# Lloyd Owen

Marcus Richard Lloyd Owen (born 14 April 1966) is a British actor. Despite being born in London, he considers himself Welsh due to both his parents being from Wales and only having moved to London for purposes of professional progression. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, he is known for portraying Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones Sr. in George Lucas's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles between 1992 and 1993 and Paul Bowman-MacDonald in the BBC Scotland series Monarch of the Glen from 2002 to 2005. He starred as solicitor William Heelis in the film Miss Potter (2006) and commander Nathan Walker in Apollo 18 (2011). He plays the role of Elendil in the Amazon Prime fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022–present).

## Early life

Owen was born on 14 April 1966 at the Charing Cross Hospital in Westminster, London. He was brought up in London, although both of his parents were Welsh – his father, actor Glyn Owen (1928–2004), was from Caernarfon, Gwynedd, while his mother, actress Patricia Mort, was from Morriston in Swansea. Owen considers himself Welsh. His sister is the actress Cathy Owen (b. 1968).
Owen said he grew up around "a mob of entertaining, troublesome, fascinating" actors involved in challenging the Lord Chamberlain during some of the most exciting days of a very controversial Royal Court Theatre. When he was at Highgate School, because his father was an actor, his teachers thought that he should be able to act, too. However, at first he was not interested. "I was always made to read plays at school but I never wanted to. Then I was made to take part in a school play and I didn't want to do that either but I started to get approval for my acting. I was reasonably academic, good at sport, but somehow with the acting, people said 'that was fantastic'. So I thought, 'maybe that's what I'll do then".
At 16, Owen went straight from school to the National Youth Theatre, and subsequently received formal training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, after which he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. While at RADA he managed to get an acting job and an Equity card, but when he told the principal he needed a term off, the request was denied and he was expelled from the Academy after just a year. Fortunately, Owen landed a job with Cheek by Jowl and followed the theatre company on tour around the world performing Shakespeare plays. Owen has said that he wished he had gone to university, and that he had been "in too much of a rush".

## Career

Owen's breakthrough role was Professor Henry Jones, Sr., father of Indiana Jones, in eight episodes of the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1992 and 1993. Subsequently, he portrayed the lead role of Paul Bowman-MacDonald in 28 episodes of the popular BBC Scotland series Monarch of the Glen between 2002 and 2005. He also played Professor Jon Ford in the BBC Northern Ireland series The Innocence Project (2006–2007). In 2014, Owen appeared in the second season of The CW's supernatural show The Originals as Ansel, Klaus's father. He also had a recurring role of the U.S. President Farrell in 2015 comedy series You, Me and the Apocalypse. In 2019, he played Dominic Swanson in the ITV drama Cleaning Up. In 2020, it was announced that Owen joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), where he plays the role of Elendil.
Owen's film career has included appearances in short films, and supporting roles in The Republic of Love (2003) (as Peter), which was based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields, and in Miss Potter (2006) (as a solicitor named William Heelis who married children's author Beatrix Potter). In 2011, he starred in sci-fi film Apollo 18 as Commander Nathan "Nate" Walker. He also played officer John Clive in the 2018 Hindi film Thugs of Hindostan.
However, Owen's first love has always been the theatre. Early in his professional career he was involved in the Cheek by Jowl productions of Philoctetes and the Shakespeare plays Macbeth, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. Owen's break on stage was playing Nick in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, directed by Howard Davies, at the Almeida Theatre in London in 1996. Owen studied the play during his A-levels, and it is his favourite play. Other highlights of his stage career include playing Dan in Closer by Patrick Marber in 1998 and George in The York Realist by Peter Gill in 2002. Critics praised his performance in the latter play as "astonishing in its power, throttled fury and sadness" and "superb, richly voiced", and called him "a fast-rising star".

## Personal life

Owen is married to actress and artist Juliette Mole. Together they have two children, Maxim (b. 1990) and Mimi (b. 1998).
Owen speaks fluent French.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Between Dreams | Stephen Tredre | Short film |
| 2002 | The Seasons Alter | Oberon | Short film |
| 2003 | The Republic of Love | Peter | |
| 2003 | Confused | Johnny | Short film |
| 2004 | Get the Picture | Jake Wells | Short film |
| 2006 | Miss Potter | William Heelis | |
| 2011 | Apollo 18 | Nathan Walker | |
| 2013 | Free Ride | The Captain | |
| 2017 | The Man with the Iron Heart | Commandant Schuster | |
| 2018 | Thugs of Hindostan | John Clive | |
| 2022 | Bounce | Surgeon | Short film; director and producer |
| 2023 | Wonderwell | Adam | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Boon | Pete Blisset | Series 3, episode 7: "Honourable Service" |
| 1991 | The Chief | PC Farrell | Series 2, episode 3: "Jack and Jill" |
| 1992 | Forever Green | Paul Sherringham | Series 2, episode 4 |
| 1992 | Science Fiction | Lord Byron | Series 2, episode 6: "The Story of Frankenstein" |
| 1992–1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Professor Henry Jones, Sr. | 8 episodes |
| 1993 | Stay Lucky | Gerry Cook | Series 4, episode 3: "A Quick Killing" |
| 1993 | All in the Game | Darren Matthews | |
| 1994 | The Cinder Path | Charlie MacFell | |
| 1996 | The Bill | David Seabrook | Series 12, episode 24: "Boy Meets Girl" |
| 1996 | Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father | Professor Henry Jones, Sr. | Television film |
| 1998 | Get Real | Adam | |
| 1999 | Casualty | Jack Chandler | 2 episodes: "Calm Before the Storm" |
| 2000 | Harbour Lights | Inspector Nick Preston | Series 2, episode 2: "Thicker Than Water" |
| 2001 | Gypsy Girl | Jack | Series 1, episode 1 |
| 2001 | Hearts and Bones | James Norton | |
| 2001–2002 | Des del balcó | Patrick O'Brien | |
| 2002 | Coupling | James | 3 episodes |
| 2002 | Dead Gorgeous | Vic | Television film |
| 2002 | Wire in the Blood | Spencer Watts | 2 episodes: "Justice Painted Blind" |
| 2002–2005 | Monarch of the Glen | Paul Bowman-MacDonald | |
| 2003 | The Vice | Delaney | Series 5, episode 5: "Outcast" |
| 2004 | Dragons Alive | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2005 | The Ghost Squad | DI Bryce | Series 1, episode 1: "One of Us" |
| 2006–2007 | The Innocence Project | Professor Jon Ford | |
| 2007 | Viva Laughlin | Ripley Holden | |
| 2008 | Inseparable | Justin / Clyde | Television film |
| 2009 | Taking the Flak | Jack | Series 1, episode 1: "Bigfooting" |
| 2009 | Inside the Box | Kenneth Donnegan | Television film |
| 2012 | Fairly Legal | Robin Archer | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage | Tony Blair | Television film; segment "Stuff Happens" |
| 2014 | The Originals | Ansel | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Midsomer Murders | Louis Paynton | Series 17, episode 4: "A Vintage Murder" |
| 2015 | You, Me and the Apocalypse | U.S. President Farrell | 6 episodes |
| 2015 | Der Beobachter | Tom Ward | Television film |
| 2016 | Death in Paradise | Dr Sam Blake | Series 5, episode 1: "The Complex Murder" |
| 2016 | Silent Witness | Det Supt Mitchell | 2 episodes: "Life Licence" |
| 2019 | Cleaning Up | Dominic Swanson | |
| 2022–present | The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | Elendil | |

### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| | As You Like It | Charles / William | Wolsey Theatre |
| | The Passport | | Young Vic |
| | The Parquet Floor | | Young Vic |
| 1987 | Twelfth Night | Sebastian | Cheek by Jowl / Swan Theatre |
| 1987–1988 | Macbeth | Donalbain | Cheek by Jowl / York Theatre Royal |
| 1988–1989 | The Tempest | Ferdinand | Cheek by Jowl / Donmar Warehouse |
| 1988–1989 | Philoctetes | Sailor | Cheek by Jowl / Donmar Warehouse |
| 1989 | Hamlet | Laertes | Leicester Haymarket Theatre |
| 1994 | Henry VI, Part 3 | Edward IV | Royal Shakespeare Company / The Other Place |
| 1995 | Our Boys | Joe | Donmar Warehouse |
| 1995 | Grab the Dog | | Royal National Theatre / The Studio |
| 1996 | East Lynne | Captain Francis Levison | Greenwich Theatre |
| 1996–1997 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Nick | Almeida Theatre / Aldwych Theatre, West End |
| 1998 | Closer | Dan | Lyric Theatre, West End |
| 1999 | Morphic Resonance | Wallace | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2000 | The Way of the World | Mirabell | Royal Exchange Theatre |
| 2000 | Julius Caesar | Brutus | Young Vic |
| 2001 | Edward II | Mortimer the Younger | Crucible Theatre |
| 2001–2002 | The York Realist | George | The Lowry / Bristol Old Vic / Royal Court Theatre / Strand Theatre, West End |
| 2003 | Iphigenia | Agamemnon | Crucible Theatre |
| 2004 | Clouds | Owen Shorter | Cambridge Arts Theatre / Yvonne Arnaud Theatre |
| 2005 | Paul | Peter | Royal National Theatre / Cottesloe Theatre |
| 2010 | Blood and Gifts | Jim Warnock | Royal National Theatre / Lyttelton Theatre |
| 2011 | Loyalty | Nick Beeching | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2012–2013 | The Bodyguard | Frank Farmer | Adelphi Theatre, West End |
| 2014 | Good People | Mike | Hampstead Theatre / Noël Coward Theatre, West End |
| 2016 | The End of Longing | Joseph | Playhouse Theatre, West End |
| 2019–2020 | Noises Off | Lloyd Dallas | Garrick Theatre, West End |
| 2024 | The New Real | Larry Yeates | The Other Place |

### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | 'Tis Pity She's a Whore | Soranzo | BBC Radio 3 |
| 2007 | Keep Your Pantheon | Lupus Albus | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2009 | The Man in the Wooden Hat | Terry | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2010 | Goldfinger | Felix Leiter | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2010 | The School for Husbands and The Imaginary Cuckold | Valére | L.A. Theatre Works |
| 2011 | The Rivals | Captain Jack Absolute | L.A. Theatre Works |
| 2011 | England, Their England | Pendragon | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2012 | Uncle Fred in the Springtime | Horace Pendlebury-Davenport | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2014 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Franklin | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2015 | Michael Frayn's Matchbox Theatre | Performer | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2020 | The Man with the Golden Gun | Chief-of-Staff | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2020 | Leave It to Psmith | Sebastian Beach | BBC Radio 4 |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2011 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Various characters |
| 2017 | Horizon Zero Dawn | Ted Faro / Jarm |
| 2022 | Horizon Forbidden West | Ted Faro |