Toby Jones

Toby Edward Heslewood Jones (born 7 September 1966 and another nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

Early life Jones was born in Hammersmith, London to actors Jennifer Jones (née Heslewood) and Freddie Jones, and grew up in Oxford. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School and Abingdon School in Oxfordshire in the 1980s. He studied drama at the University of Manchester from 1986 to 1989, and at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris from 1989 to 1991.

In July 2026 Jones was the subject of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?. The programme revealed that, in his maternal ancestral line, five generations of women had been actresses; his great-great-great grandmother, Sarah Thorne, was the manager of the in Margate. On his father's side, his great-grandfather, Henry Enoch Jones, was a "potter's saggar maker" in Stoke-on-Trent. Henry's father John, a British Army soldier, was involved in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and had married Jane, an Indo-British subject, in Meerut. A DNA test revealed that Jones had 1% Indian DNA.

Career

Film and television Jones has appeared in more than 60 films since his first acting role in the 1992 film Orlando. He voiced Dobby in two Harry Potter films: Chamber of Secrets (2002),

He played Neil Baldwin in the BBC drama Marvellous in 2014. Sam Wollaston, in The Guardian, praised Jones's "lovely, very human, performance", one that earned him his second British Academy Television Award nomination. for which he received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2016, Discussing working with Jones on Capital, writer Peter Bowker said, "I think Toby is a genius and thought that long before I worked with him. He always wants to know a character's needs, and what's beneath those needs. Then he takes all that material and somehow embeds it into the character and physically inhabits the character, so that you never think he's playing the character. It's fascinating to watch him close up. He carries the emotional complexities in every tiny gesture that his character makes so that you immediately can see what his character is like. A character like Roger is full of contradictions, a city banker with an air of entitlement but also a little insecurity picking away at him. Toby can portray that in his walk alone. That's what's great about him, he can portray cold he can portray warm and he can portray both of those things at once."

He played Captain Mainwaring in the film Dad's Army, released in February 2016. In July, of the same year he starred as the eponymous agent Verloc in the BBC's The Secret Agent, a three-part television adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel.

In 2017, he portrayed Culverton Smith in "The Lying Detective", an episode of the BBC crime drama Sherlock. In the same year, Jones voiced Owl in Disney's live-action Christopher Robin.

In 2024, Jones played Alan Bates in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a dramatisation of the British Post Office scandal. In 2025 he also appeared as Philip Burton in a film about the early life of Richard Burton in Mr Burton. In 2020 he portrayed Falstaff in BBC Radio 3's Henry IV, Part 1.

In 2021, Jones recorded the audiobook versions of John Le Carré's final novel Silverview for Penguin Audio and, for Harper Audio, the seminal dystopian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin in a translation by Bela Shayevich.

Stage In 2001, he starred in the London West End comedy The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and his comic turn as Arthur earned him the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Parlour Song at the Almeida Theatre, and The First Domino at Brighton Festival Fringe.

In 2011, he played J. M. W. Turner in The Painter at the Arcola Theatre. Jones starred as Stanley in the 2018 revival of The Birthday Party at The Harold Pinter Theatre.

In 2020, he starred in the title role in the Conor McPherson adaptation of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, his role securing the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in 2020.

Jones has close connections with Stoke-on-Trent through his father Freddie. He supports EFL Championship side Stoke City, owing to his father's love for the club. In 2019, he became patron of the Stoke-based theatre company Claybody Theatre.

Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film Year Title Role Notes 1992 Orlando Second valet 1993 Naked Man at tea bar Dropping the Baby Babyman Short film 1994 Triphony Man at Fire 1998 Les Misérables Door keeper Cousin Bette Gentleman in Café des Artistes Ever After Royal page 1999 Simon Magus Buchholz The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc English judge 2000 The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz Civil servant Hotel Splendide Kitchen boy 2002 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Dobby (voice) 2004 Ladies in Lavender Hedley Finding Neverland Smee 2005 Mrs Henderson Presents Gordon 2006 Scoop Joe's Co-passenger Uncredited role Infamous Truman Capote Amazing Grace Duke of Clarence The Sickie Douglas Knott The Painted Veil Waddington 2007 The Mist Ollie Weeks Nightwatching Gerard Dou St Trinian's Bursar 2008 City of Ember Barton Snode Frost/Nixon Swifty Lazar W. Karl Rove 2009 Creation Thomas Huxley St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold Bursar 2010 Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Hargreaves Virginia Max Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 Dobby (voice) 2011 The Rite Father Matthew Your Highness Julie Captain America: The First Avenger Dr. Arnim Zola Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Percy Alleline My Week with Marilyn Arthur P. Jacobs The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Aristides Silk (voice) Motion capture 2012 Red Lights Paul Shackleton The Hunger Games Claudius Templesmith Snow White and the Huntsman Coll Berberian Sound Studio GilderoyBIFA Best Actor Mercy Road The Associate Wander to Wonder Fumbleton (voice) Short film The Canterville Ghost The Reverend Chasuble (voice) 2024 The Instigators Attorney Alan Flynn Schneewittchen The Prince 2025 The Actor Lieutenant Murray / Artie Bellman / Cabbie / Arnold Mr Burton P. H. Burton Also executive producer 2026 Flavia Inspector HewittTBAA Matter of TimeTBAPost-production

Television Acting Year Title Role Notes 1993 Lovejoy Sgt. Protheroe Episode: "Pig in a Poke" 1994 Cadfael Griffin Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow" 1995 Performance Wart Episode: "Henry IV" 1996 Death of a Salesman Waiter Television film. Uncredited role 1998 Numbertime Tim 10 episodes; also co-writer Out of Hours Martin Styles 6 episodes 1999 Underground Beast Television film Aristocrats Ste Fox 4 episodes 1999–2000 Midsomer Murders Dan Peterson 4 episodes 2001 In Love and War Bolo Television film Victoria & Albert Edward Oxford Episode 2 The Way We Live Now Squercum Episode 4 Love or Money Phil Television film 2002 15 Storeys High Mr. Roberts Episode: "Ice Queen" 2005 Coming Up Simon Episode: "Loving Ludmilla" Elizabeth I Robert Cecil 2 episodes 2006 A Harlot's Progress William Hogarth Television film 2007 The Last Detective Bennett Episode: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Willesden" The Old Curiosity Shop Daniel Quilp Television film 2008 10 Days to War Francis Brooke Episode: "$100 Coffee" 2010 Mo Dr. Mark Glaser Television film Doctor Who The Dream Lord Episode: "Amy's Choice" Agatha Christie's Poirot Samuel Ratchett / Lanfranco Cassetti Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express" God in America George Whitefield Episode: "A New Adam / A New Eden" 2011 Christopher and His Kind Gerald Hamilton Television film 2012 Titanic John Batley 4 episodes The Girl Alfred Hitchcock Television film 2014 Marvellous Neil Baldwin Television film 2014–2017, 2022 Detectorists Lance Stater 20 episodes 2015 Agent Carter Dr. Arnim Zola Episode: "Valediction" Capital Roger Yount 3 episodes 2015–2016 Wayward Pines Dr. Jenkins / David Pilcher 15 episodes 2016 The Secret Agent Anton Verloc 3 episodes The Witness for the Prosecution John Mayhew 2 episodes Civil Otis O'Dell Unaired pilot 2017 Sherlock Culverton Smith Episode: "The Lying Detective" 2019 Don't Forget the Driver Pete Green / Barry Green 6 episodes; also co-creator and writer The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance The Librarian (voice) 6 episodes 2021 Danny Boy Phil Shiner Television film What If...? Arnim Zola (voice) 3 episodes Worzel Gummidge The Village Committee Episode: "Guy Forks" 2022 Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts Himself HBO Max special The English Sebold Cusk Episode: "What You Want & What You Need" 2023 The Long Shadow DCS Dennis Hoban5 episodes 2024 Mr Bates vs The Post Office Alan Bates 4 episodes 2025 A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story John Bickford 4 episodes The Hack Alan Rusbridger 5 episodes MobLand Colin Tattersall 3 episodes 2026 Hijack Peter Faber 7 episodes Good Omens Satan Episode: "The Finale"

Non-acting Year Title Role Notes 2026 Who Do You Think You Are? Himself 1 episode

Narration In addition to his acting work, Jones has provided voice-overs for numerous TV documentaries, including:

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Made in Britain – (2003) The Man Inside Dame Edna – (UK version, 2008) Murder on the Victorian Railway – (2013) Natural World – 1 episode: "Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem" (2014) The Last Days Of... – 2 episodes: "Mary, Queen of Scots" and "Guy Fawkes" (2015) The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds – 3 series (2015–2017) Normal for Norfolk – Series 1–2; 10 episodes (2016–2017) Second Chance Summer: Tuscany – 6 episodes (2017) Horizon – 1 episode: "Jupiter Revealed" (2018) Inside Alton Towers – (2018) The Lost Commando Raid – (2018) A Wild Year – 3 episodes (2020) Wild Tokyo – (2020) Morecambe & Wise: The Lost Tapes – (2021) Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story – (2024) Dad's Army at the BBC – (2025) Hidden Treasures of the National Trust – Series 3–4; 9 episodes (2025–2026)

Theatre

Honours Jones was awarded honorary doctorates by Oxford Brookes University in 2018 and Keele University in 2025. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours, for services to drama.