David Oakes
David Oakes | |
---|---|
Born | Rowan David Oakes 14 October 1983 |
Alma mater | University of Manchester, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2008–present |
Partner | Natalie Dormer (2018–present) |
Children | 1 |
Website | www |
Rowan David Oakes
Early life and education
Oakes was born in
Oakes grew up in
Career
Oakes began his career at
In 2006, Oakes performed a 90-minute abridged version of Much Ado About Nothing as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Complete Works" festival along with his final year graduates from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He alternated between playing Claudio and Verges alongside fellow graduate Matt Barber.[7]
Oakes was present to accept the Jury Prize at the 2011 Romy Awards in Vienna alongside Donald Sutherland and Natalia Wörner.
Oakes came to prominence when he played the villainous William Hamleigh in the television miniseries The Pillars of the Earth (2010). The following year, Oakes was cast in the television series The Borgias (2011), airing on Showtime.[8] Whilst shooting the second season, Oakes performed a cameo in the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End (2012).
Between 2010 and 2013, Oakes had several roles playing villains on television—such as William Hamleigh in
Other performances between 2008 and 2013 for "Read Not Dead" include an early quarto edition of
In a return to TV period dramas in 2015, Oakes guest-starred in both the third season of
In 2017, Oakes starred in the film adaptation of
Oakes played
Oakes set up a theatre company called Dog Ate Cake with a long-term theatrical collaborator Henry Bell.[13]
In 2015 Oakes starred as Banquo in a charity fundraiser for the Shakespeare Schools Festival.[14] The event was largely improvised by the actors and lawyers involved, but based on a framework written by Jonathan Myerson. The cast also included Christopher Eccleston as Macbeth, Haydn Gwynne as Lady Macbeth, Paterson Joseph as MacDuff, and Pippa Bennett-Warner as one of the Weird Sisters. The event interrupted the events of the original play following the death of Duncan, placing Macbeth on trial for murder. Oakes, Joseph, and Gwynne appeared as witnesses for the prosecution while Eccleston and Bennett-Warner played witnesses for the defence. The event was overseen by High Court Judge Sir Michael Burton; the QCs were John Kelsey-Fry, Jonathan Laidlaw, Dinah Rose, and Ian Winter, and the foreman of the jury was Jeremy Paxman.[15]
In 2019, Oakes played
Theatre direction
Oakes has directed a number of theatre pieces alongside his acting career. In 2003 he took a stage adaptation of
While at university, Oakes directed numerous plays including Martin McDonagh's Beauty Queen of Leenane, Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter and Anthony Minghella's Whale Music.[20]
Also whilst at University in 2005, Oakes assisted director Natalie Wilson on a production of Smilin' Through that was co-produced by the Truant Company, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and Contact Theatre, Manchester. Later that year, Oakes once again turned to literary adaptation, taking a production of Stephen King's The Boogeyman to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[20]
With his and Bell's theatre company, Dog Ate Cake, in 2009 Oakes directed a small tour revival of John Maddison Morton's Box and Cox.[21]
Oakes frequently directs at Shakespeare's Globe extending their "Read Not Dead" series, a study devoted to performing fully staged readings of the entirety of the
Oakes recently directed an extract of Robert Daborne's A Christian Turn'd Turk as part of a special "Read Not Dead" event at Shakespeare's Globe. Four directors with four scholars were teamed up with actors and presented their arguments and selected scenes at a special hustings event on Thursday 29 May 2014. Winning the event, teamed with Dr Emma Smith of Oxford University, Oakes directed the full play on Sunday 5 October 2014 in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
Podcasts
In 2020, Oakes narrated an episode of Historic Royal Palaces' Outliers podcast.[24] He appeared as Thomas Phelippes, a spy and code breaker in the court of Elizabeth I plotting the downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Oakes is the presenter of the natural history podcast Trees A Crowd. The first episode was released on 25 February 2019 and featured Mark Frith.
Personal life
Oakes has been in a relationship with actress
Oakes plays both the clarinet and bass clarinet, and is a bass singer.[13] He is an avid follower of folk music, and continues to support the Bristol folk group Sheelanagig.[4]
Charity work and advocacy
British Lung Foundation
Oakes, following his infant niece being diagnosed with a lung condition, has been heavily involved with raising awareness for and fundraising on behalf of the British Lung Foundation.
In 2013, Oakes collaborated with his Borgias castmate
Later in 2014, Oakes ran the length of the country to raise awareness for infant lung diseases for both the British Lung Foundation and ChILD Lung Foundation UK.[29] In 2016, he joined with the BLF to promote their new Children's Hub to provide families with information and support.[30]
Arts charities
Since 2014, Oakes has also been a friend of
Environmental activism
Since 2019, Oakes has been an Ambassador for the Woodland Trust.[33] On 9 October 2019, Oakes hosted a discussion at the 70th Cheltenham Literature Festival on the subject of "The Art of Trees".[34]
Writing in an editorial for the
Trees give us so much: if you can come up with a better technology and material that is cheap, enhances wellbeing, stimulates happy childhood memories, sequesters CO2, boosts biodiversity and even just looks as pretty as a copper beech, a hawthorn or a horse chestnut, then I’ll bow to you.[35]
On 30 January 2020, Oakes was a co-signatory, with the CEOs of
On 21 June 2020, Oakes co-hosted the live-stream event The Big Wild Quiz for The Wildlife Trusts as part of their "30 Days Wild" campaign.
On 26 November 2020, Oakes became an ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts.[39]
Following a visit to a Rhino Conservation project in Namibia, one supported by David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, on 29 June 2023 Oakes was made a Conservation Ambassador for the charity.
Filmography
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Bonekickers | Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Episode 6 "Follow the Gleam" |
Walter's War | Oswald Hennessey | Television movie | |
2009 | Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant | George Cavendish | Episode 3 "Lover" |
Trinity | Ross Bonham | Episodes 1, 2, 3
| |
2010 | The Pillars of the Earth | Lord William Hamleigh | Mini-series |
2011–2012 | The Borgias | Juan Borgia |
Season 1 & 2 |
2012 | World Without End | Bishop Henri | Oakes appears as a secret cameo alongside Charlotte Riley. Oakes was back in Budapest filming The Borgias, so the producers of World Without End thought it would be a fun nod to the original series. |
2013 | Ripper Street | Victor Silver | Episode 8 What Use Our Work? |
The White Queen |
George, Duke of Clarence |
Episodes 1 - 7 | |
2014 | Kim Philby: His Most Intimate Betrayal | Kim Philby | Two-part drama documentary by Ben MacIntyre
|
2015 | Endeavour | Jocelyn "Joss" Bixby | Season 3: "Ride" |
The Living and the Dead | William Payne | Episodes 4 - 6 | |
2016–2017 | Victoria | Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | Season 1 and 2 |
2022–present | Vikings: Valhalla | Earl Godwin | Seasons 1, 2 & 3 |
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Truth or Dare | Justin | Also known as "Truth or Die" in the United States |
100Dniowk@ | David Potter | Polish-language feature film – for which Oakes learned Polish | |
2013 | Love By Design | Adrian | |
Goblin? | Harry | Short film with Holliday Grainger | |
Who Shall I Play With Now? | Gregory | UK premiere on 29 June 2013 at the Wimbledon Shorts Festival | |
2014 | Sins of a Father | Martin | A partially re-shot, re-edited version of the 1991 film Shuttlecock with Alan Bates and Lambert Wilson |
2015 | Night Feed | Husband | A short film made by Channel 4 with Alice Lowe for Film Four Frightfest |
2017 | Cold Skin | Friend | |
2018 | The Garden of Evening Mists | Frederick | |
2019 | You | Brandon Miller |
Radio
- Oakes has performed with The Fitzrovia Radio Hour[citation needed]
- 2008: A Dance to the Music of Time as Charles Stringham (BBC Radio 4)
- 2017 - 2021: Seasons 1 to 4 of Foiled as Richie (BBC Radio Wales)—written by David Charles and Beth Granville, based on the Edinburgh Fringe show of the same name.
Stage
Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare | Claudio & Verges | Royal Shakespeare Company & Bristol Old Vic Theatre School | John Hartoch | |
2007 | Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare | Dumaine | Shakespeare's Globe & International Tour | Dominic Dromgoole | |
We the People (world premiere) by Eric Schlosser | Charles Pinckney & Gunning Bedford Jnr | Shakespeare's Globe | Charlotte Westenra | ||
2008 | Old Vic New Voices: The Twenty-four Hour Plays | Davide | Old Vic Theatre |
||
Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff | Raleigh | Mercury Theatre, Colchester | Tony Casement | ||
Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller | Mortimer | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh | Aida Karic | ||
2009 | All The Little Things We Crushed (world premiere) by Joel Horwood | Hugh | Almeida Theatre, London | Simon Godwin | |
2011 | Three Farces ("Slasher and Crasher", "A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion" & "Grimshaw, Bagshaw and Bradshaw") by John Maddison Morton | Samson Slasher & John Bagshaw | Orange Tree Theatre, London | Henry Bell | |
2013 | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen adapted by Simon Reade | Darcy | Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, London |
Deborah Bruce | [9] |
2014–2015 | Shakespeare in Love (world premiere) by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard adapted by Lee Hall | Christopher Marlowe | Noël Coward Theatre, West End, London | Declan Donnellan | |
2015 | The Trial of Macbeth by Jonathan Myerson | Banquo | Noël Coward Theatre, West End, London | Christopher Haydon | |
2017 | Venus in Fur (West End premiere) by David Ives | Thomas Novachek | Theatre Royal Haymarket, West End, London | Patrick Marber | |
2019 | Hamlet by William Shakespeare | Hamlet | Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, York | Damian Cruden | [16] |
See also
- Ed Begley Jr.—American actor and environmentalist
References
- ^ a b "Q&A with actor David Oakes". Salisbury Journal. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ a b c "Interview for 1883 Magazine from 2011". Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ a b Davies, Ceri (26 November 2012). "Interview for Emma Hartley entitled "Desert Island Folk Discs"". 1883 Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ "List of graduates from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School since 1984". Archived from the original on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ^ "The 200th Read Not Dead". Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "UK Theatre Database: RSC's Much Ado About Nothing". Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (10 June 2010). "David Oakes, Holliday Grainger join 'Borgias'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
- ^ Whats On Stage. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ "The Marlowe Society Research Journal - Volume 05 - 2008" (PDF). Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "David Oakes' Spotlight CV". Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Natalie Dormer will star in erotically charged West End production of Venus in Fur" by Alistair Foster, The Evening Standard, 12 May 2017
- ^ a b "Interview for Fault Magazine 2011". Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ "EVENT: The Trial of Macbeth". Inner Temple Library. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- TheGuardian.com. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
- ^ a b Douglas, Natalie (4 July 2019). "Hamlet review at Shakespeare's Rose Theatre, York – 'a production of clarity'". The Stage. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ Ballands, James. "British Theatre Guide, Hamlet Review". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Interview for Wiltshire Life 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ a b "Theatre Credits Prior To Drama School". Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ "Dog Ate Cake". Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ "Bacon and Bungay Review". 9 June 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ "Globe Read Not Dead 2014". Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Outliers: Seal of Fate". Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ Earp, Catherine (28 April 2021). "Game of Thrones' Natalie Dormer announces she's secretly welcomed a baby girl". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ "Natalie Dormer and David Oakes say 'I do' to civil partnership". Yahoo!. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Goblin Film Four Fright Fest Review". 22 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "BLF Patrons". Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "David Oakes Runs for Charity". 10 September 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Josie was the Strongest". 8 December 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Anno's Africa Patrons". Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Just A Book at The Bookseller". Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ "Official Twitter for the Woodland Trust". Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ^ "Chelt Lit Festival Website Details". Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ Oakes, David. "Conkering hero David Oakes on planting trees". Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ "HS2 should not get the green light in current form". Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ "Big Wild Quiz". Facebook. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- ^ "Climate Coalition Virtual Lobby". Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "The Wildlife Trusts welcome Liz Bonnin as new president". Retrieved 27 November 2020.
External links
- davidoakes.co.uk, Oakes's official website
- David Oakes at IMDb
- Dog Ate Cake Official Website
- David Oakes Prints
- David Oakes at the London Theatre Database