Rafe Spall

Spall was born at King's College Hospital in Camberwell, London, the second of three children of Shane (née Baker) and actor Timothy Spall. Named after the protagonist in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, a role his father played in the Royal Shakespeare Company and one he would later play himself, he always had ambitions to act. When he was 12, his father was diagnosed with myeloid leukaemia and spent the next 18 months in treatment.

Rafe was overweight as a teen, which he calls a "painful" experience.[3] Having achieved poor grades at his school, Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College,[4] he left to become an actor and joined the National Youth Theatre at 15. He failed to get into his chosen drama schools, such as RADA, at 17, but worked anyway. After being perennially cast in "fat" roles, he lost 77 lbs at age 19, which brought more acting opportunities.[3]

Spall has frequently collaborated with Edgar Wright, appearing in his films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Spall was also featured in Wright's segment in the 2007 Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez film Grindhouse.

In 2007, Spall performed for the first time with his father in the ITV adaptation of A Room with a View playing father and son.[5]

In 2011, Spall starred in the romantic tragedy film One Day opposite Anne Hathaway.

In 2012, Spall portrayed Canadian author Yann Martel in the Academy Award-winning drama film Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and starring Suraj Sharma and Irrfan Khan. The film was a critical and financial success, winning four Academy Awards and making over $600 million at the box office. In 2013, he played the newlywed husband in I Give It a Year, a comedy about the trials and tribulations of a couple during their first year of marriage.[6]

In 2014, Spall appeared in the coming-of-age drama X+Y, alongside Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins, and the seasonal family comedy Get Santa. In 2015, he played John Hancock in the History Channel three-part series, Sons of Liberty, alongside Jim Broadbent, and appeared in the Academy Award-winning biographical comedy-drama The Big Short, alongside Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell. Also that year, Spall played Harry Price in Harry Price: Ghost Hunter, ITV's adaptation of Neil Spring's debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. The film aired on ITV1 on 27 December.[7]

Spall portrayed Eli Mills in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), the fifth instalment of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park series, and directed by The Impossible helmer J. A. Bayona.[8]

Since 2020, Spall has a leading role in the Apple TV+ comedy series Trying, opposite Esther Smith and Imelda Staunton. The first season premiered on 1 May 2020. A second season has already been commissioned by Apple Inc.[9]

He also played DS Bailey in the 2020 BBC drama The Salisbury Poisonings.[10]

Spall says he has always struggled with his weight, going up to 114 kg (251 lb), but said that he was given so many character parts that he attempted to slim down, losing over 32 kg (71 lb).[11] Like his father, he is a keen supporter of Crystal Palace. He is a patron of the Actors' Centre.[12]

In February 2008, Spall met actress Elize du Toit; they were married on 14 August 2010[13] and live in West Kensington, London.[14] They have three children: a daughter Lena, born 2011, a son Rex, born November 2012 and another son born in 2015.[13]

• Rafe Spall on IMDb
• Interview about the BBC's The Rotters' Club