Matthew Macfadyen's TV & Movie Roles, from Mr. Darcy to Mr. Paradox
The Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG-winning English actor is known as Tom Wambsgans to Succession fans.
With nuanced, un-showy performances, Matthew Macfadyen has quietly become one of the most reliable actors in Hollywood. Whether he's flexing his hand as Mr. Darcy or sweeping the Emmys for playing Tom Wambsgans on Succession his time onscreen is always memorable.
The English actor plays Elizabeth Banks' husband Les Littlejohn on Peacock's new The Miniature Wife series.
"I can't imagine a better scene partner than Matthew and I've worked with a lot of people, so I might get in trouble saying that. But he was so open and so generous." his Miniature Wife co-star Elizabeth Banks told Entertainment Weekly, calling him "such an inherently good human."
With such a long and varied career, some fans may not even realize Macfadyen's a Brit, which he is keenly aware of. "I always feel a little bit like the accent police are going to come and say, 'Come on, you're coming with us,'" he said in the same article, explaining that for inventor Les Littlejohn, "I watched a lot of Bill Nye the Science Guy. I wasn't trying to copy his accent, but he has a lovely turn of phrase and a lovely inflection now and again."
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He is similarly casual about his approach to other aspects of the craft. “I don’t really have a method,” he told The Financial Times. “You see a lot of actors and they’ve made lots of decisions, and as a result they’re not actually paying attention. And I think it’s crucial to be paying attention and listening, because that’s what we do in life. We’re not actually feeling things, we’re just sort of present. Acting is less about feeling and more about doing. It’s about paying attention. It’s attending to the flow.”
Get to know the Matthew Macfadyen's major TV and movie roles below — and watch all 10 episodes of The Miniature Wife on Peacock starting April 9.
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Matthew Macfadyen was a brooding Darcy for Keira Knightley
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Macfadyen landed roles in domestic dramas and TV miniseries, meeting his now-wife Keeley Hawes on the set of 2002's spy drama Spooks. Three years later, he got his big break as the introverted Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, which premiered in 2005. Starring Keira Knightley, the Jane Austen romance was nominated for four Academy Awards and was a box office hit in both the UK and US.
Macfadyen appeared in the black comedy Death at a Funeral, prestigious drama Frost/Nixon, and an adaptation of Little Dorrit as Arthur Clennam. He also appeared in a big-budget 2010 version of Robin Hood as the villain, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
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Macfadyen continued his run of period pieces with The Pillars of the Earth and The Three Musketeers, and reunited with Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina. a reunion with Knightley. Det. Insp. Edmund Reid in Ripper Street, a Netflix series about the aftermath of the Whitechapel murders, from 2012-2016.
Matthew Macfadyen's TV credits include Succession and Death by Lightning
In 2018, Macfadyen began what may be his most talked-about role since Darcy: Tom Wambsgans on Succession. On the comedy-drama, Tom is a slightly less tragic figure than the central Roy siblings, and often uses the fact that he is overlooked to his advantage. His dry delivery and timing led to more comedic roles, like Mr. Paradox in Deadpool & Wolverine and James Garfield's mentally-ill assassin Charles Guiteau in Death by Lightning.
Macfadyen also played intelligence officer Charles Cholmondeley in historical thriller Operation Mincemeat, a genre to which he will return in the upcoming The Spy Who Came in From The Cold.
Matthew Macfadyen voices Voldemort in the Harry Potter audiobooks
The actor took on an exciting, voice-only role in 2025: He played the evil Voldemort in Audible's Harry Potter audio books in a cast that includes Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore, Riz Ahmed as Severus Snape, and Keira Knightley as Umbridge.
Macfadyen told Seth Meyers that he was surprised to be asked for a "very high voice," as it's described in the book. "And so I would start, and the director, our lovely director, was like, 'No, it has to be higher," he explained.
"They gave me a wand in the studio. Like a sort of comfort wand," he continued. "So and I had this mic strapped on my head, so I looked deranged." Sounds like the exact sort of commitment Macfadyen's brought to every role.
Stream The Miniature Wife on Peacock beginning Thursday, April 4.
