# Neil Maskell

Neil Maskell (born 1976) is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films. His credits include Nil by Mouth (1997), The Football Factory (2004), Rise of the Footsoldier (2007), Doghouse (2009), Bonded by Blood (2010), Kill List (2011), Wild Bill (2011), St George's Day and Piggy (both 2012), The Great Train Robbery (2013), Raised by Wolves (2015), The Mummy (2017), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), Peaky Blinders (2019), Bull (2021), Litvinenko (2022), and Hijack (2023).

## Early life

Maskell was born in London. As a youth, he played football for Long Lane JFC as a full back. He first trained in acting at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, London, where he attended classes from the age of 11, and studied at the Miskin Theatre, Dartford at North West Kent College from 1992. He later worked as a director at the Miskin Theatre.

## Career
### Film

Maskell's film career began in 1997 with an appearance as Schmuddie in Gary Oldman's directorial debut Nil by Mouth which was Nominated for a Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) for best film at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. In 2004, he appeared as Rod, best friend and sidekick of Tommy, (played by Danny Dyer), in the British hooligan film The Football Factory, which also starred Tamer Hassan, Frank Harper, and Roland Manookian.
In 2007, he was in the British gangster movie Rise of the Footsoldier, also starring Craig Fairbrass and Terry Stone. In 2009, he appeared as Banksy in the comedy zombie film Doghouse, alongside Stephen Graham and Danny Dyer.
His leading role in the 2011 thriller Kill List (2011), attracted positive reviews from critics earning many nominations for the Best Actor, including at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2011, he also starred in Wild Bill, in a cast which included Charlie Creed-Miles, Will Poulter, Leo Gregory, Liz White, Iwan Rheon, Olivia Williams, Jaime Winstone, Andy Serkis, and Sean Pertwee. The film received positive reviews.
In 2021, Maskell played the titular and lead character in British gangster revenge film Bull, with Tamzin Outhwaite.

### Television

Maskell's first television appearance was in 1991 in the ITV police drama The Bill. Between 1992 and 2002, he made a further five appearances on the show, portraying a different character each time. He has had one-off roles in a number of other popular British serial dramas such as Casualty, London's Burning, Soldier Soldier. His most regular television roles have been in the 2005 comedy series Mike Bassett: Manager, in the comedy sketch show The Wrong Door, and in the 2013–2014 thriller drama action series Utopia. Since 2015, he has been a series regular in sci-fi thriller Humans. In 2019 Maskell played prime minister Winston Churchill in the series finale of Peaky Blinders.
Between 2018 and 2020 he played the recurring character Winkle in the BBC One sitcom King Gary, friend and employee of the titular character played by Tom Davis. Maskell has previously worked with Davis in Murder in Successville (where he played Frankie Boyle in one episode),The Warm-Up Guy and The Morgana Show.
In 2022, Maskell played Detective Inspector Brent Hyatt in the ITV drama, Litvinenko, detailing the final days and subsequent murder investigation into the death of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko.
In 2023, Maskell played a terrorist in the Apple TV+ aircraft thriller series Hijack, alongside Idris Elba and Eve Myles.

## Personal life

Maskell is a supporter of Arsenal.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Nil by Mouth | Schmuddie | |
| 1997 | Crocodile Snap | Ray | Short film |
| 1998 | Titanic Town | Soldier | |
| 2000 | Sorted | Record Shop Geezer | |
| 2001 | Redemption Road | Leading Mugger | |
| 2002 | AKA | Marcus | |
| 2003 | The Sequel | Lenny | Short film |
| 2004 | The Football Factory | Rod | |
| 2004 | It's All Gone Pete Tong | Jack Stoddart | |
| 2004 | Fat Slags | Policeman | |
| 2006 | Basic Instinct 2 | Detective Ferguson | |
| 2007 | The Englishman | John | |
| 2007 | Rise of the Footsoldier | Darren Nicholls | |
| 2007 | Atonement | Soldier in Bray Bar | |
| 2007 | True Colours | Neil | Short film |
| 2009 | Paintball | Frank | |
| 2009 | Tony | Mike Hemmings | |
| 2009 | Doghouse | Banksy | |
| 2010 | The Shouting Men | Terry | |
| 2010 | Tricky: Murder Weapon | (unknown) | Short film |
| 2010 | Bonded by Blood | Craig Rolfe | |
| 2010 | Shitkicker | – | Short film. Writer & director |
| 2011 | Kill List | Jay | |
| 2011 | Jack Falls | Sid | |
| 2011 | Jack Falls: Sid's Story | Sid | Animated short film |
| 2011 | Ghosted | Nathan | |
| 2011 | Turnout | Scott | |
| 2011 | Wild Bill | Dickie | |
| 2011 | Will | Lenny | |
| 2011 | How to Stop Being a Loser | Hands Henry | |
| 2012 | Piggy | John | |
| 2012 | Pusher | Marlon | |
| 2012 | St George's Day | Jimmy McCudden | |
| 2012 | The Rise | Steven Roper | Titled Wasteland in North America |
| 2012 | The ABCs of Death | Lord Scanlon | Segment 'U Is for Unearthed' |
| 2012 | It Follows Me Around | Dad | Short films |
| 2012 | Driftwood | Father | Short films |
| 2013 | Turncoat | Jimmy Parton | Short films |
| 2013 | All Things to All Men | Luke Nelson | |
| 2014 | Evil Never Dies | Sean McCann | Originally titled The Haunting of Harry Payne |
| 2014 | Open Windows | Chord | |
| 2014 | Hyena | Martin | |
| 2014 | Instruments of Darkness | Kern | Short films |
| 2015 | Strange Weather | Dave | Short films |
| 2015 | Bone in the Throat | Lewis | |
| 2015 | High-Rise | PC White | |
| 2016 | Level Up | Dmitri | |
| 2017 | Judgement | Tom | Short film. Also producer |
| 2017 | The Mummy | Dr. Whemple | |
| 2017 | King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | Back Lack | |
| 2018 | In Darkness | DI Oscar Mills | |
| 2018 | Happy New Year, Colin Burstead | Colin | |
| 2018 | Blood, Sweat and Terrors | Jimmy Parton | Segment 'Turncoat' |
| 2018 | Little Monster | Harry | Short films |
| 2018 | Dodgy Dave | Dave | Short films |
| 2018 | The Departure | David | Short films |
| 2019 | The Bookshop | Man | Short films |
| 2020 | Red, White and Blue | Inspector Willis | The 3rd of 5 films from the Small Axe anthology series |
| 2021 | Bull | Bull | |
| 2022 | Klokkenluider | – | Writer & director |
| TBA | Straight Circle | Noll | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | The Bill | Billy Potter | Series 7; episode 58: "Joey" |
| 1992 | The Bill | Gary | Series 8; episode 97: "Fireworks" |
| 1992 | Perfect Scoundrels | Dean | Series 3; episode 5: "Let No Man Put Asunder" |
| 1994 | EastEnders | Youth | 1 episode |
| 1995 | The Bill | Damien Burns | Series 11; episode 82: "Over the Top" |
| 1995 | It Could Be You | Youth | Television film |
| 1996 | Soldier Soldier | Para 1 | Series 6; episode 7: "Money for Nothing" |
| 1996 | London's Burning | Gary | Series 9; episode 8 |
| 1996 | The Thin Blue Line | Gosforth FC Player | Series 2; episode 5: "Come on You Blues" |
| 1997 | Casualty | Luke Lowther | Series 11; episode 21: "United... By Blood" |
| 1997 | The Bill | Warren Heskey | Series 13; episode 93: "Neighbours" |
| 1997 | Chalk | Arse Face | Series 1; episode 5: "The Inspection" |
| 1997 | Wycliffe | Tully | Series 4; episode 8: "Old Crimes, New Times" |
| 1998 | Wavelength | Phil | Series 2; episode 1: "Mixed Messages" |
| 1998 | Bramwell | Manky Matkin | Series 4; episode 1: "Our Brave Boys" |
| 1998 | Ultraviolet | Neil | Episode 2: "In Nomine Patris" |
| 1999 | The Bill | Frank Wilson | Series 15; episode 48: "Screwdriver" |
| 1999 | The Murder of Stephen Lawrence | Gary Dobson | Television film |
| 1999 | Murder Most Horrid | Martin Greaves | Series 4; episode 3: "Whoopi Stone" |
| 2000 | Silent Witness | Gary Lomax | Series 5; episode 1: "The World Cruise: Part 1" |
| 2000 | Nature Boy | Jimmy | Mini-series; episode 4 |
| 2000 | Killers | (unknown) | Television short film |
| 2000 | Never Never | Conrad | Episodes 1 & 2 |
| 2002 | The Jury | Chris Maher | Series 1; episodes 1–6 |
| 2002 | The Bill | Gary Roach | Series 18; episode 24: "Needle in a Haystack" |
| 2002 | Bodily Harm | Danny Peters | Mini-series; episode 1 |
| 2003 | Strange | Youth | Episode 5: "Dubik" |
| 2004 | Shameless | Corporal | Series 2; episode: "Christmas at Chatsworth" |
| 2005 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Martin Moran | Series 4; episode 4: "Word of God" |
| 2005 | Mike Bassett: Manager | Wirral Web Presenter | Episodes 1–6 |
| 2007 | Casualty | Tom Faulkner | Series 21; episode 43: "It Never Rains..." |
| 2008 | He Kills Coppers | Shawn | 3-part television film |
| 2008 | The Wrong Door | (unknown) | Episodes 2–5 |
| 2009 | Casualty | Lenny | Series 23; episodes 47 & 48: "No Fjords in Finland: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2010 | The Morgana Show | Norman | Episodes 1–5 |
| 2011 | Comedy Lab | Andrew | Series 12; episode 5: "The Warm-Up Guy" |
| 2012 | Silent Witness | Stuart Thompson | Series 15; episodes 7 & 8: "Domestic: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2012 | Them from That Thing | Various characters | Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2 |
| 2012 | Comedy Blaps | (voice) | Series 2; episode 9: "The Adventures of Robin of Essex in The New Set of Feathers" |
| 2013 | Dates | Nick | Episode 2: "Jenny & Nick" |
| 2013 | Run | Kieran | Mini-series; episode 1: "Carol" |
| 2013 | Privado | Michael Jackson | Mini-series; episodes 1–3: "Theft", "More Theft" & "No More Theft" |
| 2013 | By Any Means | Joe Tyrus | Mini-series; episode 2 |
| 2013 | The Great Train Robbery | Buster Edwards | Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2: "A Robber's Tale" & "A Copper's Tale" |
| 2013–2014 | Utopia | Arby / Piètre | Series 1 & 2; 11 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | The Mimic | Neil | Series 1 & 2; 11 episodes |
| 2015–2016 | Raised by Wolves | Michael | Series 1; episodes 4 & 6, & series 2; episode 4 |
| 2015–2016 | Humans | DS/DI Pete Drummond | Series 1 & 2; 14 episodes |
| 2016 | Drunk History: UK | King Henry VIII | Series 2; episode 9: "Battle of Hastings / Catherine Parr" |
| 2016 | Murder in Successville | Frankie Boyle | Series 2; episode 2: "Miranda" |
| 2017 | Unspeakable | Des | Television film |
| 2017 | Eric, Ernie and Me | Ernie Wise | Television film |
| 2018 | Strike | Donald Laing / Ray Williams | Series 3; episode 2: "Career of Evil: Part 2" |
| 2018 | No Offence | Dennis Caddy | Series 3; episodes 1–6 |
| 2018–2020 | King Gary | Winkle | Series 1 & 2; 8 episodes |
| 2019 | Cleaning Up | Warren | Episodes 1–6 |
| 2019–2021 | Peaky Blinders | Winston Churchill | Series 5; episodes 4 & 6, & series 6; episode 2 |
| 2020 | Sex Education | Police Officer 'Neil' | Series 2; episode 3 |
| 2020 | Baghdad Central | Douglas Evans | Episodes 3–6 |
| 2021 | Intergalactic | Sergeant Wendell | Episodes 1–3 |
| 2022 | Stuck | Dr. Pete Cosmos | 4 episodes |
| 2022 | Litvinenko | DI Brent Hyatt | Episodes 1–4 |
| 2023 | Hijack | Stuart Atterton | Main role. Series 1; episodes 1–7 |
| 2024 | The Bay | Steve Dawson | Series 5; episodes 1–6 |
| TBA | The Hack | TBA | Mini-series. Post-production |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2011 | Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards | Best Actor | Kill List | Nominated |
| 2011 | British Independent Film Awards | BIFA for Best Actor | Kill List | Nominated |
| 2012 | Fright Meter Awards | Best Actor | Kill List | Nominated |
| 2013 | Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Actor | Kill List | Nominated |
| 2013 | Southampton International Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film | Driftwood | Nominated |
| 2014 | BloodGuts UK Horror Awards | Best Supporting Actor/Actress | Open Windows | Nominated |
| 2022 | National Film Awards UK | Best Actor | Bull | Nominated |