{{Short description|British actor (born 1962)}} {{Lead too short|date=July 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Jasper Britton | image = Jasper Britton as Petruchio for the RSC.jpg | caption = Britton as Petruchio | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|12|11|df=y}} | birth_place = Chelsea, London, England | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1989–present | parents = Tony Britton <br> Eva Skytte Birkefeldt | relatives = Fern Britton<br/>(half-sister) }}
'''Jasper Britton''' (born 11 December 1962) is an English actor.
==Early life and education== Britton was born in Chelsea in London, and educated at Belmont Preparatory School, Sussex House School<ref>{{cite web |title=About the School |url=https://www.sussexhouseschool.co.uk/about-sussex-house/ |website=Sussex House |access-date=3 September 2022}}</ref> and Mill Hill School, north London. Britton is the only son of the actor Tony Britton and his second wife, the Danish sculptor Eva Castle Britton (''née'' Skytte Birkefeldt). His half-sisters are the television presenter Fern Britton and scriptwriter Cherry Britton.
==Career== ===Stage=== Britton worked for six years as an assistant stage manager and sound operator until 1989 when, while working for Jonathan Miller at the Old Vic, he forced his way into Miller's office and refused to leave until Miller agreed to let him audition for ''King Lear''. His King of France to Eric Porter's Lear was the beginning of a prolific stage career. Early plays included ''The Visit'' with Théâtre de Complicité at the Royal National Theatre, ''The Cherry Orchard'', ''Macbeth'' and ''A Flea in her Ear'' at Nottingham Playhouse. A season at the Royal Shakespeare Company included ''A Jovial Crew'' for Max Stafford-Clark, ''Tamburlaine'' for Terry Hands and ''The Beggar's Opera'' and ''Antony and Cleopatra'' for John Caird. There followed the Dauphin in ''St Joan'' at the Strand Theatre and an award-winning {{Which|date=January 2015}} performance as Rupert in ''Rope'' at Salisbury Playhouse.
Upon replacing Eddie Izzard in the title role in Brian Cox's 1995 ''Richard III'', he garnered excellent reviews. He next played the groom role in ''Blood Wedding'' at the Young Vic, the first in a series of romantic leads, followed by Rupert Goold's adaptation of ''End of the Affair'', Jonathan Church's ''Romeo and Juliet'' and Bill Bryden's ''Three Sisters''.
Britton was part of Trevor Nunn's ensemble company at the National Theatre in 1999, playing Thersites in ''Troilus and Cressida'', Ryumin in Maxim Gorky's ''Summerfolk'', and Smooth in ''Money''. Two seasons at the Shakespeare's Globe for Mark Rylance followed, first playing Palamon in ''The Two Noble Kinsmen'', and Caliban in ''The Tempest''. A year later he returned as ''Macbeth''. After Simon Gray's ''Japes'' for Peter Hall at the Haymarket Theatre and Alan Ayckbourn's ''Bedroom Farce'' at the Aldwych Theatre came Britton's performance as Petruchio in ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and ''The Tamer Tamed'' for Gregory Doran at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. respectively, which transferred to the Queen's Theatre in London.
In 2008, he played John Gielgud in Nicholas de Jongh's first play ''Plague Over England'', Nansen in Tony Harrison's ''Fram'' and Creon opposite Ralph Fiennes in ''Oedipus the King'', the latter both at the National Theatre. In 2009, he played Elyot in ''Private Lives'' opposite Claire Price at Hampstead Theatre, directed by Lucy Bailey. Most recently he played one third of Simon Gray's persona in ''The Last Cigarette'' at Chichester Festival Theatre and the Trafalgar Studios, with Felicity Kendal and Nicholas Le Prevost; and Jack Lawson in Mamet's ''Race'' at the Hampstead Theatre.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}
He played the title role Barabas in ''The Jew of Malta'' production at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2015. He replaced Nigel Lindsay as Henry Bolingbroke when the RSC's 2013 production of ''Richard II'' was shown at the Barbican Centre as part of the King and Country Cycle, as well as reprising his role as the title character in ''Henry IV Parts I and II''.
In 2017, he played Dr Rance in the Leicester Curve production of ''What the Butler Saw''. In 2018, he played Johnny 'Rooster' Byron in the first revival of Jez Butterworth's ''Jerusalem'' at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury.
===Film=== Britton played the Court Laureate in Terrence Malick's ''The New World'' alongside Colin Farrell, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Bale. He donned bells and hankies to play Will Frosser, the foreman of the Millsham Morris Side in the film ''Morris: A Life with Bells On''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/sil/books-and-archives/archives-rare-books/archives-info/jasper-britton-collection |title=The Jasper Britton collection |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=birmingham.ac.uk |publisher=University of Birmingham |access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref>
===Television=== Britton's television credits include two series of ''My Dad's the Prime Minister'', and ''Brief Encounters: Semi-Detached'' for the BBC, as well as ''Highlander: The Series''. In 2006, he appeared in two TV films: as pirate William Howard in ''Blackbeard'' with Mark Umbers and Stacy Keach, and alongside Oliver Dimsdale and Heathcote Williams as Henry II in ''Nostradamus''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://royalcourttheatre.com/cast/jasper-britton/ |title=Jasper Britton |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=royalcourttheatre.com |publisher=Royal Court Theatre |access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref>
== Filmography ==
=== Film === {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !class="unsortable" |Notes |- | 2005 | ''The New World'' | Laureate | |- | 2009 | ''Morris: A Life with Bells On'' | Will Frosser | |- | 2011 | ''Anonymous'' | Pope | |- | 2012 | ''Blood'' | Daniel Heston | |- | rowspan="4"|2014 | ''Royal Shakespeare Company: Henry IV Part I'' | rowspan="2" |Henry IV | |- | ''Royal Shakespeare Company: Henry IV Part II'' | |- | ''Night Will Fall'' | rowspan="2"|Narrator | rowspan="2"|Documentary |- | ''German Concentration Camps Factual Survey'' |- | 2015 | ''Rise of the Footsoldier Part II'' | Norton | |- | 2017 | ''What the Butler Saw.'' | Dr. Rance | Direct-to-video |- | 2019 | ''Here Comes Hell'' | The Host | |- |rowspan="2" |2023 |''The Critic'' |Gideon Lambert |<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Critic |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-critic/cast/2060155559/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=TVGuide.com |language=en}}</ref> |- |''Hijack'' |Terry Reid/Marcus Sutton | |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role !class="unsortable" |Notes |- | 1987 | ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' | Football Supporter | Episode: "Relaxation" |- | rowspan="2"|1995 | ''The Bill'' | Vernon | Episode: "Bad Pictures" |- | ''Casualty'' | Graham Webster | Episode: "Castles in the Air" |- | 1996 | ''Mike and Angelo'' | William Shakespeare | Episode: "My Pal Puck" |- | rowspan="2"|1997 | ''Breakout'' | Lenny Johnson | Television film |- | ''Highlander: The Series'' | Willie Kingsley | Episode: "Diplomatic Immunity" |- | 2000 | ''Big Kids'' | Ming | 3 episodes |- | rowspan="2"|2002 | ''The Cry'' | Mark Billington | 4 episodes |- | ''Heartbeat'' | Stanley Hodges | Episode: "A Many Splendoured Thing" |- | 2003 | ''Murder in Mind'' | George Blakeney | Episode: "Echoes" |- | 2003–2004 | ''My Dad's the Prime Minister'' | Duncan Packer | 13 episodes |- | rowspan="2"|2005 | ''Midsomer Murders'' | Anselm Plummer | Episode: "Sauce for the Goose" |- | ''Carrie & Barry'' | Policeman | Episode: "Banned Barry" |- | rowspan="4"|2006 | ''The Royal'' | Paul Guthrie | Episode: "Thinking Too Hard" |- | ''Brief Encounters'' | Richard | Episode: "Semi-Detached" |- | ''Nostradamus'' | Henry II of France | Television film |- | ''Blackbeard'' | William Howard | 3 episodes |- | 2010 | ''Garrow's Law'' | Captain Colingwood | Episode #2.1 |- | 2023 | ''Hijack'' | Terry | 7 episodes |}
=== Other === {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !class="unsortable" |Notes |- |rowspan="2"|2014 |Henry IV: Part I |King Henry IV |Royal Shakespeare Company<ref>{{Cite web |title=Production and rehearsal photos {{!}} Henry IV Part I {{!}} Royal Shakespeare Company |url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/henry-iv-part-i/past-productions/gregory-doran-2014-production/production-and-rehearsal-photos |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=www.rsc.org.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> |- |Henry IV: Part II |King Henry IV |Royal Shakespeare Company<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rehearsal photos {{!}} Henry IV Part II {{!}} Royal Shakespeare Company |url=https://www.rsc.org.uk/henry-iv-part-ii/past-productions/gregory-doran-2014-production/rehearsal-photos |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=www.rsc.org.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> |- |2023 |Hamlette |Gus |Podcast<ref>{{Cite web |title=Drama on 3 - Inspired by Hamlet: Hamlette - BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001ryvq |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0110192}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, Jasper}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Category:English male film actors Category:English male radio actors Category:English male Shakespearean actors Category:English male stage actors Category:English male television actors Category:English people of Danish descent Category:Male actors from London Category:People educated at Mill Hill School Category:People educated at Sussex House School Category:People from Chelsea, London Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members