the Circle | Peter | Voice, 3D motion capture |
| 2021 | Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker | Cid | English voice |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2008 | Guildhall School of Music and Drama | Drama Gold Medal | | Won |
| 2008 | Ian Charleson Awards | Commendations | portraying the Messenger in Oedipus at National Theatre | Won |
| 2010 | Ian Charleson Awards | First Prize | portraying Edgar in King Lear at Donmar Warehouse | Won |
| 2019 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Bohemian Rhapsody | Nominated |
| 2021 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Great | Nominated |