# Bertie Carvel

Robert Hugh Carvel (born 6 September 1977) is a British film and theatre actor. He has twice won a Laurence Olivier Award: for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical, and for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Rupert Murdoch in Ink. For the latter role, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.
On television, Carvel is known for playing Jonathan Strange in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Simon Foster in Doctor Foster, and Adam Dalgliesh in Dalgliesh. He also starred in ITV drama The Sister in 2020.

## Early life and education

Carvel was born in Marylebone, London, the son of a psychologist mother and John Carvel, a journalist. Carvel was educated at University College School, Hampstead. He gained a first class honours degree in English at the University of Sussex, going on to win a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (his acting training was paid for via scholarships from The Wall Trust and the Sir John Cass Foundation), graduating in 2003 after a three-year course.

## Career
### Theatre

Carvel has appeared in Revelations at the Hampstead Theatre, in Rose Bernd at the Arcola Theatre, as Alexander Ashbrook in the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 National Theatre production of Helen Edmundson's Coram Boy and in their productions of The Life of Galileo and The Man of Mode, in Parade at the Donmar Warehouse, and in Matilda the Musical at the Cambridge Theatre, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Carvel was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in Parade in 2008. He won the award in the same category in 2012 for his performance as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical, a production that won six other Oliviers. Carvel also won the UK's TMA Award for Best Performance in a Musical and was similarly nominated for the London's Evening Standard Award. He played Enrico in Damned By Despair at the National Theatre.
In March 2013, he reprised his role as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre. This won him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical and a nomination for Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, one of only a handful of nominations for an actor portraying a character of the opposite sex.
From August to October 2015, Carvel played both Pentheus and Agave in Bakkhai at the Almeida Theatre. Carvel also performed as Yank in the play The Hairy Ape at the Old Vic in November of the same year.
In February 2016, Carvel announced his directorial debut. He directed the play Strife at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, which opened in August 2016.
In September 2017, Carvel played the role of Rupert Murdoch in the play Ink by James Graham, which debuted at the Almeida Theatre before transferring to the West End. In April 2019 Ink transferred to Broadway, with Carvel reprising his role. This performance won him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
In 2022, he returned to The Old Vic to play US President Donald Trump in The 47th, a play by Mike Bartlett.

### Roles in other media

Carvel has appeared in several other film, TV and theatre roles, including The Wrong Mans, Babylon, Doctor Who (episode "The Lazarus Experiment"), Sherlock (episode "The Blind Banker"), Bombshell, Hawking, The Crimson Petal and the White, Money and Midsomer Murders (episode "The Great and the Good"). He played Lord Carmarthen in John Adams. In the television film Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures, he played Christie's second husband Max Mallowan. Carvel appeared as Bamatabois in the film Les Misérables, based on the musical of the same name. From 2011 to 2024, Carvel was the voice of the male Imperial Agent in the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic until the role was reassigned to Wilf Scolding. In 2009, Carvel played Wormwood in Focus on the Family's audio adaptation of The Screwtape Letters, alongside Andy Serkis as Screwtape. This production was a 2010 Audie Award finalist.
In 2015, Carvel starred as Jonathan Strange in the BBC One adaptation of Susanna Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, opposite Eddie Marsan as Gilbert Norrell. He played Nick Clegg in the Channel 4 drama Coalition and in September appeared as the unfaithful husband of Suranne Jones's title character in the BBC One thriller series Doctor Foster. The second series of Doctor Foster started filming in September 2016 and was broadcast in September 2017.
Since 2021, Carvel has starred as Adam Dalgliesh in Helen Edmundson's Dalgliesh. He plays former Prime Minister Tony Blair in the fifth and sixth series of The Crown. In June 2024, it was announced that Carvel would portray Baelor Targaryen in the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

## Personal life

Carvel is a Patron of the Globe Theatre's education department's 'Playing Shakespeare' programme, which provides free educational resources and free theatre tickets to secondary school students. In 2013, he ran for and was elected to Equity's 11-person Stage Committee. He was re-elected for a further two-year term in 2015.
Carvel married actress Sally Scott on 5 January 2019 after dating for ten years. Their first child was born in May 2020.

## Acting credits
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | Les Misérables | Bamatabois | |
| 2021 | The Tragedy of Macbeth | Banquo | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | Hawking | George Ellis | Television film |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures | Max Mallowan | Television film |
| 2005 | Beethoven | Ferdinand Ries | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Bombshell | Lieutenant Roddy Frost | 7 episodes |
| 2006 | Holby City | Martin Phillips | Episode: "Looking After Number One" |
| 2007 | Doctor Who | Mysterious Man | Episode: "The Lazarus Experiment" |
| 2008 | John Adams | Lord Carmarthen | Episode: "Reunion" |
| 2009 | Primeval | Ryan Mason | Episode: "Haunted House" |
| 2009 | Waking the Dead | Dr Dench | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Midsomer Murders | Justin Hooper | Episode: "The Great and the Good" |
| 2010 | Sherlock | Sebastian Wilkes | Episode: "The Blind Banker" |
| 2010 | Just William | Uncle Neville | Episode: "Parrots for Ethel" |
| 2011 | The Crimson Petal and the White | Ashwell | 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Hidden | Alexander Wentworth | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Restless | Mason Harding | Episode: "Part Two" |
| 2014 | Babylon | Finn Kirkwood | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | The Wrong Mans | Nathan Cross | Episode: "White Mans" |
| 2015 | Coalition | Nick Clegg | Television film |
| 2015 | Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | Jonathan Strange | 7 episodes |
| 2015–2017 | Doctor Foster | Simon Foster | Two series, lead role |
| 2016 | Revolting Rhymes | Various voices | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | The Crown | Robin Day | Episode: "Marionettes" |
| 2018 | Big Cats | Narrator | 3 episodes |
| 2020 | The Pale Horse | Zachariah Osborne | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Baghdad Central | Frank Temple | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | The Sister | Robert “Bob” Morrow | 4 episodes |
| 2021-present | Dalgliesh | Adam Dalgliesh | Lead role |
| 2022–2023 | The Crown | Tony Blair | Supporting role (Season 5); Main role (Season 6) |
| 2025 | A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms | Prince Baelor Targaryen | Supporting role |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
| 2003 | Revelations | Jack | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2004 | Victory? A Musical Drama For Peace | Uri | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2005 | Rose Bernd | Heinzel/Policeman | Oxford Stage Company/Arcola Theatre/Dumbfounded Theatre |
| 2004 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Union Theatre, London |
| 2005 | Faustus | Faustus | Etcetera Theatre |
| 2005–07 | Coram Boy | Alexander Ashbrook (adult) / Ensemble | National Theatre |
| 2005 | Professor Bernhardi | Dr Kurt Pflugfelder/Professor Filitz | Arcola Theatre |
| 2006 | The Life of Galileo | Ludovico Marsili | National Theatre |
| 2007 | The Man of Mode | Medley | National Theatre |
| 2008 | The Pride | Oliver | Royal Court Theatre |
| 2008 | Parade | Leo Frank | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2008 | The Circle | Edward Luton | Chichester/Tour |
| 2009 | Rope | Rupert Cadell | Almeida Theatre |
| 2011 | Dr Dee | Dr Dee | Palace Theatre, Manchester |
| 2010–13 | Matilda the Musical | Miss Trunchbull | Courtyard Theatre 9 November 2010 – 30 January 2011 |
| 2010–13 | Matilda the Musical | Miss Trunchbull | Cambridge Theatre 25 October 2011 – July 2012 |
| 2010–13 | Matilda the Musical | Miss Trunchbull | Shubert Theatre 4 March 2013 – 1 September 2013 |
| 2011 | Damned By Despair | Enrico | National Theatre |
| 2015 | Bakkhai | Pentheus, Agave | Almeida Theatre |
| 2015 | The Hairy Ape | Yank | The Old Vic |
| 2016 | Splendid's | Policeman | Trafalgar Studios Rehearsed reading |
| 2017–19 | Ink | Rupert Murdoch | Almeida Theatre 17 June – 5 August 2017 |
| 2017–19 | Ink | Rupert Murdoch | Duke of York's Theatre 9 September 2017 – 6 January 2018 |
| 2017–19 | Ink | Rupert Murdoch | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre 2 April 2019 – 7 July 2019 |
| 2022 | The 47th | Donald Trump | The Old Vic 29 Mar - 28 May 2022 |
| 2023 | Pygmalion | Henry Higgins | The Old Vic |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2008 | Haze | Shane Carpenter |
| 2011–2024 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Male Imperial Agent |
| 2012 | The Secret World | The Forest God, Callisto |

### Audio

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2009 | The Screwtape Letters | Wormwood |

## Accolades
### Theatre

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2008 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Parade | Nominated |
| 2011 | Evening Standard Theatre Award | Best Actor | Matilda the Musical | Nominated |
| 2012 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Matilda the Musical | Won |
| 2013 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Matilda the Musical | Nominated |
| 2013 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Matilda the Musical | Won |
| 2013 | Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Matilda the Musical | Nominated |
| 2013 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Matilda the Musical | Nominated |
| 2017 | Evening Standard Theatre Award | Best Actor | Ink | Nominated |
| 2018 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Ink | Won |
| 2019 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play | Ink | Won |
| 2019 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Ink | Nominated |

### Television

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
| 2023 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Crown | Nominated | |