David Matthew Macfadyen (; born 17 October 1974) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005). He gained wider recognition for playing Tom Wambsgans in the HBO drama series Succession (2018–2023), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards, two BAFTA TV Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
Macfadyen made his television debut in 1998 as Hareton Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights. He portrayed Tom Quinn in the BBC One spy series Spooks (2002–2004, 2011), and Inspector Edmund Reid in the BBC mystery series Ripper Street (2012–2016). For his role in Criminal Justice (2009), he received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also portrayed Henry Wilcox in Howards End (2017), Charles Ingram in Quiz (2020), John Stonehouse in Stonehouse (2023) and Charles J. Guiteau in Death by Lightning (2025).
In film, Macfadyen is known for his roles in Death at a Funeral (2007), Frost/Nixon (2008), Anna Karenina (2012), The Assistant (2019), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). In 2024, he played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine.
Early life and education Macfadyen was born on 17 October 1974 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, the son of Meinir (née Owen), a drama teacher and former actress, and Martin Macfadyen, an oil engineer. His paternal grandparents were Scottish and his maternal grandparents were Welsh. Macfadyen was brought up in a number of places, including Jakarta, Indonesia, as a result of his father's occupation.
He attended schools in England, including in Louth, Lincolnshire, as well as in Scotland and Indonesia. He went to Oakham School in Rutland before being accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at 17. As a student, he was inspired by Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, which he thought was "[a]n example to follow – an example of people acting with each other...", and "[f]eatured just the most extraordinary acting I'd ever seen". He studied at RADA from 1992 to 1995.
Career 1998–2004: Early roles and theater work After leaving RADA, Macfadyen became known in British theatre primarily for his work with the stage company Cheek by Jowl, for which he played Antonio in The Duchess of Malfi, Charles Surface in The School for Scandal, and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. His Benedick was played as an officer-class buffoon with a moustache and a braying laugh. In 2005, he played Prince Hal in Henry IV, Parts One and Two at the Royal National Theatre, with Michael Gambon in the role of Falstaff. In 2007, he returned to the stage, portraying an American, Clay, a stay-at-home father with a liberal attitude in the play The Pain and the Itch.
A TV breakthrough came when he appeared as Hareton Earnshaw in an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, screened on the ITV network in 1998. Further television drama work followed, including starring roles in the dramas Warriors (1999) and The Way We Live Now (2001), both for the BBC. Also in 2001, he earned acclaim for his starring role in the BBC Two drama serial Perfect Strangers, which was written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. In 2002, he starred in The Project, a BBC drama charting New Labour's rise to power.
He starred in Spooks, which became a success when screened on BBC One. A longer second season was screened in 2003, and a third season was broadcast in autumn 2004, with him leaving the series in the second episode. The series was aired as MI-5 on the A&E Network. In 2007 he appeared in the one-off Channel 4 drama Secret Life, which dealt with paedophilia. Macfadyen won the Best Actor award at the Royal Television Society 2007 Awards for this part, and was nominated for a BAFTA. He also appeared in a short sketch for Comic Relief as the bridegroom in Mr. Bean's Wedding, alongside Rowan Atkinson and Michelle Ryan. Macfadyen appeared in films including Enigma (released in 2001), and In My Father's Den, for which he received the New Zealand Screen Award for Best Actor.
2005–2017: Pride & Prejudice and other roles He starred as the romantic lead Fitzwilliam Darcy in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, released in the UK in September 2005. Macfadyen starred in Frank Oz's Death at a Funeral and the film Incendiary, based on Chris Cleave's novel alongside Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor. He also appeared in Ron Howard's film Frost/Nixon, in which he played John Birt. In 2008, he played the male lead Arthur Clennam in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit. In 2009 Macfadyen appeared alongside Academy Award-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter in the BBC Four movie Enid, based on the life of Enid Blyton, as Hugh Pollock, Blyton's publisher and first husband. In 2010, he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood. He starred as Prior Philip in the TV serial The Pillars of the Earth, and was the middle-aged Logan Mountstuart in Any Human Heart. In June 2010, Macfadyen won a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Criminal Justice. In 2011, Macfadyen made a final cameo in Spooks, and in 2012, he played Oblonsky in Joe Wright's film Anna Karenina. From December 2012, he began portraying Detective Inspector Edmund Reid in BBC One's Ripper Street.
In 2013–14, he played Jeeves in the production of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End of London. The play won the 2014 Olivier award for Best New Comedy.2014 Laurence Olivier Awards In 2015, Amazon Prime picked up Ripper Street and, after good reviews, it was recommissioned for fourth and fifth seasons. Macfadyen said he was "delighted to be embarking on another dose of Ripper Streetblood and guts, pocket watches and Victorian headgear, wonderfully dark, moving and mysterious story lines from Mr Richard Wardlow". The series also aired in the U.S. on BBC America. Also in 2015, he guest starred in the pilot episode of The Last Kingdom. In 2018, he played Mr. Stahlbaum in the film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which received mostly negative reviews.
2018–present: Succession and acclaim From 2018 to 2023, he starred as Tom Wambsgans in the HBO series Succession, for which he received Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022 and 2023 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2020, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television in 2024. In 2020, he appeared in the role of Major Charles Ingram in a three-part ITV drama, Quiz, based on the controversial coughing cheat scandal on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001. In 2024, Macfadyen played Mr. Paradox in the superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine. He also starred as Charles J. Guiteau in the 2025 Netflix miniseries Death by Lightning.
In August 2025, it was announced that Macfadyen would be voicing Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, a production of Audible and J.K. Rowling's Pottermore.
Personal life In 2002, Macfadyen began a relationship with his Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes. They were married in November 2004. The couple have two children. Macfadyen is stepfather to Hawes's son from her previous marriage. In March 2024, it was reported that Macfadyen is a member of the Garrick Club.
Acting credits Film
+ Year Title Role Notes 2000 Maybe Baby Nigel 2001 Enigma Lt. Cave 2002 The Project Paul Tibbenham 2004 The Reckoning King's Justice In My Father's Den Paul Prior 2005 Pride & Prejudice Fitzwilliam Darcy 2007 Grindhouse Eye Gouging Victim Segment: Don't Death at a Funeral Daniel Howells 2008 Incendiary Terence Butcher Frost/Nixon John Birt 2010 Robin Hood Sheriff of Nottingham 2011 The Three Musketeers Athos 2012 Anna Karenina Oblonsky 2014 Lost in Karastan Emil Forester 2015 The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music Georg von Trapp 2016 Revolution: New Art for a New World Vladimir Lenin (voice) Documentary 2017 The Current War J. P. Morgan 2018 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Benjamin Stahlbaum 2019 The Assistant Wilcock 2021 Operation Mincemeat Charles Cholmondeley 2024 Deadpool & Wolverine Mr. Paradox 2025 Holland Fred Vandergroot TBA Billy Filming
Television
+ Year Title Role Notes1998 Wuthering Heights Hareton Earnshaw Television film1999 Warriors Alan James2000 Murder Rooms Brian Waller Episode: "The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes: Part 1"2001 Perfect Strangers Daniel Symon 3 episodesThe Way We Live Now Sir Felix Carbury 4 episodes2002–2004, 2011 Spooks Tom Quinn 19 episodes2007 Mr. Bean's Wedding The Groom Short videoSecret Life Charlie Television film2008 Ashes to Ashes Gil Hollis Episode #1.7Little Dorrit Arthur Clennam 8 episodesAgatha Christie's Marple Inspector Neele Episode: "A Pocket Full of Rye"2009 Enid Hugh Pollock Television filmCriminal Justice Joe Miller 3 episodes2010 The Pillars of the Earth Prior Philip 8 episodesAny Human Heart Logan Mountstuart 4 episodes2012–2016 Ripper Street Det. Insp. Edmund Reid 36 episodes2013 Ambassadors Prince of Darkness 3 episodes2015 The Enfield Haunting Guy Playfair The Last Kingdom Lord Uhtred Episode #1.12016 Churchill's Secret Randolph Churchill Television film2017 Howards End Henry Wilcox 4 episodes2018–2023 Succession Tom Wambsgans Main role, 39 episodes2020 Quiz Maj. Charles Ingram 3 episodes2023 Stonehouse John Stonehouse Main role, 3 episodes; also executive producer2025 Death by Lightning Charles J. Guiteau Main role2026 The Miniature Wife Les Littlejohn Main role; also executive producerTBA George Smiley Main role; also executive producerTBA Michael Main role
Theatre Year Title Role Playwright Venue Ref. 1994 The Crimson Island Dymogatsky Mikhail Bulgakov Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts Lorca's Death Rafael/Intellect Ben Benison The Feigned Inconstancy Chevalier Marivaux The Beggar's Opera Macheath John Gay 1995 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Chief Bromden Dale Wasserman The Libertine John Wilmot Stephen Jeffreys My Funny Valentine Solo Performer The Duchess of Malfi Antonio Bologna John Webster Cheek by Jowl Cheek by Jowl 1996 A Midsummer Night's Dream Demetrius William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Company 1998 Much Ado About Nothing Benedick Cheek by Jowl Cheek by Jowl The School for Scandal Charles Surface Richard Brinsley Sheridan Royal Shakespeare Company RSC’s official archives1999 Battle Royal Mr. Brougham Nick Stafford Royal National Theatre 2005 Henry IV Prince Hal William Shakespeare2006 Total Eclipse Paul Verlaine Christopher Hampton reading at Royal Court Theatre 2007 The Pain and the Itch Clay Bruce Norris Royal Court Theatre 2010 Private Lives Elyot Chase Noël Coward Vaudeville Theatre 2013 Perfect Nonsense Jeeves David and Robert Goodale Duke of York's Theatre
Radio Year Title Author NotesRef. 2000 The Voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin BBC Radio 4 RadioListings Database 2001 Trampoline Meredith Oakes BBC Radio 4 RadioListings Database 2004 The Coma Alex Garland audio book Getting Away From It: The Island Tim Pears BBC Radio 4 RadioListings Database 2005 Stories We Could Tell Tony Parsons audio book 2007 The Making of Music BBC Radio 4 2025 Harry Potter J. K. Rowling Audible
Documentary Year Title NotesRef.2003 Essential Poems (To Fall in Love With) BBC Two 2004 The Hungerford Massacre BBC One 2006 The 9/11 Liars Channel 4 Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial BBC Two 2007 The Blair Years BBC One Last Party at the Palace Channel 4 2008 Dangerous Jobs for Girls Words of War ITV1 The Words of War on ITV 2009 Wine BBC Four Inside MI5 ITV1 2014 Horse Power Sky Atlantic
Video games Year Title RoleRef.2007 Robin Hood's Quest Robin Hood
Awards and nominations