Toby Stephens

Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the United Kingdom, United States, and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor; William Gordon in the 2005 Bollywood film Mangal Pandey: The Rising; and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the 2006 BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre. From 2014 to 2017, he starred as Captain Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails, followed by one of the lead roles in the Netflix science fiction series Lost in Space from 2018 to 2021. He portrays the Greek god Poseidon in Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Early life and education

Toby Stephens was born in London, the younger son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens.

He then trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Career Stephens began his film career with the role of Othello in 1992, in Sally Potter's Orlando. He has since made regular appearances on television (including in The Camomile Lawn, 1992) and on stage.

He played the title role in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus shortly after graduation from LAMDA; that same season he played Claudio in Measure for Measure for the RSC. He played Stanley Kowalski in a West End production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and Hamlet in 2004. He has appeared on Broadway in Ring Round the Moon. He played the lead in the film Photographing Fairies and played Orsino in Trevor Nunn's 1996 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In 2002, he took on the role of Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day. Aged 33 at the time of film's release, he remains the youngest actor to have played a Bond villain. The following year, he depicted British double-agent Kim Philby in the BBC miniseries Cambridge Spies, co-starring with Tom Hollander, Samuel West, and Rupert Penry-Jones.

In 2005, he played the role of a British Army captain in the Indian film, The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey, portraying events in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The following year he returned to India to play a renegade British East India Company officer in Sharpe's Challenge. In late 2006, he starred as Edward Rochester in the highly acclaimed BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (broadcast in the United States on PBS in early 2007) and The Wild West in February 2007 for the BBC in which he played General George Armstrong Custer in Custer's Last Stand.

During mid-2007, Stephens played the role of Jerry in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal under the direction of Roger Michell. Later that year, Stephens starred as Horner in Jonathan Kent's revival of William Wycherley's The Country Wife. The play was the inaugural production of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company.

In February 2008, the Fox Broadcasting Company gave the go-ahead to cast Stephens as the lead in a potential one-hour, primetime US television show, Inseparable, to be produced by Shaun Cassidy. Billed as a modern Jekyll and Hyde story, the show was to feature a partially paralysed forensic psychologist whose other personality is a charming criminal. Stephens' casting was highly unusual, because Fox had not yet approved a script nor purchased a pilot for the show. However, in mid-May 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that "y the time the network picked up the pilot (...) [the producers'] hold on Stephens had expired (...)"

In May 2008, Stephens performed the role of James Bond in a BBC Radio 4 production of Ian Fleming's Dr. No, as part of the centenary celebration of Fleming's birth. The production was reportedly the first BBC radio dramatisation of the novel though Moonraker was on South African radio in 1956, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond. He has since appeared in a number of adaptations of other James Bond novels.

Also in May 2008, Stock-pot Productions announced that Stephens would have the lead role in a feature-length film entitled Fly Me, co-starring Tim McInnerny. Stock-pot was the producer of One Day, a short 2006 film shown at international film festivals, in which Stephens played a small part as the boss of McInnerny's character.

On 5 October 2008, Stephens appeared on stage at the London Palladium as part of a benefit entitled "The Story of James Bond, A Tribute to Ian Fleming". The event, organised by Fleming's niece, Lucy Fleming, featured music from various James Bond films and Bond film stars reading from Fleming's Bond novels. Stephens took the part of James Bond himself in the readings.

In early December 2008, Stephens read from Coda, the last book written by friend Simon Gray, for BBC Radio 4. The excerpts from which Stephens read included Gray's description of his participation as godfather at the christening of Stephens' son Eli.

Early in 2009, Stephens appeared as Prince John in season 3 of the BBC series Robin Hood. The series aired on BBC America in the United States. Stephens appeared in two episodes of a six-part television series, Strike Back, based on the novel by Chris Ryan. The series aired in May 2010.

In mid-2009, Stephens returned to the London stage in the Donmar Warehouse production of Ibsen's A Doll's House alongside Gillian Anderson and Christopher Eccleston.

In 2010, he starred in the made-for-television film The Blue Geranium, a further sequel to the television series and films based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple character. The show was broadcast in the US on PBS in June 2010. Stephens starred as a highly self-centred detective opposite Lucy Punch in a three-part comedy television series for BBC Two entitled Vexed.

Stephens took on a small supporting role in a short film, The Lost Explorer, the directorial debut of photographer Tim Walker. The film is based on a short story by author Patrick McGrath.

On the London stage in the spring of 2010, Stephens received outstanding reviews for his performance as Henry in a revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, directed by Anna Mackmin at the Old Vic Theatre in London. It was his debut at the Old Vic, where his parents performed as part of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre Company.

In 2010, Stephens appeared as Georges Danton in Danton's Death. The play was another debut for Stephens, this time at London's Royal National Theatre.

Over the years, Stephens has continued to prolifically narrate audiobooks and perform in broadcast radio dramas. In January 2011, Stephens joined other stars in narrating portions of the King James Version of the Bible for BBC Radio 4 as part of a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Bible's publication. Stephens performed the role of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in a radio serial, which debuted in February 2011. Stephens narrated another audiobook, Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery, released in February 2011.

From 2014 to 2017, Stephens starred as Captain James Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails, a prequel to Treasure Island, set in the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy.

In 2016, he was cast as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the film The Journey.

Between 2018 and 2021, he appeared as John Robinson in Lost in Space, the Netflix remake of the 1965 TV series. In 2021, he featured as Damian Cray in the second season of Alex Rider.

He appeared as the Greek God Poseidon in the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Disney+ adaptation of the books by the same name.

In 2025, it was announced that he would be portraying Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in the London revival by the RSC of Ella Hickson's 2013 play Wendy & Peter Pan alongside Lolita Chakrabarti and Alexander Molony.

Personal life Stephens and New Zealand-born actress Anna-Louise Plowman were married in 2001. Their first child, a son, was born in 2007. Their daughters were born in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Plowman and Stephens performed together as Sibyl and Elyot in Jonathan Kent's revival of Private Lives – the Noël Coward play in which his mother starred in 1975 on Broadway – for the 2012 Chichester Festival, reprised at the Gielgud Theatre in 2013.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1992 Orlando Othello 1996 Twelfth Night Duke Orsino 1997 Photographing Fairies Charles Castle 1998 Cousin Bette Victorin Hulot 1999 Onegin Vladimir Lensky 1999 Sunset Heights Luke Bradley 2000 The Announcement Ross 2000 Space Cowboys Young Frank 2001 Possession Fergus Wolfe 2002 Die Another Day Gustav Graves 2004 Terkel in Trouble Justin (voice) English dub 2005 Midsummer Dream Demetrius (voice) English dub 2005 Mangal Pandey: The Rising Captain William Gordon 2006 Dark Corners Dr Woodleigh 2006 Severance Harris 2013 Believe Dr. Farquar 2013 All Things to All Men Riley 2013 The Machine Vincent McCarthy 2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Glen "Bub" Doherty 2016 The Journey Tony Blair 2018 Hunter Killer Lt. Bill Beaman 2024 The Severed Sun The Pastor 2025 Giant Frank Warren 2025MāramaNathaniel Cole TBD The Morrigan Malachy Crowley

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1992 The Camomile Lawn Oliver 1996 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Gilbert Markham 2000 The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby 2001 Perfect Strangers Charles 2002 Napoléon Tsar Alexander I 2003 Essential Byron Reader 2003 Cambridge Spies Kim Philby 2003 Agatha Christie's Poirot Philip Blake Episode: "Five Little Pigs" 2004 London Casanova 2005 Waking the Dead Dr Nick Henderson Episodes: "Subterraneans Part I" and "Subterraneans II" 2005 The Queen's Sister Antony Armstrong-Jones 2006 The Best Man Peter Tremaine 2006 Secrets of the Dead: The Umbrella Assassin Narrator (voice) Episode: "An account of the murder of Georgi Markov" 2006 Sharpe's Challenge William Dodd 2006 Jane Eyre Edward Fairfax Rochester 2007 The Wild West – Custer's Last Stand General George Armstrong Custer 2008 Wired Crawford Hill 2009 The Best Job in the World Narrator (voice) 2009 Robin Hood Prince John of England 3 episodes 2010 Strike Back Arlington 2010 Lost: The Mystery of Flight 447 Narrator (voice) 2010 Agatha Christie's Marple The Blue Geranium George Pritchard 2010–2012 Vexed Jack Armstrong 2012 Law & Order: UK Prof. Martin Middlebrook Episode: "Trial" 2012 Lewis David Connelly Episode: "Generation of Vipers" 2014–2017 Black Sails James McGraw / Flint 38 episodes 2015 And Then There Were None Dr. Edward Armstrong 2018–2021 Lost in Space John Robinson 28 episodes 2019 Summer of Rockets Samuel Petrukhin 2021 Alex Rider Damian Cray 6 episodes 2022 Prisoner C33 Oscar Wilde 2023 Six Four Piers Fields-Turner 2 episodes 2023 Dodger President Van Buren Episode: "Coronation" 2024–2026 Percy Jackson and the Olympians Poseidon 3 episodes 2024 The Split Archie Moore Two-part special 2025 A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story Melford Stevenson 2026 The Season Christopher Hext

Video games Year Title Voice role Notes 2012 007 Legends Gustav Graves Also likeness

Theatre

Year Title Role Venue Notes 1992 Tartuffe Damis Playhouse Theatre 1992 Tamburlaine Celebinus / King of Argier Royal Shakespeare Company 1992 Antony and Cleopatra Pompey Royal Shakespeare Company 1992 All's Well That Ends Well Bertram Royal Shakespeare Company 1993 Wallenstein Max Piccolomini Royal Shakespeare Company 1994 Unfinished Business Young Beamish Royal Shakespeare Company 1994 Coriolanus Caius Marcius Coriolanus Royal Shakespeare Company 1994 A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander Royal Shakespeare Company 1994 Measure for Measure Claudio Royal Shakespeare Company 1996 A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Kowalski Theatre Royal Haymarket 1998–1999 Phedre Hippolytus Almeida Theatre / BAM 1998–1999 Britannicus Nero Almeida Theatre / BAM 1999 Ring Round the Moon Hugo / Frederick Lincoln Centre 2001 Japes Japes Theatre Royal Haymarket 2001 The Royal Family Anthony Cavendish Theatre Royal Haymarket 2004 Hamlet Hamlet Royal Shakespeare Company 2004 The Pilate Workshop Jesus Royal Shakespeare Company 2007 Betrayal Jerry Donmar Warehouse 2007 The Country Wife Mr. Horner Theatre Royal Haymarket 2009 A Doll's House Thomas Donmar Warehouse 2010 The Real Thing Henry Old Vic 2010 Danton's Death Georges Danton Royal National Theatre 2012–2013 Private Lives Elyot Chase Gielgud Theatre 2017 Oslo Terje Rød-Larsen Royal National Theatre / Harold Pinter Theatre 2019 A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Bri Trafalgar Studios 2022 The Forest Man 1 Hampstead Theatre 2024 Corruption Tom Watson Lincoln Center Theater 2025 Wendy and Peter Pan Captain Hook Barbican Theatre 2026 Equus (play) Dr. Martin Dysart Menier Chocolate Factory

Radio drama and audio books

Year Title Role Notes 1994 Time and the Conways Robin 1995 The Prince's Choice Coriolanus, Hamlet, Henry V, Henry IV and Edward Poins 1997 As You Like It Orlando 1997 The Lifted Veil Latimer 1997 The Guns of Navarone Mallory 1997 Birdsong 1997 Anna Karenina Count Vronsky 1998 Troy Achilles 1999 Tales from the Arabian Nights Narrator 1999 Macbeth Macbeth 2000 Conversations with Napoleon Reader 2001 King Lear Edmund 2001 On the Road Narrator 2002 The Riddle of the Sands Narrator 2002 The Woman in White Walter Hartright 2002 Aeneid Aeneas 2003 Dionysos Pentheus, King of Thebes 2004 Will in the World Reader 2005 Much Ado About Nothing Benedick 2006 Shylock Bassanio 2007 Heart of Darkness Narrator 2007 Flashman on the March Narrator 2008 Flashman and the Dragon Narrator 2008 Missing Dates Jason (Japes) 2008 The Good Soldier Narrator 2008 Dr. No James Bond 2008 Let's Murder Vivaldi Ben 2008 Coda Simon Gray 2008–2009 The Dark Flower Narrator 2009 My Dark Places James Ellroy 2009 Journey into Space: The Host Jet 2009 King Solomon's Mines Narrator 2009 Becket King Henry II 2010 Dick Barton Special Agent: The Mystery of the Missing Formula Narrator 2010 Goldfinger James Bond 2010 No Place Like Home Jonathan 2011 King James Version of the Bible Narrator 2011 Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery Narrator 2011 Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery Narrator 2011 Paul Temple Intervenes Narrator 2011 The Lady in the Lake Philip Marlowe 2011 The Big Sleep Philip Marlowe 2011 Farewell, My Lovely Philip Marlowe 2011 Playback Philip Marlowe 2011 Carte Blanche Narrator 2011 The Long Goodbye Philip Marlowe 2011 The High Window Philip Marlowe 2011 The Little Sister Philip Marlowe 2011 Poodle Springs Philip Marlowe 2012 From Russia, with Love James Bond 2014 On Her Majesty's Secret Service James Bond 2015 Diamonds Are Forever James Bond 2016 Thunderball James Bond 2018 Moonraker James Bond 2018 Sea of Thieves: Athena's Fortune Narrator 2019 Live and Let Die James Bond 2020 The Man with the Golden Gun James Bond 2025Casino RoyaleJames Bond

Awards 1992—Ian Charleson Award Second Prize: for Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well (Swan Theatre) 1994—Ian Charleson Award (best classical actor under 30): for Coriolanus in Coriolanus (Royal Shakespeare Company) 1994—Sir John Gielgud Award (best actor): for Coriolanus in Coriolanus (Royal Shakespeare Company) 1999—Theatre World Award (debut performance on Broadway): for Hugo/Frederick in Ring Round the Moon (Lincoln Center Theater)