Matthew Macfadyen Biography: In His Own Words – Exclusive Video, News, Photos, Age

by Hailey SchipperMarch 7, 2023, 10:46 pmDaily Digest, News, News Feed, U Bio >

Matthew Macfadyen is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in Pride & Predudice, Succession and Stonehouse.

MATTHEW MACFADYEN BIOGRAPHY: AGE, EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, EDUCATION

Matthew Macfadyen was born on October 17, 1974 (Matthew Macfadyen: age 48) in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. His parents are Meinir and Martin Macfadyen, a drama teacher and an oil engineer respectively. He attended schools in England, Scotland and Indonesia before being accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London when he was 17. He finished his schooling in 1995 before taking to the British theatre.

MATTHEW MACFADYEN BIOGRAPHY: CAREER

Macfadyen started his career on the stage with the company Cheek by Jowl where he had roles in The School for Scandal, Much Ado About Nothing and The Duchess of Malfi. He then went on to play roles in television, such as Hareton Earnshaw in a TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights (1998), Daniel Symon in Perfect Strangers (2001) and Paul Tibbenham in The Project (2001).

Macfadyen’s film career started in 2000 in the movie Maybe Baby where he played Nigel, the loudmouth boss to Sam Bell (Hugh Laurie). His career continued to grow as he played Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (2005) and John Birt in Frost/Nixon (2008), from which he was nominated for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture from the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The actor returned to television in 2018 to take the role of Tom Wambsgans in the show Succession. The show is about the Roy family fighting over who should run the family-owned Waystar RoyCo, a global media and entertainment business, when the head of the business, Logan Roy, gets sick. Tom Wambsgans is a Waystar Executive who wants the power found in the family circle, despite the family’s dismissal of him.

Macfadyen has won several awards for his role in Succession including Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series from the Screen Actors Guild Awards; Best Supporting Actor from the British Academy Television Awards; and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series from the Primetime Emmy Awards. Season four of the show is set to release in the Spring of 2023.

MATTHEW MACFADYEN BIOGRAPHY: STONEHOUSE

In an exclusive interview with uInterview founder Erik Meers, Macfadyen talked about his most recent role as the lead in the BritBox drama, Stonehouse. The show follows the story of John Stonehouse’s disgraced life as a politician and fake death. The other main characters include Stonehouse’s wife, Barbara Smith (Keely Hawes), Stonehouse’s mistress, Sheila Buckley (Emer Heatley) and Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Kevin McNally).

During this interview, Macfadyen discussed what it was like playing another hapless character. “We had a fantastic script. I had false teeth and these very dark brown contact lenses which changed the way I thought I looked, which is half the battle,” said Macfadyen. “And I had a flight of wigs, like five different wigs, spanning late 50s to middle 80s so I was set. And an amazing array of 70s suits. So I was laughing really.”

Macfadyen also revealed what working with McNally was like. “Hilariously, we had done something 25 years previously and hadn’t worked together since. Long time ago on a show called Spooks,” Macfadyen laughed as McNally tried to pinpoint the year. “But it was great! And we started with a very funny scene where I’m being interrogated by Willson and his head of security because of the possibility of a spy in the cabinet. But it’s a very funnily written scene with someone just waffling about. So it was lovely! We started like that and had lovely little scenes dotted through the show.”

The actor ended his interview by talking about his favorite scenes to shoot. “Boring but truthful answer for me, they were all really fun,” Macfadyen said. “There was one with Kevin [McNally] when we were having a drink and it’s the last scene actually. It’s sort of funny, but quite dark and sad how Wilson’s talking about being a spider in the corner of the room and saying, ‘Would you go kick a blind man?’ It sort of a surreal request, but it was beautifully written and it was great fun to play. I love the scenes with the Australian policeman and the jazz club.”

Stonehouse is now streaming on BritBox.