# David Oakes
**David Oakes** (full name Rowan David Oakes; born 1983) is an English actor known for playing complex antagonists and aristocrats in historical television dramas, including Juan Borgia in *The Borgias*, George, Duke of Clarence in *The White Queen*, and Earl Godwin in *Vikings: Valhalla*[1](https://nationupdate.co.uk/david-oakes/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/david-oakes/). Alongside acting, he hosts the nature podcast *Trees A Crowd*[3](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983, in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; grew up in Fordingbridge, Hampshire[4](https://biographs.org/david-oakes) |
| Training | University of Manchester (first-class degree in English and Drama); Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduated 2007[5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US) |
| Breakthrough role | Ross Bonham in the college-themed miniseries *Trinity* (2009)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/david-oakes/) |
| Signature television roles | William Hamleigh in *The Pillars of the Earth*, Juan Borgia in *The Borgias*, George, Duke of Clarence in *The White Queen*, Prince Ernest in *Victoria*, Earl Godwin in *Vikings: Valhalla*[1](https://nationupdate.co.uk/david-oakes/) |
| Notable films | *Truth or Dare*, *Love by Design*, *Cold Skin* (2017, with Ray Stevenson), *The Garden of Evening Mists* (2019)[3](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919) |
| Stage work | Shakespeare's Globe, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (*Pride and Prejudice*, 2013), Theatre Royal Haymarket (*Venus in Fur*, 2017)[4](https://biographs.org/david-oakes) • [6](https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/06-2013/brief-encounter-with-david-oakes-the-open-air-thea_31102.html/) • [7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters) |
| Beyond acting | Host of the nature podcast *Trees A Crowd*, exploring how the countryside inspired his guests' careers[3](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919) • [8](https://www.beaumont-union.co.uk/pdfs/summer%202020.pdf) |
## Early life and education
Oakes was born in 1983 to Reverend Jeremy Charles Oakes, an Anglican clergyman, and Fiona Brockhurst, a professional musician, and grew up in Fordingbridge, Hampshire[4](https://biographs.org/david-oakes). He attended Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School in Salisbury, where he became head boy, and performed in school plays as well as productions at the Salisbury Playhouse[5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US) • [9](https://biographytribune.com/what-movies-has-david-oakes-been-in-his-age-wife-height/).
At the [University of Manchester](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-manchester) he took a degree in English and Drama, receiving a first-class result, and he has said that at university he leaned more toward directing than acting; he chose to act after graduating on the reasoning that a future professional director needed first to be professionally directed[5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US) • [6](https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/06-2013/brief-encounter-with-david-oakes-the-open-air-thea_31102.html/). He then trained at the [Bristol Old Vic Theatre School](https://www.edgepedia.org/bristol-old-vic-theatre-school), graduating in 2007[5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US).
## Television career
Oakes's first screen role came as Alfred Lord Tennyson in a 2008 episode of the historical adventure miniseries *Bonekickers*[9](https://biographytribune.com/what-movies-has-david-oakes-been-in-his-age-wife-height/). His first important role was Ross Bonham in the college-themed miniseries *Trinity* (2009), followed by *The Pillars of the Earth*, the adaptation of [Ken Follett](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-follett)'s novel[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/david-oakes/) • [10](https://www.hypnoweb.net/www/acteurs/david-oakes-biographie-carriere-et-filmographie.2.1451/).
**The villainous run.** In 2011 Oakes played Juan Borgia, the military-minded eldest son of Rodrigo Borgia, opposite [Jeremy Irons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeremy-irons) in the Showtime series *The Borgias*; Juan is one of the show's key characters[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/david-oakes/) • [3](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919) • [11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/showtimes-sinister-borgias-omg-they-are-hardly-sorry-for-having-offended-thee/2010/11/19/AFsvmnJC_story.html). In the 2013 BBC miniseries *The White Queen*, adapted from [Philippa Gregory](https://www.edgepedia.org/philippa-gregory)'s Cousins' War novels, he played George, Duke of Clarence, the scheming brother of Edward IV; reviewers noted the typecasting with his earlier period-drama villains but praised the performance[1](https://nationupdate.co.uk/david-oakes/) • [12](https://thewertzone-a.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-white-queen.html). In ITV's *Victoria* he played Prince Ernest across eight episodes in 2016 and the Duke of Coburg in four episodes in 2017[5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US).
His most recent major television role is Earl Godwin in *Vikings: Valhalla*, appearing in 24 episodes from 2022[5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US). Interviewed in 2013 about the run of dark parts, Oakes said he had "got stuck playing a line of psychopathic rapists on TV" starting with *Pillars of the Earth* and *The Borgias*, and called his Mr Darcy "a bit of an antidote"[6](https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/06-2013/brief-encounter-with-david-oakes-the-open-air-thea_31102.html/).
## Film and stage work
Oakes's film credits include *Truth or Dare* (also released as *Truth or Die*), *Love by Design*, *[Cold Skin](https://www.edgepedia.org/cold-skin-film)* (2017), and *The Garden of Evening Mists* (2019)[3](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919) • [5](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US). *Cold Skin* mixed adventure, horror, and science-fiction elements, a departure from his period-drama work[1](https://nationupdate.co.uk/david-oakes/).
His stage career began at [Shakespeare's Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/shakespeares-globe), performing in *Love's Labour's Lost* alongside [Gemma Arterton](https://www.edgepedia.org/gemma-arterton) and in *We, the People* by [Eric Schlosser](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-schlosser)[4](https://biographs.org/david-oakes). In 2013 he played Mr Darcy in Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's production of *Pride and Prejudice*, the closest he has come to a romantic lead[6](https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/06-2013/brief-encounter-with-david-oakes-the-open-air-thea_31102.html/) • [7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters). In autumn 2017 he starred opposite Natalie Dormer in Patrick Marber's production of David Ives's two-hander *Venus in Fur* at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, playing Thomas Novachek, a writer-director auditioning an actress for an adaptation of *Venus in Furs*[7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters). Marber described him as "one of the very best of his generation"[7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters).
## Casting pattern and approach
Despite being cast repeatedly in dark parts, Oakes has described a deliberate aim to show "the human side to the darkness of characters"[7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters). He has suggested the pattern partly grew from rebellion against the floppy-haired romantic leads he played at drama school, where he performed Lysander four and a half times before becoming a professional actor[7](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters). In a 2019 interview around *Venus in Fur*, he placed Thomas Novachek on the same spectrum as Juan Borgia and Prince Ernest: lonely, charming, and erudite on the surface, with hunger and a lack of fulfillment beneath[13](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/190084/london-venus-in-fur-star-david-oakes-on-turning-on-the-audience-getting-tied-up-at-work-and-more/).
## Trees A Crowd and natural history
Beyond acting, Oakes has developed a strong interest in ecology, conservation, and natural history, and hosts the podcast *Trees A Crowd*, in which guests discuss how growing up within the natural world became working for the natural world[1](https://nationupdate.co.uk/david-oakes/) • [8](https://www.beaumont-union.co.uk/pdfs/summer%202020.pdf). Episode topics have ranged from filling a cello with bees to how robins have colonized remote places[3](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919).
## References
1. [David Oakes: Biography, Career & Life Story, Nation Update](https://nationupdate.co.uk/david-oakes/)
2. [David Oakes – Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/david-oakes/)
3. [David Oakes – Apple Snapshot](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221919)
4. [David Oakes biography, Biographs.org](https://biographs.org/david-oakes)
5. [David Oakes – The Movie Database (TMDB)](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/500045-david-oakes?language=en-US)
6. [Brief Encounter with… David Oakes, the Open Air Theatre's Mr Darcy, What's On Stage](https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/06-2013/brief-encounter-with-david-oakes-the-open-air-thea_31102.html/)
7. [David Oakes: 'I haven't done anything as bad as my characters', The Arts Desk](https://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/david-oakes-i-havent-done-anything-bad-my-characters)
8. [Beaumont Union magazine, Summer 2020 (Trees A Crowd)](https://www.beaumont-union.co.uk/pdfs/summer%202020.pdf)
9. [What movies has David Oakes been in? Biography Tribune](https://biographytribune.com/what-movies-has-david-oakes-been-in-his-age-wife-height/)
10. [David Oakes : biographie, carrière et filmographie, Hypnoweb](https://www.hypnoweb.net/www/acteurs/david-oakes-biographie-carriere-et-filmographie.2.1451/)
11. [Showtime's sinister 'Borgias', The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/showtimes-sinister-borgias-omg-they-are-hardly-sorry-for-having-offended-thee/2010/11/19/AFsvmnJC_story.html)
12. [SHIELDgetUK: The White Queen, The Wertzone](https://thewertzone-a.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-white-queen.html)
13. [London Venus in Fur Star David Oakes on Turning On the Audience, Broadway.com](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/190084/london-venus-in-fur-star-david-oakes-on-turning-on-the-audience-getting-tied-up-at-work-and-more/)
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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 N to P*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; 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