Matthew Wilkinson is a British actor, playwright and director.

Acting

Wilkinson trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

and has performed in theatre, film, television and animation. Early theatre work included

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

's ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...

'' (

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

, 1996) directed by

Jeremy Sams Jeremy Sams (born 12 January 1957) is a British theatre director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist. Early life and education Sams is the son of the late Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Er ...

, and in 1997 '' The Warp'' for

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the ...

(Barnet), ''Take Away'' (

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

) and '' The Birds'' (The Gate). He was also seen in ''The Gift'' (BBC) directed by Danny Hiller. In 1998 he played Torvald in ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

'' (Harrogate) and performed in ''Playing Hide and Seek with Jesus'' by

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the lead ...

(Pleasance, Edinburgh) directed by

Jeremy Herrin Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director. He is the artistic director of Headlong Theatre. Career Having trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Herrin was an assistant director under Stephen Daldry at the Roya ...

. More film work included '' The Avengers'' (Warner Bros), '' The Jolly Boys' Last Stand'' with

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...

and

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admira ...

and ''

The Tichborne Claimant The Tichborne case was a legal ''cause célèbre'' that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. It concerned the claims by a man sometimes referred to as Thomas Castro or as Arthur Orton, but usually termed "the Claimant", to be t ...

'' directed by

David Yates David Yates (born 8 October 1963) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter, who has directed feature films, short films, and television productions. He is best known for directing the final four films in the ''Harry Potter'' ser ...

, both with Bigger Picture Company. In 1999

David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace in ...

directed him in '' Harbour Lights II'' (BBC) and over the next few years Wilkinson took roles in ''The Mystery of Men'' (BBC), ''It's A Girl Thing'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

), '' Shackleton'' (

), '' Ali G Inda House'' and '' About A Boy'' (both

Working Title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

). In 2003 he performed in Hideki Noda's play ''Red Demon'' (

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 20 ...

, London). Parts followed in ''

V for Vendetta ''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthol ...

'' (Warner Bros.2005), ''The Message'' (BBC 2006) and Finkle in ''Finkle's Odyssey'' (Large Films, 2006). In 2011 he played Trigorin in ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises ...

'' at the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dals ...

, London with

Geraldine James Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English film and television actress. Biography Early life and family James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father and an alcoholic mother, who had been a nurse. She failed her 1 ...

Voice

Since 2009 Wilkinson has contributed over 20 characters to ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' (

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and So ...

) including Rocky, Spencer, Kevin, Charlie, Stanley, Scruff, Cranky, Butch and Farmer McColl in the UK dub as well as Rusty, Diesel 10, Merrick, Winston and Ben (since Season 22) in both dubs. His first animation was playing Weasel on ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural w ...

'' (CITV, 1999). Other work includes '' Empire Square'' (Channel 4, 2006) created and directed by

Dave Rowntree David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English musician, politician, solicitor, composer and animator. He is the drummer for the rock band Blur and was a Labour Party councillor in Norfolk County Council from 2017 until 202 ...

from Blur, '' The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky'' (Channel 5, 2007), Boris, Zed et al. in ''

64 Zoo Lane 64 or sixty-four or ''variation'', may refer to: * 64 (number) Dates * one of the years 64 BC, AD 64, 1864, 1964, 2064, etc. * June 4th (6/4) ** the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre * April 6th (6/4) * April 6 AD (6/4) * ...

'' (CBBC, 2009), Bunny Maloney in ''

Bunny Maloney ''Bunny Maloney'' is a computer-animated television series created by Studio Tanuki and directed by Stéphane Stoll. The series is produced by MoonScoop Group, in co-production with France 2 and Telegael Teoranta. It was based on a Flash-animate ...

'' (MoonScoop, 2009), ''Trust Me I'm A Genie'' (

Millimages Millimages is a French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic ...

, 2011), ''

Justin and the Knights of Valor ''Justin and the Knights of Valour'' ( Spanish: ''Justin y la espada del valor'') is a 2013 computer-animated fantasy film whose working title was ''Goleor: The Scales and the Sword''. It is the story of a boy named Justin, who wants to become a ...

'' (Kandor, 2013), rude-boy Stevie in ''

The Unbeatables The Unbeatables () is a 1993 Chinese drama serial produced by Singapore's Mandarin channel, Channel 8. ''The Unbeatables'' is best remembered for being the first Singaporean show on gambling, and featured early television appearances from Zoe ...

'' (Universal, 2014) and Mr. Fuzzy in ''

101 Dalmatian Street ''101 Dalmatian Street'' is an animated television series created by Miklos Weigert that aired on Disney Channel in the UK and Ireland from 18 March 2019 to 22 February 2020, and released on Disney+ in Canada and the United States on 28 Febru ...

'' (Disney, 2018). He has narrated ''Cops With Cameras'' (ITV) and voiced Scott in ''Blizzard: Race to the Pole'' (BBC, 2006). For gamers he is Murmur in EA's '' Hellgate:London'', Frida in ''

LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the seri ...

'' (PS4),

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

in '' Total War: Arena'' and Felix and Gor-Rok in '' Total War: Warhammer II'' (both Creative Assembly). Wilkinson's break in the ad world came when he signed to voice the ''Be The Best'' army campaigns of the late 1990s. Since then he has voiced numerous commercials for TV and radio including the iconic ''If Carlsberg did...''

Writing

In 2002 Wilkinson wrote and directed his first play ''Sun is Shining'' about a turbulent love affair between a British Chinese city boy and a Glaswegian painter. A sell-out at the

Kings Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the second oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBT ...

, London and BAC Time Out Critics' Choice season (2003), it transferred to the Brits Off Broadway Festival at

59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...

in New York City in 2004. In 2003 Wilkinson co-adapted physical theatre piece ''Red Demon'' for Japanese performer auteur

Hideki Noda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, débuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last three ...

. It played at the

and Theatre Cocoon, Tokyo. In 2005 he directed Jake Broder in ''His Royal Hipness

Lord Buckley Lord Richard Buckley (born Richard Myrle Buckley; April 5, 1906 – November 12, 1960) was an American stand-up comedian and recording artist, who in the 1940s and 1950s created a character that was, according to ''The New York Times'', "an unl ...

at the Zam Zam Room'', Broder's tribute to the legendary swing imposter (

PizzaExpress Jazz Club PizzaExpress Jazz Club is a jazz club in London, England. Based in Dean Street in Soho, it is situated in the basement of a PizzaExpress restaurant, and was opened by company founder Peter Boizot in 1969. It has played host to Norah Jones, Amy ...

, London). In 2006 he wrote and directed a short film ''Lion'' which screened at festivals in Berlin, Paris and Nashville. ''Red Sea Fish'' (Brighton Dome Studio Theatre and Brits Off Broadway,

, New York) was staged in 2009 and a female monologue ''Just Let Go'' ( Chisenhale Dance Space) in 2012. In 2015 he wrote and directed ''My Eyes Went Dark'' at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world pr ...

. Starring Cal MacAninch and Thusitha Jayasundera it was nominated for three Off West End Awards including Best Play. The production transferred to the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary p ...

, Edinburgh 2016 and

New York 2017. In 2021 he wrote and directed ''Psychodrama'' as a pop-up in North London co-produced with Pádraig Cusack. Nominated for OffWestEnd Awards for Lead Performance in a Play:

Emily Bruni Emily Bruni (born 1975 in Exeter, Devon) is an English actress. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2000, she played Tanya in the drama Metropolis by Peter Morgan. She starred alongside Rik Mayall in the sitco ...

and Sound Design: Gareth Fry. ''Psychodrama'' transferred to the

for the Edinburgh Fringe 2022. Nominated for an OffFest Award for Best Theatre.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Matt Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of RADA British male television actors British male film actors British male voice actors