Matthew Macfadyen
Matthew Macfadyen
David Matthew Macfadyenis a BAFTA award-winning English actor, known for his roles as MI5 Intelligence Officer Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks, Fitzwilliam Darcy in the 2005 film of Pride & Prejudice and Daniel in the Frank Oz comedy Death at a Funeral. He is also known for portraying John Birt in the political drama Frost/Nixon, as well as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid in the BBC series Ripper Street. In 2015 he starred in the Sky Living...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth17 October 1974
I try to be fussy about the parts I play. I think that's quite prudent, it means you're stretching different muscles, and you're scaring yourself by doing something which is out of your comfort zone.
As much as I long for a sort of security and consistency sometimes, I do enjoy sort of being busted around. I really don't know what's happening sometimes next week, let alone this year.
I don't feel like a romantic lead; I guess I feel more like a character actor.
I think it sits quite happily with me, the condition of being an actor. I see some people getting quite eaten up with it, with the insecurities. There are times when I long for continuity and stability, but I also love the idea of not knowing what I'll be doing next - or even if I'm going to work.
What's exciting is there's a curtain that divides the audience from this other world. You want to see behind.
Some British actors are snobby about telly, and I don't understand that.
It must be odd, being recognizable. I would hate to lose that anonymity.
I would hate not to do a play every couple of years. I think it's not me.
I love TV and I love making films and I love doing plays. I feel very lucky to be able to do all three.
I just loved the whole idea of being an actor.
I can't throw books away. My wife is always telling me to get rid of some.
You never know how films are going to do and it is daunting if I think about it.
There's always a concern as an actor that you'll be boring unless your character is swinging from a chandelier.
People like to think that actors are terribly worried about ghosts of other actors in the parts they play. But you just have to get on with it.