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Who is Rupert Penry-Jones?
British actor Rupert William Penry-Jones was born under the zodiac sign Virgo on 22 September 1970 in London, England. He has 55 acting credits and is perhaps still known best for portraying Adam Carter in 41 episodes (2004-2008) of the popular crime action series “MI-5”, which starred Nicola Walker, Hugh Simon and Peter Firth, and was created by David Wolstencroft. It follows the missions of the UK’s domestic intelligence organization MI-5, the series aired from 2002 through 2011 and won nine of its 47 award nominations.
Rupert’s currently shooting for the upcoming series “Those About to Die”.
Education and early life
Rupert was raised in London alongside his brother Laurence Penry-Jones, who was an actor prior to becoming an ambulance driver and who’s today married to popular British actress Polly Alexandra Walker, by their mother Angela Margaret Leslie Thorne who was a British actress and who died aged 84 on 16 June 2023, and father Peter David Penry Jones who was a British actor, and who died aged 70 on 11 March 2009. Rupert has Indian ancestry, and in 2010 revealed that his maternal grandfather William fought in the Battle of Monte Cassino with the Indian Army Medical Corps; some of his other ancestors were also members of the Indian Army.
Rupert studied at Dulwich College (high school) in London and upon matriculating in 1989 enrolled at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School; he was eventually kicked out of Bristol Old Vic because ‘he had a bad attitude’.
Roles in movies
Rupert’s debut film role was playing Wild-Looking Young Man in the popular 1994 family adventure “Black Beauty”, which starred David Thewlis and Sean Bean, and was written and directed by Caroline Thompson. It follows the lives of several people and their horses, and the movie won one of its two award nominations. Some of Rupert’s notable performances in the remainder of the decade were in the 1994 romantic science fiction “Fatherland”, the 1997 romantic drama “Jane Eyre” and the 1999 romantic comedy “Virtual Sexuality”.
In 2002, he played Tom Willoughby in the popular action adventure “The Four Feathers”, which starred Wes Bentley and Heath Ledger, and was directed by Shekhar Kapur; it follows a young British officer who’s quit the Army right before he was to be sent to battle, and has now been accused of being a coward by his friends and fiancé. Some of Rupert’s following roles were in the 2005 romantic thriller “Match Point”, the 2007 drama “Joe’s Palace” and the 2008 crime adventure mystery “The 39 Steps”.
In 2014, he portrayed Antoine Lauzun in the romantic drama “A Little Chaos”, which starred Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet, and was written and directed by Alan Rickman. It follows two talented landscape artists who’ve fallen in love and the movie was nominated for two awards.
Some of Rupert’s most recent film roles have been in the 2020 comedy “Getting to Know You”, and in 2022 the romantic drama “Prisoners of Paradise” and the crime action “The Batman”.
Roles in TV series
Rupert’s debut TV series role was playing Stage Manager in the 1994 episode “French and Saunders’ Christmas Carol” of the comedy “French and Saunders”, and the remainder of the decade saw him appear in an episode of the comedy “Absolutely Fabulous”, the crime mystery “Kavanagh QC” and the comedy “Faith in the Future”.
What marked the ‘90s for him was portraying Alex Hay in all 10 episodes of the 2000 drama “North Square”, which starred Kevin McKidd and Phil Davis, and was created by Peter Moffat. It follows the lives of several judges and attorneys, and the series won five of its six award nominations.
In 2003, Rupert portrayed one of the main characters Donald Maclean in all four episodes of the historical mini-series “Cambridge Spies”, which also starred Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander, and follows several Cambridge University Students who were recruited in the 1930s to spy for the Soviet Union; the mini-series won three of its eight award nominations. The remainder of the 2000s saw Rupert appear in the crime mystery “Poirot”, the biographical comedy mini-series “Casanova” and the drama mini-series “Burn Up”.
From 2011 through 2014, he portrayed the main character Clive Reader in all 18 episodes of the drama “Silk”, which also starred Neil Stuke and Maxine Peake, and was created by Peter Moffat. It follows the lives of several barristers and the series won one of its six award nominations.
Some of Rupert’s most recent roles in TV series have been in six episodes of the 2020 animated action adventure “Wizards” (voice role), all four episodes of the 2021 mystery thriller mini-series “The Drowning” and three episodes of the 2022 mystery thriller mini-series “Our House”.
Other credits
Some of Rupert’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “Hollywood First Look”, “In Creative Company” and “This Morning”.
Awards and nominations
Rupert won a 2008 Crime Thriller Dagger Award for Best Leading Actor, for his performance in the series “MI-5”.
He was also nominated for three Monte-Carlo TV Festival Awards in 2007, 2009 and 2012, for his performance in “Persuasion”, “Burn Up” and “Whitechapel”, respectively.
Love life and marriage
Rupert rarely speaks about his love life in public but still occasionally allows his fans a glimpse into it.
He and famous Irish actress Dervla Kirwan met in 2001 when cast to star alongside in a production of “Dangerous Corner” by J. B. Priestley; they became engaged in 2004 and married in a small and private ceremony in August 2007. Dervla has 61 acting credits and is perhaps still known best for starring as Maura in the 2009 romantic mystery movie “Ondine”, which won six of its 12 award nominations.
Dervla gave birth to their daughter Florence on 1 May 2004 and to their son Peter on 8 April 2006.
Prior to meeting Dervla, Rupert was in a relationship with famous Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue.
There are no other women whom he’s perhaps dated, that we know about; he’s married to Dervla Kirwan as of September 2023 and they have two children together.
Happy birthday to Rupert's wife, #DervlaKirwan! 🥳 We do believe you make every day worth celebrating for your family and fans ❤️ Thank you for being such a beautiful, bright and talented person. We hope today, and every day, is filled with love and happiness 🎉
📸Chris McAndrew pic.twitter.com/pg2hghKHYp
— The League of Rupert Penry-Jones Fans (@LeagueOfRPJFans) October 24, 2021
Interesting facts and hobbies
Rupert appeared alongside his mother in the 1995 romantic comedy movie “Cold Comfort Farm”.
He won an Ian Charleson Award for his performance in a production of “Don Carlos” at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Rupert’s brother Laurence has eight acting credits and is perhaps known best for playing Adam Duke in two episodes of the popular crime mystery series “Waking the Dead”.
More than 2,000 people are following Rupert’s Instagram fan page today and there are 68 pictures and videos uploaded onto it; most of these feature him acting in his movies and TV series.
One of his favorite actors is Ben Kingsley, and some of his favorite movies are “Bugsy”, “Suspect Zero” and “The Red Sea Diving Resort”.
Appearance and net worth
Rupert’s age is 53. He has blue eyes and brown hair, weighs around 190lbs (85kgs) and is 6ft 2ins (1.88m) tall.
Rupert’s net worth’s been estimated at over $1.7 million as of September 2023.
