# Rupert Penry-Jones
**Rupert Penry-Jones** (full name Rupert William Penry-Jones) is an English actor born in 1970, best known for playing MI5 officer Adam Carter in the BBC spy series *Spooks*, DI Joseph Chandler in ITV's *Whitechapel*, and Clive Reader QC in the BBC legal drama *Silk*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672303/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rupert-penry-jones/bio/3030401613/) Born to a pair of actors and educated at [Bristol Old Vic](https://www.edgepedia.org/bristol-old-vic), he received the Ian Charleson Award for playing [Don Carlos](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-carlos) with the [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company) before television brought him widespread fame.[3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, West Norwood, south London, to the actor Peter Penry-Jones and the actress Angela Thorne[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) |
| Training | Bristol Old Vic Theatre School; asked to leave after two years[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) |
| Stage honor | Ian Charleson Award for his Royal Shakespeare Company performance as Don Carlos[3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones) |
| Breakthrough role | Adam Carter in *Spooks*, cast as the lead in the third series in 2004 and playing the role for four series[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) |
| Other lead roles | DI Joseph Chandler in *Whitechapel* (2009–2013), Clive Reader in *Silk*, Richard Hannay in *The 39 Steps*, Captain Wentworth in *Persuasion* (2007)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186356/) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/rupert-penry-jones/) |
| Family | Married to the actress Dervla Kirwan since 2007; two children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672303/) |
## Early life and training
Penry-Jones grew up around the theater. His father, Peter Penry-Jones, was a Welsh actor, and his mother, [Angela Thorne](https://www.edgepedia.org/angela-thorne), was best known for playing [Penelope Keith](https://www.edgepedia.org/penelope-keith)'s companion Marjory Frobisher in the sitcom *To the Manor Born*; he did his homework backstage at theaters and has said he was always proud of what his parents did.[3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones) His younger brother Laurence is also an actor.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html)
He attended [Dulwich College](https://www.edgepedia.org/dulwich-college) in south-east London from 1982, where he described himself as academically unremarkable but busy with rugby, swimming training, and the art department; he once imagined becoming an Olympic swimmer or a graphic artist.[3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones) Acting took hold through two teachers. His English teacher, Dr Jan Piggott, pressed him to audition for a school production of *The Tempest* when he was 13, and he was cast as Caliban; his French teacher, Kim Eyre, later cast him in the starring role of *Doctor Faustus* at the school's Edward Alleyn Theatre.[3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones) Penry-Jones has credited these teachers with setting him on his path, saying that the stage memories outlasted anything academic.[3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones)
His formal training went less smoothly. He deliberately skipped his economics A-level exam, then joined Bristol's Old Vic Theatre School and was thrown out after two years, which he attributed to a broken heart and becoming "a bit disruptive"; by the time he left he had played only Mary's donkey and D'Artagnan's horse.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) • [7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html) He then paid his way through two unemployed years by modeling, having been scouted by Storm as a sixth former, working the Paris and Milan shows and briefly serving as the face of Lypsyl lip balm.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html) In 1991, realizing that runway modeling in Milan was not leading to the stage, he needed his mother to help find him an agent.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html)
## Stage career
Penry-Jones made his London stage debut in 1995 at the Hackney Empire, playing Fortinbras to [Ralph Fiennes](https://www.edgepedia.org/ralph-fiennes)' Hamlet in a production that transferred to Broadway.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) In 1999 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing the lead in *Don Carlos* and also appearing in *Timon of Athens*.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) • [8](https://argtalent.com/rupert-penry-jones/) The *Don Carlos* performance won him the Ian Charleson Award, given for classical stage work by young actors; sources differ on the year, with one profile dating it to 2000 and another to 1999.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html) • [9](https://www.acupofcrime.com/actors/rupert-penry-jones/) He called it the best he had ever been on stage.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html)
Later theater work includes *The Play About the Baby* and *Chips with Everything* at the National Theatre, *Les Liaisons Dangereuses* at Bristol Old Vic, *Sweet Panic* and *The Paper Husband* at the Hampstead Theatre, *The Priory* at the Royal Court in 2009, and *Power* at the National Theatre.[8](https://argtalent.com/rupert-penry-jones/) *The Priory*, Michael Wynne's comedy thriller, was his first play after *Spooks* made him famous.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html) In 2026 he returned to the stage at Chichester Festival Theatre in *Eclipse*.[10](https://www.cft.org.uk/news/meet-the-company-of-eclipse)
## Television breakthrough: Spooks and spies
Penry-Jones became widely known through spy and authority figures. In the BBC's *Cambridge Spies* (2003) he played the real-life traitor Donald Maclean; at a press screening he described the quartet of Soviet agents as "brave and heroic" idealists motivated by righteousness, a framing the producers defended against criticism from the former Soviet agent [Oleg Gordievsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/oleg-gordievsky).[11](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/apr/23/broadcasting.bbc1) In 2004 he was cast as the lead in the third series of the BBC's *Spooks*, playing MI5's Adam Carter for four further series, a role that ran to 41 episodes and made his name.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672303/) He has said the heart-throb attention that followed belonged more to Adam Carter than to himself.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/06/rupert-penry-jones-fashion)
The typecasting extended to period adventure. He played Richard Hannay in the BBC's Christmas 2008 remake of *The 39 Steps* and Captain Wentworth in ITV's 2007 adaptation of [Jane Austen](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-austen)'s *Persuasion*.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html) • [3](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones) His name has been mentioned as a possible [Doctor Who](https://www.edgepedia.org/doctor-who) and as a possible successor to [Daniel Craig](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-craig) as Bond, speculation he found embarrassing.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/06/rupert-penry-jones-fashion) • [7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html)
## Later television work
From 2009 he led ITV's *Whitechapel* as DI Joseph Chandler, a hotshot detective facing a copycat killer recreating the [Jack the Ripper](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-the-ripper) murders in contemporary London; the series ran for four series, to 2013.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/06/rupert-penry-jones-fashion) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186356/) • [8](https://argtalent.com/rupert-penry-jones/) In the BBC's courtroom drama *Silk* (2011) he played Clive Reader QC opposite [Maxine Peake](https://www.edgepedia.org/maxine-peake).[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/rupert-penry-jones/)
He has also worked in American television. In [Guillermo del Toro](https://www.edgepedia.org/guillermo-del-toro)'s series *The Strain* he played Mr. Quinlan, and in [Sky One](https://www.edgepedia.org/sky-one)'s *Stan Lee's Lucky Man* he played Samuel Blake, a villain immune to pain, a part he described as an absolute joy to play after years as the good guy.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/rupert-penry-jones/) • [13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-interview-stan-lees-lucky-man-sky-one-the-strain-playing-villain-a8450896.html) Other credits include Thomas Hamilton in *Black Sails*, Trelawney in *Treasure Island* (2012), Mark in Channel 5's *The Drowning* (2021), and Marsus in Roland Emmerich's *Those About to Die* (2024).[6](https://www.metacritic.com/person/rupert-penry-jones/) • [8](https://argtalent.com/rupert-penry-jones/) In 2025 he played John Barnett opposite Jill Halfpenny in Channel 5's *The Feud*, their second collaboration after *The Drowning*.[14](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) He joined the cast of the BBC real-time thriller *Nightsleeper* as Richard for its second series, filming in Belfast.[15](https://www.fremantle.co.uk/news/bbc-announces-colin-morgan-madeleine-mantock-and-christian-cooke-will-lead-the-ca?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block)
His film work has been comparatively limited, and he has called his failure to make it big in cinema a "constant niggle at my ego", describing his film roles as either a good part in a terrible movie or a rubbish part in a good one.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) His screen films include *The Four Feathers* (2002), alongside Heath Ledger, and Woody Allen's *Match Point* (2005).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672303/)
## Personal life
Penry-Jones met the Irish actress Dervla Kirwan, known as the voice of Marks & Spencer advertising and formerly of *Ballykissangel*, when they starred together in *Dangerous Corner* at the Garrick Theatre in 2001; he initially tried to turn the job down because he had heard she was difficult, and within a few weeks they were in love.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) They married in 2007 and have two children, Florence and Peter; the family lives in Hampshire.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672303/) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html) In his twenties he dated the singer Kylie Minogue for about three years.[4](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html)
## References
1. [Rupert Penry-Jones, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672303/)
2. [Rupert Penry-Jones Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rupert-penry-jones/bio/3030401613/)
3. [Rupert Penry-Jones, Tes Magazine (30 March 2007)](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/rupert-penry-jones)
4. [Rupert Penry-Jones: Still waiting for his Colin Firth moment, The Independent (2011)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/rupert-penryjones-still-waiting-for-his-colin-firth-moment-2293195.html)
5. [Whitechapel (TV Series 2009–2013), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186356/)
6. [Rupert Penry-Jones, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/rupert-penry-jones/)
7. [Rupert Penry-Jones: 'It's nice not to be chasing a bad guy', The Independent (2009)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-it-s-nice-not-to-be-chasing-a-bad-guy-1819456.html)
8. [Rupert Penry-Jones, ARG Talent](https://argtalent.com/rupert-penry-jones/)
9. [Rupert Penry-Jones, Actor Profile, A Cup of Crime](https://www.acupofcrime.com/actors/rupert-penry-jones/)
10. [Meet the company of Eclipse, Chichester Festival Theatre](https://www.cft.org.uk/news/meet-the-company-of-eclipse)
11. [Stars defend rounded portrait of spy ring, The Guardian (2003)](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/apr/23/broadcasting.bbc1)
12. [Rupert bare, The Guardian (2009)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/06/rupert-penry-jones-fashion)
13. [No more Mr Nice Guy: Rupert Penry-Jones on Lucky Man, The Independent (2018)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/rupert-penryjones-interview-stan-lees-lucky-man-sky-one-the-strain-playing-villain-a8450896.html)
14. [The Feud: release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know, WhatToWatch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/the-feud-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
15. [BBC announces cast for series two of Nightsleeper, Fremantle](https://www.fremantle.co.uk/news/bbc-announces-colin-morgan-madeleine-mantock-and-christian-cooke-will-lead-the-ca?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block)
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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: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames N to R*
*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