Toby Kebbell

Early life

Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born on 9 July 1982 in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, but grew up in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire where he attended The Grove School (now the Newark Academy) in Balderton. He was brought up by his mother, Michelle (née Mathers), a cook and landscape gardener, and his father, Robert Kebbell, an engineer from Zimbabwe. He was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic primary school.

Kebbell trained in acting at the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham along with Andrew Shim and Vicky McClure.

Career

Kebbell's first movie appearance was as Anthony, a young man with a learning difficulty, in the Shane Meadows directed Dead Man's Shoes. He was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards 2004 The same year, Kebbell appeared in Oliver Stone's Alexander and Woody Allen's Match Point.

In 2007, Kebbell played Rob Gretton, the manager of Joy Division in Anton Corbijn's award-winning biopic of Ian Curtis, Control, for which his performance won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the British Independent Film Awards 2007. He was also nominated for the London Film Critics Circle Awards 2007 Best Supporting British Actor Award.

In December 2007, Kebbell took the lead in an episode of season 2 of Jimmy McGovern's BBC series The Street, which subsequently won the BAFTA for Best Drama series. His other work for the BBC included a modern retelling of Macbeth alongside James McAvoy, while his theatre roles included spells at the Almeida Theatre in David Hare's reworking of Maxim Gorky's Enemies and at the Playhouse in R.C. Sherriff's classic, Journey's End.

In September 2008, Kebbell was featured in RocknRolla (winner of the Empire Award for Best British Film), written and directed by Guy Ritchie, alongside actors Tom Wilkinson, Gerard Butler and Thandiwe Newton. Kebbell played a heroin-addicted musician, Johnny Quid, for which he was nominated for BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award of the 2009 BAFTA Awards, an award voted for by the public. Kebbell was also nominated for the Empire Award for Best Newcomer, but lost out to his friend Gemma Arterton. Kebbell appeared in the 2009 film Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, in which he took a small role alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. He filmed in Morocco and London with Jake Gyllenhaal for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

In 2011, Kebbell played a leading role in "The Entire History of You", the finale of the first series of Charlie Brooker's anthology series Black Mirror, which was written by Jesse Armstrong. Robert Downey Jr. has since bought the rights to adapt the script for a forthcoming film.

In 2014, Kebbell took over the role of Koba in the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Kebbell played the Marvel antagonist, Doctor Doom, in the 2015 Fantastic Four film, and an orc, Durotan, in the 2016 Warcraft. He played Jack Chapman in the monster film Kong: Skull Island (2017), while also providing guidance for Kong's motion capture sequences.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (3 October 2007). "Online exclusive: Toby Kebbell in control as acting career takes off". [[The Herald (Glasgow).
2. ''Births, Marriages & Deaths: Toby is married to Arielle Wyatt. They got married in 2020 and they have one child together. Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com
3. "NorthAmerica importer MR TOBIAS ALISTAIR PATRICK KEBBELL".
4. Marianne Macdonald. (5 February 2009). "Toby Kebbell: the new boy". [[London Evening Standard]].
5. (19 November 2019). "Toby Kebbell and Rupert Grint LOVE working with each other on Apple TV+'s "SERVANT"". YouTube.
6. "Toby Kebbell, the reluctant star finally shining".
7. "About: The Television Workshop".
8. "Toby Kebbell actor". independenttalent.com.
9. Wiseman, Andreas. (2 May 2018). "'Vampire Diaries' Actress Penelope Mitchell, Jason Patric Join Toby Kebbell in Thriller 'Becoming'".
10. (19 October 2007). "The Street - Toby Kebbell plays Paul". bbc.co.uk.
11. "Empire Awards 2009 BestBritish Film". empireonline.com.
12. (11 February 2009). "The Orange Rising Star Award 2009". BAFTAs.
13. (11 February 2013). "Robert Downey Jr to make movie based on Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror'". [[Digital Spy]].
14. Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub. (April 2014). "Toby Kebbell Talks about His Character Koba, The Physicality of His Performance, and More on the Set of DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES". Collider.
15. (1 April 2014). "Toby Kebbell to Play 'Fantastic Four' Villain Doctor Doom (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
16. Collura, Scott. (4 December 2013). "Ben Foster and Dominic Cooper Head for Warcraft". [[IGN]].
17. Sullivan, Kevin. (11 May 2016). "Toby Kebbell clears up Kong: Skull Island rumors".
18. "Toby Kebbell - BIFA Awards Won". bifa.org.uk.
19. "Toby Kebbell Awards". IMDB (Index source only).
20. (14 December 2008). "Control, Atonement lead London Critics' Circle nominations". screendaily.com/.
21. (14 December 2008). "BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award Nomination Announcement". gettyimages.fi.
22. "Empire Awards 2009 Best Newcomer". empireonline.com.