Matthew MacFadyen

MacFadyen prefers performing on stage more than appearing onscreen.

Aside from both appearing as lead actors in Spooks, Matthew and his wife Keeley Hawes worked together in Death at a Funeral (2007) and "Season 1, Episode 7" of Ashes to Ashes, wherein Keeley is a series regular.

In portraying Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, Matthew based his performance solely from the script since he had not read the book prior to shooting the film.

Matthew is allergic to cats. He also has a fear of horses. In one of his horse-riding scenes in Pride & Prejudice, he was on a ladder rather than an actual horse.

In 2007, Matthew narrated for the PC version of the video game Robin Hood's Quest while he and his wife Keeley Hawes did the narration for the PS2 version.

MacFadyen did voice acting work for the following BBC radio programmes: The Voyage of the Beagle (2000), Trampoline (2001), Getting Away From It: The Island (2004), and Making of Music (2007).

When he was a teenager, Matthew admired actors Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, and Michael Gambon.

In 2004, Matthew lent his voice for the reading of the audiobook Coma by Alex Garland. He also narrated Tony Parsons' Stories We Could Tell in 2005.

On April 26, 2009, Matthew finished the Flora London Marathon with a final time of 4:54:44. He ran with the TV Times Adidas Leukaemia Research team.

In 2002, he began a relationship with his Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes (Zoe Reynolds). They got married in October 8, 2004 in a private ceremony at their local registry office. They have two children: daughter Maggie (b. December 2004) and son Ralph (b. September 2006). He also has a stepson, Myles (b. 2000), from Hawes' previous marriage to entrepreneur Spencer McCallum.

Matthew is 6' 3" (1.91 m). He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Theatrical Credits: • The Crimson Island as Dymogatsky (RADA, 1994) • Lorca's Death as Rafael/Intellect, (RADA, 1994) • The Feigned Inconstancy as Chevalier, (RADA, 1994) • The Beggar's Opera as Macheath, (RADA, 1994) • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Chief Bromden, (RADA, 1995) • The Libertine as John Wilmot, (RADA, 1995) • The Duchess of Malfi as Antonio Bologna, (Cheek By Jowl Theatre Company, 1995) • A Midsummer Night's Dream as Demetrius, (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1996) • Much Ado about Nothing as Benedick, (Cheek By Jowl Theatre Company, 1998) • The School for Scandal as Charles Surface, (Royal Shakespeare Company 1998) • Battle Royal as Mr. Brougham, (National Theatre, 1999) • Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 as Henry, (National Theatre, 2005) • Total Eclipse as Paul Verlaine, (Royal Court Theatre, 2006) • The Pain and the Itch as Clay as Clay, (Royal Court Theatre, 2007)

His film debut was in the Ben Elton film, of his own novel, Maybe Baby (2000), wherein he played Hugh Laurie's obnoxious boss, Nigel. His television debut was portraying Hareton Earnshaw in the 1998 Granada Television production of Wuthering Heights.

Awards and Nominations: • 1998 (N) - Best Classical Actor Under 30, RSC Ian Charleston Award • 2000 (N) - Best Actor - Male, Royal Television Society (UK), for Warriors • 2005 (N) - Best Actor, British Independent Film Awards, for In My Father's Den • 2005 (W) - Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, New Zealand Screen Awards, for In My Father's Den • 2006 (W) - Character and Morality in Entertainment Awards, for Pride and Prejudice, shared with castmates • 2006 (N) - ALFS Award: British Newcomer of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards, for Pride and Prejudice • 2008 (N) - Best Actor, BAFTA TV Award, for Secret Life • 2008 (W) - Best Actor - Male, Royal Television Society (UK), for Secret Life • 2009 (N) - Best Actor - Male, Royal Television Society (UK), for Little Dorrit • 2009 (N) - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Nixon, shared with castmates

In 1992, he was turned down by the National Youth Theatre, but was accepted at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), where he became friends with Merseybeat actress Josie D'Arby.