David Oakes

Rowan David Oakes (born 14 October 1983) is an English actor, ecologist and conservationist. He is best known for his roles in the series The Pillars of the Earth, The Borgias, The White Queen, Victoria, Vikings: Valhalla, and for his discursive Natural History podcast, Trees A Crowd. He currently serves as Vice President to The Wildlife Trusts.

Early life and education Oakes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1983, the son of a Church of England canon.

Oakes grew up in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. He attended Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. His first job was backstage at the Salisbury Playhouse.

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.

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. 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 The Pillars of the Earth (2010), Juan Borgia in The Borgias (2011), and George Planagenet, Duke of Clarence in The White Queen (2013). When he played Mr. Darcy in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice at Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in 2013, he said, "I've been playing bad guys back to back, so Darcy's a bit of an antidote!" Arostus, John Lyly's Love's Metamorphosis as Montanus, and Thomas Middleton's Your Five Gallants as Tailby.

In a return to TV period dramas in 2015, Oakes guest-starred in both the third season of Endeavour with Shaun Evans and in BBC's limited series The Living and the Dead with Colin Morgan. He played Prince Ernest, brother of Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert, in the 2016 ITV series Victoria. The role reunited Oakes with his Trinity co-star Tom Hughes, and Pillars of the Earth co-star Rufus Sewell.

In 2017, Oakes starred in the film adaptation of Albert Sánchez Piñol's novel Cold Skin, directed by Xavier Gens and co-starring Ray Stevenson and Aura Garrido. He also starred as Thomas Novachek in the London West End premiere of David Ives's play Venus in Fur at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. This production was directed by Patrick Marber and co-starred Natalie Dormer as Vanda.

Oakes played Earl Godwin in Vikings: Valhalla, the spin-off of the show Vikings, for Netflix.

Oakes set up a theatre company called Dog Ate Cake with a long-term theatrical collaborator Henry Bell.

In 2015 Oakes starred as Banquo in a charity fundraiser for the Shakespeare Schools Festival. 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.

In 2019, Oakes played Hamlet at Shakespeare's Rose Theatre, York. The Stage wrote that he "plays Hamlet with natural ease: he is clearly comfortable with the cadences of the language and he conveys meaning well." Both WhatsOnStage and the British Theatre Guide praised Oakes' performance, particularly his rapport with the audience, despite the production's more light-hearted take on the play.

In 2025, Oakes starred in a production of “Anna Karenina” at Chichester Festival Theatre. He appeared as “Kostya” Levin in the parallel storyline to that of his real-world partner, Natalie Dormer, who played the role of Anna. Oakes’ performance garnered universal praise. The Times said, “Oakes wins our sympathy as Levin”, whilst The Guardian stated that: “…the relationship that sparks most on stage is that between Levin (based on Tolstoy himself, played by David Oakes) and Kitty, from its humour to its tenderness.” Whatsonstage praised his performance as being "wonderfully still".

Theatre direction Oakes has directed a number of theatre pieces alongside his acting career. In 2003 he took a stage adaptation of The Wicker Man to the Epping Forest Theatre Festival. Rehearsing in and around his hometown of Salisbury, Oakes "got kicked out of the [Cathedral] Close for rehearsing pagan rituals for [his] open-air production of The Wicker Man."

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.

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.

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 Early Modern Canon of Drama. Most recently Oakes directed Robert Greene's The Honourable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay and Lewis Theobald's "Happy Ending" version of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, "The Fatal Secret".

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. 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 Natalie Dormer since 2018 whom he met while appearing in Venus in Fur. Dormer gave birth to their first daughter in 2021. The couple entered into a civil partnership in February 2023 in Bath, Somerset. Dormer and Oakes have two daughters. Oakes plays both the clarinet and bass clarinet, and is a bass singer. On 9 October 2019, Oakes hosted a discussion at the 70th Cheltenham Literature Festival on the subject of "The Art of Trees".

Writing in an editorial for the Sunday Times on 2 November 2019, Oakes said:

On 30 January 2020, Oakes was a co-signatory, with the CEOs of The Wildlife Trusts, the National Trust, the Woodland Trust, the RSPB, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Buglife and Butterfly Conservation, and other notable environmental ambassadors and activists, on a letter written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and published in The Times, to get the UK government to rethink its stance on the second UK High Speed Rail Link along environmental and biodiversity lines.

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. Nine days later, on 30 June, alongside environmentalists and activists, including Chris Packham and Ellie Goulding, Oakes took part in the Climate Coalition's mass virtual lobby to focus the MPs to put people, climate and nature at the heart of the British nation's recovery. He also hosted The Big Wild Quiz in 2021.

On 26 November 2020, Oakes became an ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, and on 18 February 2026 was announced as the charity’s Vice President, saying:

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.

In 2024, it was announced that Oakes was serving as a trustee for the Badger Trust, and in 2025 he was made a Patron for the Manta Trust.

Oakes was part of the Manta Trust delegation at the twentieth CITES COP successfully petitioning for the up-listing of all Manta and Devil Rays to appendix one of the CITES treaty - he was also representing David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation in support of the African Elephant Coalition.

Charity work and advocacy

Other than the above national and international conservation advocacy, Oakes has supported:

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 Holliday Grainger to make the short comedy film Goblin. Directed by Christian James, the film was screened at the 2014 Film 4 Fright Fest in their Shorts Showcase, and all profits from the sale of this film were donated to the British Lung Foundation.

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. In 2016, he joined with the BLF to promote their new Children's Hub to provide families with information and support.

Arts charities

Since 2014, Oakes has also been a friend of Anno's Africa, an arts-based charity working with Kenyan orphans and slum children, and has supported the UK based Shakespeare Schools Festival, most notably with and surrounding their "Trial of Macbeth" and "Trial of Richard III". In 2019, Oakes helped organise, and alongside Michael Palin, Twiggy and others, appeared in the "Just A Book" poster campaign on the London Underground. The campaign was created to support independent businesses and bookshops on British highstreets and also to raise funds for Anno's Africa.

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, and Christmas Special 2022–2024 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 Malaysian Films 2019 You Brandon Miller

Radio Oakes has performed with The Fitzrovia Radio Hour. 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 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 2025 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, adapted by Phillip Breen Levin, Konstantin “Kostya” Dmitrievich Chichester Festival Theatre Phillip Breen