Toby Kebbell

Tobias Alistair Patrick "Toby" Kebbell (born 9 July 1982) is an English actor, known for his roles in the films Dead Man's Shoes (2004), RocknRolla (2008), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (both 2010), War Horse (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Fantastic Four (2015) and Warcraft (2016).

Life and career

Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in South Elmsall, on the A638 between Doncaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire. He was brought up by his mother, Michelle (née Mathers), a cook and landscape gardener, after his parents divorced when he was eighteen months old. His father, Robert Kebbell, is an engineer. He went to a Catholic primary school. Kebbell first came to notice when director Shane Meadows cast him in the role of Anthony in the film Dead Man's Shoes. He was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards and was widely lauded for his sensitive, moving portrayal of a young man with a learning difficulty. Kebbell then appeared in Oliver Stone's Alexander and Match Point, which Woody Allen cast him in without audition after being impressed with his performance in Dead Man's Shoes.

Kebbell's most critically acclaimed role[citation needed] came in 2007 when he played Rob Gretton, the manager of Joy Division in Anton Corbijn's award-winning biopic of Ian Curtis, Control. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the British Independent Film Awards; other nominees for the award included Cate Blanchett, Colin Firth and Control co-star Samantha Morton. He was also nominated for the London Critics' Circle Best Supporting Actor Award alongside Albert Finney and Tom Wilkinson.

In December 2007, Kebbell took the lead in an episode of Jimmy McGovern's BBC series The Street, which subsequently won the BAFTA for Best Drama series. His other work for the BBC included a modern retelling of Macbeth alongside James McAvoy, while his theatre roles included spells at the Almeida Theatre in David Hare's reworking of Maxim Gorky's Enemies and at the Playhouse in R.C. Sherriff's classic, Journey's End.

In September 2008, Kebbell was featured in the film RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, alongside actors Tom Wilkinson, Gerard Butler and Thandie Newton. Kebbell played a crack-addicted musician, Johnny Quid. To play the role Toby Kebbell learned to play the piano and operate a semi automatic.

In January 2009, Kebbell was nominated in the "Orange Rising Star Award" category of the 2009 BAFTA Awards. This award is voted for by the public. Kebbell appeared in the 2009 film Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, in which he took a small role alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. He filmed in Morocco and London with Jake Gyllenhaal for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

In February 2009, it was reported that Kebbell was dating the former Oxford Union president Ruzwana Bashir, whom he met at a party given by the journalist Andrew Neil.

In 2011, Kebbell played a leading role in 'The Entire History of You', the finale of the first season of Charlie Brooker's critically acclaimed Black Mirror. The episode was written by Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show, The Thick of It). Robert Downey, Jr. has since bought the rights to adapt the script for a forthcoming film.

In 2014, Kebbell took over the role of Koba in the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Koba was a badly treated experimental bonobo whose grudge against humans leads to conflict with Caesar, Andy Serkis's character from Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

In December 2013, Legendary Pictures announced that Kebbell would be joining the cast of Warcraft film adaptation as Durotan, set to be released in March 2016.

Kebbell played the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom in the 2015 Fantastic Four film. Kebbell was cast as Chapman for the upcoming film Kong: Skull Island and provided guidance for Kong's motion capture sequences.

[ Wikipedia ]