Clive James Standen (born 22 July 1981) is an English actor best known for playing Bryan Mills in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series '' Taken'' (2017–2018), based on the film trilogy of the same name, as well as

Rollo Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

in the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'' (2013–2018), Sir Gawain in the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz cons ...

series ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

'',

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

series ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

'', and Private Carl Harris in the BBC science-fiction programme ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

.''

Early life and education

Clive James Standen was born on a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

base in Holywood,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, and grew up in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

, England. He went to school at the King Edward VII School,

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

followed by a performing arts course at Melton Mowbray College. Standen then went on to earn a place on the 3 year diploma course in Acting at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

. Away from acting, in his late teens Standen was a former international

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterise ...

boxer and later Fencing gold medallist.

Career

Standen's first experience of stunts, horse riding and sword fighting was at age 12 when he got his first job working in a professional stunt team in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. At the age of 15 Standen was a member of both the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth the ...

and the National Youth Music Theatre performing in productions at many well known venues. Later Standen won a place on the three-year acting course at the

. In 2004, Standen appeared in '' Waking the Dead''; the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

documentary drama ''Ten Days to D-Day''; and took the lead role of Major Alan Marshall in '' Zero Hour'' a TV dramatisation of

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

mission operation Barras in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. The next year he appeared in three episodes of the British soap '' Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors'' and ''

Tom Brown's Schooldays ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'', the acclaimed ITV adaptation of the book by

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

. Standen played Private Carl Harris in three episodes of the fourth series of the relaunched British sci-fi programme ''

''. The following year he played

, the half-brother of

in the

series ''

''. Standen was part of the main cast of the TV series ''

'' for

in which he portrayed the famous Arthurian knight Sir Gawain. In film, Standen took a supporting role in the mainstream Bollywood film '' Namastey London'', starring

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

and

Katrina Kaif Katrina Kaif (; born Katrina Turquotte; 16 July 1983) is a British actress who works in Hindi-language films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has received accolades, including four Screen Awards and four Zee Cine Awards, in a ...

. In 2012, Standen completed filming on the Vertigo Films feature film '' Hammer of the Gods.'' He is a series lead on the History Channel's ''

'' in the role of

. Clive portrayed Bryan Mills in the television adaption of '' Taken'' then starred as Colonel Knox in the

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

thriller film ''Patient Zero''. Standen was cast in the main role of Anthony Lavelle for

's '' Council of Dads''; the following year the programme was cancelled after one series. In 2021, Standen and Amy Bailey (who played Kwenthrith in ''Vikings'') teamed up to create the Vikcast podcast about the ''Vikings'' TV series they will co-host, with Bailey stating: "We've gathered our beloved castmates, production members, and celebrity guests to talk about the show and everything beyond." In addition to his screen roles, Standen has done voice overs for video games such as ''Aliens vs. Predator'' and ''Inversion''.

Activism

Standen is a spokesman for

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action tactics to achieve its ...

Personal life

He married Francesca de Takats in 2007 at

Babington House Babington House is a Grade II* listed manor house, located in the village of Babington, between Radstock and Frome, in the county of Somerset, England. Converted to a private members club and hotel by Nick Jones, it is currently owned by Soh ...

They have three children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage

References

External links

*
Vikcast
at Spreaker {{DEFAULTSORT:Standen, Clive 1981 births Living people English male film actors English male television actors English male stage actors National Youth Theatre members Male Shakespearean actors from Northern Ireland People from Melton Mowbray Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art English male musical theatre actors English male video game actors English male voice actors English Muay Thai practitioners 21st-century English male actors Musicians from Leicestershire Male actors from Leicestershire