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Who is Rafe Spall?
British actor Rafe Joseph Spall was born under the zodiac sign Pisces in East Dulwich, London, England on 10 March 1983. He has 70 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for portraying Danny Moses in the 2015 biographical comedy movie “The Big Short”, which starred Steve Carell and Christian Bale, and was directed by Adam McKay. It follows a group of investors who bet against the US mortgage market in 2006 and 2007, and the movie won 37 of its 118 award nominations, including an Oscar win for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.
Rafe’s currently shooting for the upcoming movie “Rich Flu”.
Education and early life
Rafe was raised in London alongside his two siblings, by their father Timothy Spall who’s a British actor and presenter, and mother Shane (nee Baker) who’s a housewife; Timothy was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia when Rafe was 14, and he then spent a year and a half in treatment.
Rafe grew up being overweight and was thus bullied at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College (high school); he found comfort in acting, and after appearing in several school plays, Rafe quit the school and joined the National Youth Theatre. He tried to enroll at several acting schools, including the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but was rejected.
Rafe lost close to 80lbs (35kgs) when he was 19, and was then offered more acting roles.
Roles in movies
Rafe’s debut film role was playing a supporting character in the 2001 comedy “Beginner’s Luck”, and some of his following roles were in the 2002 crime drama “Out of Control”, the 2003 historical romantic drama “The Lion in Winter” and the 2004 horror comedy “Shaun of the Dead”.
Also in 2004, he played Crustie in the family comedy “The Legend of the Tamworth Two”, which starred Tim Plester and Gerard Horan, and was directed by Metin Huseyin. The film tells the true story of two pigs Sundance and Butch who escaped from an abattoir in January 1998 and successfully hid for two weeks.
What also marked the 2000s for Rafe was portraying Swill in the 2005 sports crime drama “Green Street Hooligans”, which stared Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam, and was written and directed by Lexi Alexander. It follows a young man who’s been expelled from Harvard and has now been introduced to London’s soccer hooliganism; the film won four awards. The remainder of the 2000s saw Rafe appear in the 2006 romantic crime drama “Kidulthood”, the 2007 drama “A Room with a View” and the 2009 short drama “Modern Life is Rubbish”.
He played Millburn in the critically acclaimed 2012 adventure science fiction mystery “Prometheus”, which starred Logan Marshall-Green and Noomi Rapace, and was directed by Ridley Scott. It follows a research team which has travelled to a seemingly uninhabited distant moon, and the movie won six of its 52 award nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.
The year 2015 saw Rafe play the lead character Harry Price in the drama “Harry Price: Ghost Hunter”, which also starred Richie Campbell and Cara Theobold, and was directed by Alex Pillai. It follows the life of British skeptic and ghost hunter Harry Price.
Some of Rafe’s most recent film roles have been in the 2019 biographical crime drama “Just Mercy”, the 2021 romantic fantasy comedy “Long Story Short” and the 2019 comedy “Denmark”.
Roles in TV series
Rafe’s debut TV series role was playing Sean Harding in all three episodes of the 2005 drama mini-series “The Rotters’ Club”, and the same year saw him play Dominic in the episode “Death Metal Chronicles” of the horror comedy “Twisted Tales”.
In 2009, he starred as William ‘Maniac’ Hunt in all six episodes of the drama mini-series “Desperate Romantics”, which also starred Sam Crane and Samuel Barnett, and was created by Franny Moyle and Peter Bowker. It follows the rise of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in London and the mini-series was nominated for four awards.
In 2010 and 2011, Rafe portrayed the main character Pete Griffiths in all 11 episodes of the popular comedy “Pete Versus Life”, which also starred Ian Kirkby and Simon Greenall, and was created by George Jeffrie. The series follows an average journalist whose life is being analyzed and commented by two sports commentators, and it won only a single award. Also in 2011, Rafe starred as Jay Wratten in six episodes of the crime mystery mini-series “The Shadow Line”.
📸 Nikki and Jason are back and in at the deep-end!#Trying Season 3 with @esthervonsmith and Rafe Spall premieres July 22 on @AppleTVPlus, produced by BBC Studios Comedy Productions. pic.twitter.com/ibnzlgC3TI
— BBC Studios (@bbcstudios) May 19, 2022
He’s since appeared in only a couple of TV series, with his three most recent roles having been portraying DS Nick Bailey in three episodes of the 2020 historical thriller mini-series “The Salisbury Poisonings”, Jason Ross in all 24 episodes of the romantic comedy “Trying” from 2020 through 2022 (lead role) and David Melmont in two episodes of the 2022 western mini-series “The English”.
Other credits
Rafe received special thanks for the 2018 biographical comedy “Stan & Ollie”.
Some of his most recent talk-show appearances have been in “There’s Something About Movies”, “Hip Hop Saved My Life with Romesh Ranganathan” and “Made in Hollywood”.
Awards and nominations
Rafe’s won three of his 13 award nominations.
He won a 2011 Crime Thriller Dagger Award for Best Supporting Actor, for “The Shadow Line”, a 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast, for his and his colleagues’ performance in “A Grande Aposta” and a 2017 Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival Award for Best Actor, for “O Ritual”.
Love life and wife
Rafe’s more or less secretive when it comes to speaking about his love life in public, but it’s widely known that he’s been married for more than 13 years now and has three children.
He met famous British former actress Elize du Toit in February 2008; she has 21 acting credits and is perhaps known best for portraying Vanessa in the 2012 action adventure thriller movie “Skyfall”. Elize retired from acting in 2012 as she wanted to focus on raising her and Rafe’s children.
The two married in a small and private ceremony on 14 August 2010 and Elize gave birth to their daughter Lena in 2011; their son Rex followed in November 2012, and their second son in 2015.
There are no other women whom Rafe’s perhaps been with, that we know about; he’s married to Elize du Toit as of September 2023 and they have three children together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Rafe’s a huge fan of soccer and cheers for Crystal Palace.
He’s a patron of the Actors’ Center.
Rafe dislikes social media networks and his Instagram fan page is followed by only close to 800 people.
He and his wife are philanthropists and have together donated money to a number of causes; they mostly enjoy working with British underprivileged children, although they’ve also donated to the elderly.
Rafe’s into travelling and has been to many countries around the world, with his favorite city to visit being New York City.
One of his favorite actors is Eddie Redmayne, and some of his favorite movies include “The Good Nurse”, “The Theory of Everything” and “The Danish Girl”.
Appearance and net worth
Rafe’s age is 40. He has brown hair and eyes, weighs around 180lbs (81kgs) and is 6ft 1ins (1.85m) tall.
Rafe’s net worth’s been estimated at over $3 million as of September 2023.
