# Alec Newman
**Alec Newman** (born 1974) is a Scottish actor known for playing [Paul Atreides](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-atreides) in the Emmy-winning 2000 miniseries *Frank Herbert's Dune* and for a later career as a video game voice actor, including Adam Smasher in *Cyberpunk 2077* and the title character of *Still Wakes the Deep* (2024).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) • [2](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-says-video-game-acting-wasnt-treated-as-proper-acting-by-peers-who-are-now-asking-how-to-get-into-the-industry/) His birth name is Mark Alexander Newman.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974, Glasgow, Scotland, UK; birth name Mark Alexander Newman[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) |
| Training | National Youth Theatre and the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA)[3](https://awsprxdam.crownmediadev.com.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/highRes/648792.pdf) |
| Signature role | Paul Atreides in *Frank Herbert's Dune* (2000) and *Children of Dune* (2003)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) |
| Voice acting | BAFTA award winner; Adam Smasher in *Cyberpunk 2077* (2020), lead in *Still Wakes the Deep* (2024), Kliff in *Crimson Desert* (2026)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) • [2](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-says-video-game-acting-wasnt-treated-as-proper-acting-by-peers-who-are-now-asking-how-to-get-into-the-industry/) |
| Television | Michael Byrne in *Waterloo Road*; series roles in *Rogue* (2013), *Strike Back* (2010), and *The Bastard Executioner* (2015)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) |
| Family | Son of Sandy Newman of the Scottish band Marmalade; brother of John James Newman[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) |
## Early life and training
Newman was born in Glasgow, Scotland.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) His first ambition was football: he considered becoming a professional player before breaking his leg while playing for Wokingham Town.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) He enrolled in London's National Youth Theatre as a teenager, and after training there and at LAMDA he went straight to work in television and theater.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/alec-newman/) • [3](https://awsprxdam.crownmediadev.com.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/highRes/648792.pdf)
His father is Sandy Newman of the Scottish band [Marmalade](https://www.edgepedia.org/marmalade), and his brother is the actor John James Newman.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/)
## Dune and early screen career
Newman's first television roles came in the late 1990s with brief appearances on British series including *Taggart*, *Peak Practice*, and *Dangerfield*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/alec-newman/) Casting director [John Harrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-harrison), writer and director of the Sci Fi Channel's three-part miniseries *Frank Herbert's Dune* (2000), wanted an unknown for Paul Atreides so that audiences would learn who the character was through the story; a London casting agent introduced him to Newman, who was then appearing in a West End play with [Cate Blanchett](https://www.edgepedia.org/cate-blanchett). Harrison recalled deciding after their meeting that he had found the lead.[5](https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/move-over-chalamet-the-dune-tv-miniseries-turns-25-today-so-we-talked-to-the-director-of-the-star-studded-show-that-reached-for-the-stars-on-a-shoestring-budget-exclusive)
The miniseries won an Emmy, and Newman reprised the role of Paul, by then Muad'Dib, in *Frank Herbert's Children of Dune* (2003).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/alec-newman/) According to IMDb's trivia, he is the only actor to portray Paul Atreides from his beginnings on Caladan through his later incarnation as the Preacher.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/)
A string of American television and film work followed. He played the title role in the 2004 television film *Frankenstein*, working with [William Hurt](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-hurt) and [Donald Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-sutherland), and won the role of [Barnabas Collins](https://www.edgepedia.org/barnabas-collins) in a 2005 reboot of *Dark Shadows* produced by John Wells.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) His film work of the early 2000s included the aspiring writer Paul in Penny Woolcock's *The Principles of Lust* (2003) and a supporting part in Stephen Fry's *Bright Young Things* (2003); both screened at festivals including Cannes, Sundance, and the Leeds International Film Festival.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) He also played Malik in *Star Trek: Enterprise*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/alec-newman/)
## Television and film
Newman became familiar to British audiences as headteacher Michael Byrne in *Waterloo Road*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) Series-regular roles in HBO's *Strike Back* (2010), Amazon's *Rogue* (2013), and [Kurt Sutter](https://www.edgepedia.org/kurt-sutter)'s *The Bastard Executioner* (2015) brought him to international audiences in action-oriented parts.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) Later television credits include King Aethelred in *The Last Kingdom*, Niven Guthrie in *Shetland* series 6, Pavel Kuragin in *Strike Back* series 7, Joseph Wemyss in *Outlander*, and [Paul Evans](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-evans) in *Dept. Q* (2025).[6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-55755/filmographie/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/)
In Guy Pitt's 2014 drama *Greyhawk*, his leading performance contributed to the film's nomination for the Edinburgh International Film Festival's Michael Powell award.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) He has since worked on film with directors including [George Clooney](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-clooney), Tomas Alfredson, Amma Asante, and [Thomas Vinterberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-vinterberg), and appeared as Harry Rantz in *The Boys in the Boat* (2023).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/)
In *The Weight* (2026), a gold-smuggling drama starring [Ethan Hawke](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethan-hawke) and [Russell Crowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/russell-crowe), Newman plays Taggert; the film premiered at the 2026 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) and had its European premiere at the Berlinale.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) • [7](https://www.augenschein-filmproduktion.de/en/films/detail/the-weight.html)
## Stage career
Newman has maintained a continuous presence on the London stage, with work at the National Theatre, the Almeida, Hampstead Theatre, the Young Vic, the Donmar Warehouse, and the [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/) He played Edmund in the Donmar Warehouse's *King Lear*, which toured the UK and the Brooklyn Academy of Music through the National Theatre Live broadcast, and was award-nominated in the title role of *The Motherfucker with the Hat* at the National Theatre in 2015.[8](https://www.whatsonstage.com/stage-names/alec-newman/) • [9](https://www.thetelling.co.uk/actors/alec-newman) At Hampstead Theatre he appeared in *Alligators* and in Tom Stoppard's *Hapgood*.[9](https://www.thetelling.co.uk/actors/alec-newman)
## Video game voice acting
Newman has worked as a video game voice actor for well over a decade, beginning with supporting roles in *Fable 3* and *Star Wars: The Old Republic*. In interviews around the release of *Crimson Desert*, he recalled that when he started, game acting "wasn't treated by my peers as proper acting," a perception he said has since reversed, with those same peers now asking how to enter the field.[2](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-says-video-game-acting-wasnt-treated-as-proper-acting-by-peers-who-are-now-asking-how-to-get-into-the-industry/)
His credits include Adam Smasher in *Cyberpunk 2077* (2020), the lead in the horror game *Still Wakes the Deep* (2024), and roles in *The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt*, *Elden Ring*, *Alan Wake 2*, and the *Assassin's Creed* series.[2](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-says-video-game-acting-wasnt-treated-as-proper-acting-by-peers-who-are-now-asking-how-to-get-into-the-industry/) • [10](https://gunghobookings.com/talent/alec-newman/) He voices Kliff, the protagonist of Pearl Abyss's open-world game *Crimson Desert*, and said in a 2026 interview that he worked on the role on and off for five years, recording various iterations of the character as development changed; the character was originally named Macduff, and Newman said he repeatedly pushed the developer for clarity on story and character.[11](https://www.techradar.com/gaming/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-reveals-his-character-changed-a-lot-during-development-and-he-had-to-push-pearl-abyss-for-clarity-i-just-kept-pushing-and-pushing-and-pushing-about-story-and-character-as-much-as-i-could)
## References
1. [Alec Newman Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0627995/bio/)
2. [Crimson Desert Kliff actor says video game acting wasn't treated as "proper acting", GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-says-video-game-acting-wasnt-treated-as-proper-acting-by-peers-who-are-now-asking-how-to-get-into-the-industry/)
3. [Frankenstein cast bios, Crown Media](https://awsprxdam.crownmediadev.com.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/highRes/648792.pdf)
4. [Alec Newman, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/alec-newman/)
5. [The Dune TV miniseries turns 25: interview with John Harrison, Space.com](https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/move-over-chalamet-the-dune-tv-miniseries-turns-25-today-so-we-talked-to-the-director-of-the-star-studded-show-that-reached-for-the-stars-on-a-shoestring-budget-exclusive)
6. [Alec Newman filmography, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-55755/filmographie/)
7. [The Weight, augenschein Filmproduktion](https://www.augenschein-filmproduktion.de/en/films/detail/the-weight.html)
8. [Who is Alec Newman? Stage and screen star, WhatsOnStage](https://www.whatsonstage.com/stage-names/alec-newman/)
9. [Alec Newman, The Telling](https://www.thetelling.co.uk/actors/alec-newman)
10. [Alec Newman, Gung Ho Bookings](https://gunghobookings.com/talent/alec-newman/)
11. [Crimson Desert Kliff actor reveals his character changed a lot during development, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/gaming/crimson-desert-kliff-actor-reveals-his-character-changed-a-lot-during-development-and-he-had-to-push-pearl-abyss-for-clarity-i-just-kept-pushing-and-pushing-and-pushing-about-story-and-character-as-much-as-i-could)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Scottish actors › Surnames M to W*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license