Tom Burke

Tom Burke (born 30 June 1981) is an English actor. He played Athos in the 2014–2016 BBC TV series The Musketeers, Dolokhov in the 2016 BBC literary-adaptation miniseries War & Peace, Cormoran Strike in the BBC series Strike, Orson Welles in the 2020 film Mank, and Praetorian Jack in the 2024 film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Early life and education Tom Burke was born in London and grew up in Kent. His maternal grandparents were writers Arthur Calder-Marshall and Ara Calder-Marshall. Burke was born with a cleft lip and had reconstructive surgery.

Burke always wanted to become an actor. He attended the National Youth Theatre, the Young Arden Theatre in Faversham, and the Box Clever Theatre Company performing at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, and participated in the plays his parents staged in their home town. aged 17. He wrote to an acting agency and got the first role he auditioned for.

Career Burke's first role was as Roland in 1999's Dragonheart: A New Beginning, a direct-to-video sequel of the 1996 film Dragonheart. That year he appeared in an episode of the series Dangerfield and the television film All the King's Men.

Television His first television part after drama school was Syd in the Paul Abbott thriller series State of Play, starring John Simm, Bill Nighy and James McAvoy. In 2004, he played Lee in the television film Bella and the Boys. In 2005, he played the 20-year-old version of Giacomo Casanova's son, Giac, in the television adaptation of Casanova, starring David Tennant and Peter O'Toole. and Rebrov in Sky TV's The Lazarus Project, which will air in the U.S. on the TNT cable network. He played Father Derek 'Dazzle' Jennings, Princess Margaret's friend, in The Crown.

In March 2025, it was announced that Burke had joined the cast of Legends, a Netflix drama series inspired by the true story of British Customs employees sent undercover to infiltrate drug gangs.

Film In 2004, Burke had his first cinema part in The Libertine. In 2007, he played an aspiring filmmaker who ends up directing a porn film in the comedy I Want Candy. In 2008, he played Bluey in Donkey Punch, a horror thriller that debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In 2009, he played Geoff Goddard in Telstar: The Joe Meek Story, and had a small part in Stephen Frears' Chéri. In 2010, he played Davy in Third Star, a drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Feild and Adam Robertson, which follows a trip four friends, one of them terminally ill, make to Barafundle Bay in Wales.

In 2020, he played American filmmaker Orson Welles in David Fincher's Netflix original film Mank, opposite Gary Oldman as Herman J. Mankiewicz. He also starred in English director and photographer Mitch Jenkins's 2020 film The Show (written by Alan Moore) as private investigator Fletcher Dennis. In November 2021, Burke joined Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth in the Mad Max: Fury Road spinoff film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, replacing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

Theatre As a theatre actor, Burke has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has appeared in plays at Shakespeare's Globe, playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in 2004; at the Old Vic in Noël Coward's Design for Living opposite Andrew Scott and Lisa Dillon in 2010; and at the Almeida Theatre playing Greg in reasons to be pretty in 2011. In 2002, he played Hamlet in Howard Barker's Gertrude – The Cry, a reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet which focuses on the character of Gertrude, the protagonist's mother.

In 2006, he worked with Ian McKellen in the play The Cut. In 2008, he played Adolph in Creditors at the Donmar Warehouse. Actor Alan Rickman, Burke's godfather, staged the play, which earned Burke an Ian Charleson Award. The play subsequently premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2010. In 2012, he played Louis Dubedat in The Doctor's Dilemma at the National Theatre.

Acting credits Film

Television

Theatre Year Title Role Location NotesRef. 2002 Gertrude – The Cry Hamlet Riverside Studios2003 The Wax King (Henry VI, Part 3) Lord Clifford The Dreaming Will Initiative part of the documentary film How Do You Know My Daughter? Fragile Land Fidel Hampstead Theatre The Monument Stetko Finborough Theatre 2004 Romeo and Juliet Romeo Shakespeare's Globe 2005 Macbeth Malcolm Almeida Theatre The Incarcerator Liddle Old Red Lion Theatre 2006 The Cut Stephen Donmar Warehouse 2007 Scenes from an Execution Carpeta Hackney Empire Glass Eels Kenneth Hampstead Theatre Don Juan Comes Back From the War Don Juan Belgrade Theatre2008 I'll Be The Devil Dermot Tricycle Theatre Excerpt from The Poisoned Atmosphere Soho Studio Director Creditors Adolph Donmar Warehouse 2009 Restoration Robert Merivel Salisbury Playhouse 2010 Design for Living Otto The Old Vic 2011 reasons to be pretty Greg Almeida Theatre 2012 The Doctor's Dilemma Louis Dubedat National Theatre 2016 Reasons to be Happy Greg Hampstead Theatre The Deep Blue Sea Freddie Page National Theatre 2018 Don Carlos Posa / The Grand Inquisitor Northcott Theatre 2019 Rosmersholm Johannes Rosmer Duke of York's Theatre 2025 The Seagull Trigorin Barbican Theatre

Awards and nominations Year Award Work ResultRef.2008Ian Charleson AwardCreditors at Donmar WarehouseWon 2019 British Independent Film Award for Best ActorThe Souvenir 2022 British Independent Film Awards for Best EnsembleThe Wonder 2023 London Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorThe Wonder