# Ben Miles
**Ben Miles** (Benjamin Charles Miles) is an English stage, film, and television actor, born in 1966 in [Wimbledon, London](https://www.edgepedia.org/wimbledon-london), best known for playing Patrick Maitland in the BBC comedy *Coupling* and [Thomas Cromwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-cromwell) in the [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company)'s adaptations of Hilary Mantel's *Wolf Hall* novels[1](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/55262) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ben-miles/bio/3000432687/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / birth | Benjamin Charles Miles, born 1966 in Wimbledon, London[1](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/55262) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ben-miles/bio/3000432687/) |
| Training | Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/) |
| Breakout TV role | Patrick Maitland in *Coupling*, BBC Two, 2000–2004, 28 episodes[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/) |
| Signature stage role | Thomas Cromwell in the RSC's *Wolf Hall* and *Bring Up the Bodies* (2013–2014), then on Broadway in 2015[4](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/04/wolf-hall-on-bbc2-and-broadway-cromwell-mark-rylance-theatre-studies) |
| Tony nomination | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, 2015, for *Wolf Hall Parts One & Two*[5](https://time.com/3911871/tonys-2015-winners/) |
| Other major work | *The Lehman Trilogy* at the National Theatre (2018); Peter Townsend in Netflix's *The Crown*[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles) |
| Writing | Co-wrote the stage adaptation of *The Mirror and the Light* with Hilary Mantel[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1) |
## Early life and training
Miles grew up in Ashover, Derbyshire, and attended Tupton Hall School in Chesterfield[8](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/ben-miles-48848.php). He has said he first got involved in school productions to avoid lessons: he began with sound and lighting, then realized that appearing in the play itself got him out of more Maths and English classes[9](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/ben-miles-102490/). He went on to train at the [Guildhall School of Music and Drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/guildhall-school-of-music-and-drama)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/).
His first professional theater job was as acting assistant stage manager in *A Woman of No Importance* for the Cambridge Theatre Company, directed by Bill Pryde[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1). In the early 1990s he began landing small television roles in series including *Zorro*, *Soldier Soldier*, and *Is It Legal?*, and appeared in Iain Softley's 1997 film *The Wings of the Dove*[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ben-miles/).
## Television and film
His first major television roles came in 2000, when he was cast in the ITV drama *Cold Feet* and in the BBC comedy *Coupling*, in which he played the womanizing Patrick Maitland across 28 episodes from 2000 to 2004[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/). The role brought him wider public recognition[9](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/ben-miles-102490/).
After *Coupling*, his screen credits included Montague Dartie in *The Forsyte Saga*, Jonathan Cole in *Mr Harvey Lights a Candle*, and roles in *Lark Rise to Candleford*, *Dracula*, and *After Thomas*, a television film about living with a child with autism that he discussed in interviews as an effort to raise awareness of the pressures on affected families[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ben-miles/) • [11](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Miles/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ben-miles/bio/3000432687/). His film work includes Dascomb in *V for Vendetta* (2005), Cass Jones in *Speed Racer* (2008), and Maslow in *Ninja Assassin* (2009)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/). Later television appearances include Peter Townsend in Netflix's *The Crown*, episodes of *Black Mirror* and *The Capture*, and [John Profumo](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-profumo) in *The Trial of Christine Keeler* (2019)[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles).
## Stage career
Miles made his West End debut as Bolingbroke in *Richard II* at the Old Vic in 2005, directed by [Trevor Nunn](https://www.edgepedia.org/trevor-nunn) and starring [Kevin Spacey](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-spacey), in a production he described as a dream job[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles) • [9](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/ben-miles-102490/). The casting had a family dimension: he appeared alongside Gary Raymond, whom IMDb identifies as his father-in-law and London Theatre's profile calls his father[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/) • [6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles).
In 2008 he played Tom in the Old Vic revival of Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy *The Norman Conquests*, directed by Matthew Warchus, which transferred to Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play[9](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/ben-miles-102490/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ben-miles/bio/3000432687/). In 2011 he starred in [Harold Pinter](https://www.edgepedia.org/harold-pinter)'s *Betrayal* at the Harold Pinter Theatre with [Kristin Scott Thomas](https://www.edgepedia.org/kristin-scott-thomas) and [Douglas Henshall](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-henshall), directed by Ian Rickson[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/).
**Thomas Cromwell.** In 2013 and 2014 Miles played the lead in the RSC's double bill of Mike Poulton's adaptations of Mantel's *Wolf Hall* and *Bring Up the Bodies*, first at the Swan Theatre in [Stratford-upon-Avon](https://www.edgepedia.org/stratford-upon-avon) and then at the Aldwych Theatre in London[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/) • [7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1). The two parts ran in repertory, and on two-show days Miles was onstage for roughly six hours; he described the physical demand as akin to running a marathon and recalled an out-of-body experience of exhaustion during the first preview in 2013[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1). He called Cromwell "the original working-class hero, the original self-made man" and highlighted the character's moral ambiguity as an attraction of the role[12](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/17/ben-miles-hilary-mantel-cromwell-working-class-hero).
The production transferred to Broadway in 2015 as *Wolf Hall Parts One & Two* at the [Winter Garden Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/winter-garden-theatre), and Miles was nominated for the 2015 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, which went to [Alex Sharp](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-sharp) for *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time*[5](https://time.com/3911871/tonys-2015-winners/) • [13](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/questions-withben-miles-9302/). His stage Cromwell was widely contrasted with [Mark Rylance](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-rylance)'s television portrayal in the BBC2 adaptation: the critic Mark Lawson described Miles's Cromwell as quick of wit, speech, and feet, entering and leaving scenes with coiled urgency, while Rylance's was built on stillness and pause, a difference Lawson attributed partly to the demands of stage versus screen acting[4](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/04/wolf-hall-on-bbc2-and-broadway-cromwell-mark-rylance-theatre-studies).
**Later stage work.** In 2018 Miles starred in Stefano Massini's *The Lehman Trilogy*, adapted by Ben Power and directed by [Sam Mendes](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-mendes), alongside Simon Russell Beale and Adam Godley at the National Theatre, and reprised the role in the West End transfer at the Piccadilly Theatre; he did not join the production's later Broadway transfer, a decision he discussed with Mendes and described as difficult[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles) • [7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1).
## The Mirror and the Light
When Mike Poulton was unavailable to adapt the final volume of Mantel's trilogy, Mantel asked Miles for suggestions of a co-writer, and he offered himself; Mantel agreed, and the two collaborated remotely during the 2020 lockdown, Miles from his shed in London and Mantel from her home in Devon[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1). During the earlier productions he had regularly emailed Mantel thoughts in character, several of which she incorporated into the novel[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1). The adaptation compressed a book of nearly 1,000 pages into two and a half hours of stage time, and the world premiere ran at the Gielgud Theatre from September to November 2021, with Miles again playing Cromwell[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1) • [6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles).
## Personal life
Miles is married to the actress Emily Raymond, and the couple have three children[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ben-miles/bio/3000432687/). He has also worked as a narrator, recording the audiobooks of the complete *Wolf Hall* trilogy, about 80 hours in total[7](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1).
## References
1. [Ben Miles, Behind the Name](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/55262)
2. [Ben Miles Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ben-miles/bio/3000432687/)
3. [Ben Miles, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587060/)
4. [Mark Lawson, "'Big' Ben Miles v 'Slow' Mark Rylance: Wolf Hall's Cromwell on stage and screen", The Guardian, 4 February 2015](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/04/wolf-hall-on-bbc2-and-broadway-cromwell-mark-rylance-theatre-studies)
5. [See the Winners from the 2015 Tony Awards, Time](https://time.com/3911871/tonys-2015-winners/)
6. [Ben Miles, Stars on Stage, London Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/ben-miles)
7. [Theo Bosanquet, "Ben Miles: 'I've been a co-author with one of our greatest writers ever'", The Stage, 30 September 2021](https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-interview/actor-ben-miles-ive-been-a-co-author-with-one-of-our-greatest-writers-ever?redirected=1)
8. [Ben Miles Biography, The Famous People](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/ben-miles-48848.php)
9. [Ben Miles, Official London Theatre, 15 October 2008](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/ben-miles-102490/)
10. [Ben Miles, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ben-miles/)
11. [Ben Miles, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ben-Miles/)
12. [Catherine Love, "Ben Miles: Hilary Mantel's Cromwell is the 'original working class hero'", The Guardian, 17 May 2014](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/17/ben-miles-hilary-mantel-cromwell-working-class-hero)
13. [8 Questions With...Ben Miles, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/questions-withben-miles-9302/)
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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 › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Mc to M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license