Ben Miles

Ben Miles
Born Benjamin Charles Miles
(1966-09-29) 29 September 1966
Wimbledon, London, England
Nationality British
Occupation Actor
Years active 1989–present
Spouse(s) Emily Raymond
Children 3

Benjamin Charles Miles (born 29 September 1966) is an English actor, best known for his starring role as Patrick Maitland in the British television comedy Coupling, from 2000 to 2004 and as Peter Townsend in the Netflix drama The Crown (2017).

Life and career

Miles was born in Wimbledon, London, but lived as a young man in Ashover, Derbyshire, attending Tupton Hall School. He began acting in school productions, which he pursued mainly because it allowed him to miss classes. In an interview, Miles stated how he would spend his spare time in a now-defunct record shop (Hudsons) in Chesterfield, Derbyshire while "thinking about 'finding the one'".[1] He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He moved into television roles in the 1990s, playing supporting roles in such series as Zorro, Soldier Soldier, Is It Legal?, The Bill, Peak Practice and Wonderful You.

Miles played a very small part as a journalist, with just a few words of dialogue, in the 1997 motion picture The Wings of the Dove. In 2000, he was cast as the womanizing Patrick Maitland in the comedy series Coupling, a role which he played until the series ended in 2004. He continued other television work during his tenure in Coupling, appearing in The Forsyte Saga as Montague Dartie (this was the first time Miles acted with Amanda Root) and in Prime Suspect. In 2004, Miles portrayed Charles Ryder in the BBC Radio 4 production of Brideshead Revisited. Miles was the co-lead in the BBC drama, A Thing Called Love, filmed on location in Nottingham, England.

Miles appeared in the 2005 BBC television drama Mr Harvey Lights a Candle, playing the part of a teacher taking an unruly party of pupils on a daytrip to Salisbury Cathedral. In 2006, he appeared in the TV drama After Thomas as the father of a son with autism.[2] He worked alongside actors such as Clive Mantle. In 2008, he appeared as the squire Sir Timothy in the British production Lark Rise to Candleford, and as Plantagenet Palliser in Radio 4 production The Pallisers. In 2009, he appeared as the head of a stock market trading firm in the BBC city-based drama Sex, the City and Me. He played the lead in Pulse opposite Claire Foy,[3] who he also co-starred with in The Promise in early 2011, just after also appearing in BBC 1's Zen.

Miles often works with director James McTeigue: he appeared in McTeigue's 2006 film V for Vendetta as Dascombe, in Ninja Assassin, and in Speed Racer.[4]

On stage, he played Bolingbroke in the Old Vic's production of Richard II in 2005 alongside his father-in-law Gary Raymond, well known for Rat Patrol, El Cid and Suddenly Last Summer. Miles most recently appeared in the play The Norman Conquests as Tom in 2009. The Norman Conquests won a Tony Award during his tenure in the play for Best Revival of a Play.[5]

In summer 2011, Miles starred as Robert in Harold Pinter's Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End, with Kristin Scott Thomas playing his wife, Emma. The love triangle was completed by Douglas Henshall as his best friend and her lover, Jerry. The revival was directed by Ian Rickson. Also in 2011 he appeared in the television film The Suspicions of Mr Whicher as Dr. Stapleton.

In 2014 Miles played Thomas Cromwell in the RSC version of Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London. In April 2015 the RSC brought the plays to New York City.[6][7]

In 2016, he played Peter Townsend in the Netflix series The Crown, and the Duke of Somerset in The Hollow Crown, the second cycle in a series of television film adaptations of William Shakespeare's history plays. In the same year, he also had a guest role as Chancellor Tom Pickering in an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror ("Hated in the Nation").

In 2017, he voiced the Time Traveller in a Big Finish Productions adaptation of The Time Machine and Ace in the UK dub of Bob the Builder: Mega Machines.

In 2018, he appeared as DSU Jack Haley in the BBC Two miniseries Collateral and on stage at the Lyttelton Theatre as one of the Lehman Brothers in The Lehman Trilogy.[8]

Personal life

Miles can play bass, drums, and guitar and is left-handed. He is married to the actress Emily Raymond, who starred in the film Love Lies Bleeding alongside Faye Dunaway; they have three children.[2] The two also appeared together in the episode of Peak Practice, "Before The Lights Go Out" in 1999.

References

  1. ↑ "Ben Miles". OfficialLondonTheatre.com. 15 Oct 2008. Retrieved 30 Oct 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Login". Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Ben Miles: 'BBC Three show defies genre'". 28 May 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Entertainment, Movie & TV News - Moviefone.com". Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Exit, Laughing: Tony-Winning Norman Conquests Ends Broadway Run Archived 26 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Soloski, Alexis (18 March 2015). "Ben Miles Takes On 'Wolf Hall' Onstage". New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Epic London Double-Bill Wolf Hall Opens On Broadway - Playbill". Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Treneman, Anne (13 July 2018). "Magnificent Mendes tale of bank brothers is right on the money". The TImes (72586). p. 23. ISSN 0140-0460.
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