Ben Whishaw

Born in Clifton, Ben Whishaw is a RADA-trained actor, known for stage and screen work. He graduated from RADA in 2003 and found almost immediate success in the original production of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre before taking on the title role of Hamlet in a 2004 production directed by Sir Trevor Nunn at the Old Vic. An Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor cemented Whishaw as “one to watch”.

His 2005 performance as a drug dealer in Mercury Fur by Philip Ridley garnered much attention, and film roles began to follow in Layer Cake, Perfume and I'm Not There. Other stage appearances include *The Seagull* in 2006 and Some Trace of Her in 2008, both at the National Theatre.

Whishaw starred in the original cast of Cock at the Royal Court, alongside Andrew Scott and Katherine Parkinson. In 2012, Whishaw took on the role of Q in the James Bond film Skyfall, and reprised the role in the 2015 follow-up Spectre. He is also the voice of the beloved Paddington Bear in the hugely successful 2014 film Paddington.

His most recent London stage appearances include working alongside Dame Judi Dench in Peter and Alice at the Noel Coward Theatre, and the Euripides tragedy Bakkhai at the Almeida Theatre in 2015. He returned to the Almeida in August 2017 for Chris Shinn's play Against. In 2018, he appeared in Nicholas Hytner's production of Julius Caesar which was one of the first shows at the Bridge Theatre.