Ben Miles
English actor
title: "Ben Miles" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1966-births", "english-male-film-actors", "english-male-television-actors", "english-male-voice-actors", "living-people", "alumni-of-the-guildhall-school-of-music-and-drama", "20th-century-english-male-actors", "21st-century-english-male-actors", "male-actors-from-london", "actors-from-the-london-borough-of-merton", "english-male-stage-actors", "people-from-wimbledon,-london"] description: "English actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Miles" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English actor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ben Miles |
| birth_name | Benjamin Charles Miles |
| birth_place | Wimbledon, London, England |
| nationality | |
| occupation | Actor |
| years_active | 1989–present |
| spouse | Emily Raymond |
| children | 3 |
| :: |
| name = Ben Miles | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Benjamin Charles Miles | birth_date = | birth_place = Wimbledon, London, England | nationality = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1989–present | spouse = Emily Raymond | children = 3 Benjamin Charles Miles is an English actor. He gained recognition after starring in the television comedy sitcom Coupling (2000–2004) and the drama serial The Forsyte Saga (2002–2003). He also had recurring roles in Lark Rise to Candleford (2008), The Crown (2016–2017) as Peter Townsend, and Andor (2022–2025).
Early life and education
Benjamin Charles Miles was born in Wimbledon, London, and lived as a young man in Ashover, Derbyshire, attending Tupton Hall School. He began acting in school productions, which he pursued mainly because it allowed him to miss classes.
He studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Career
He moved into television roles in the 1990s, playing supporting roles in such series as Zorro, Soldier Soldier, Is It Legal?, The Bill, Peak Practice and Wonderful You.
Miles played a very small part as a journalist, with just a few words of dialogue, in the 1997 motion picture The Wings of the Dove. He had a leading role in The Round Tower, filmed later in 1997. In 1999, he was cast as Richard Martin in Reach For The Moon. In 2000, he was cast as Robert Brown in Cold Feet and the womanizing Patrick Maitland in the comedy series Coupling, a role which he played until the series ended in 2004. He continued other television work during his tenure in Coupling, appearing in The Forsyte Saga as Montague Dartie (this was the first time Miles acted with Amanda Root) and in Prime Suspect. In 2004, Miles portrayed Charles Ryder in the BBC Radio 4 production of Brideshead Revisited. Miles was the co-lead in the BBC drama, A Thing Called Love, filmed on location in Nottingham, England.
Miles appeared in the 2005 BBC television drama Mr Harvey Lights a Candle, playing the part of a teacher taking an unruly party of pupils on a daytrip to Salisbury Cathedral. In 2006, he appeared in the TV drama After Thomas as the father of a son with autism. In 2008, he appeared as the squire Sir Timothy in the British production Lark Rise to Candleford, and as Plantagenet Palliser in Radio 4 production The Pallisers. In 2009, he appeared as the head of a stock market trading firm in the BBC city-based drama Sex, the City and Me. He played the lead in Pulse opposite Claire Foy, whom he also co-starred with in The Promise in early 2011, just after also appearing in BBC 1's Zen. They were re-united again in The Crown.
Miles often works with director James McTeigue: he appeared in McTeigue's 2005 film V for Vendetta as Roger Dascombe, a government propagandist and television network executive. He appeared in Ninja Assassin, and in Speed Racer. On stage, he played Bolingbroke in the Old Vic's production of Richard II in 2005 alongside his father-in-law Gary Raymond. Miles also appeared in the play The Norman Conquests as Tom in 2009. The Norman Conquests won a Tony Award during his tenure in the play for Best Revival of a Play.
In summer 2011, Miles starred as Robert in Harold Pinter's Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End, with Kristin Scott Thomas playing his wife, Emma. The love triangle was completed by Douglas Henshall as his best friend and her lover, Jerry. The revival was directed by Ian Rickson.
- Betrayal, "Comedy Theatre Review", The Telegraph, 17 June 2011
- Betrayal - Review, "Comedy Theatre London", The Guardian, 17 June 2011
- First Night: Betrayal, "Comedy Theatre London", The Independent, 17 June 2011 Also in 2011 he appeared in the television film The Suspicions of Mr Whicher as Dr. Stapleton.
In 2014 Miles played Thomas Cromwell in the RSC version of Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London. In April 2015 the RSC brought the plays to New York City, where his performance was nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Play at the Tony Awards.
In 2016, he played Peter Townsend in the Netflix series The Crown, and the Duke of Somerset in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, the second cycle in a series of television film adaptations of William Shakespeare's history plays. In the same year, he also had a guest role as Chancellor Tom Pickering in an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror ("Hated in the Nation").
In 2017, he voiced the Time Traveller in a Big Finish Productions adaptation of The Time Machine, and Ace in the UK dub of Bob the Builder: Mega Machines.
In 2018, he played DSU Jack Haley in the BBC Two miniseries Collateral and Simon's father George Burrows in the series The Romanoffs, and appeared on stage at the Lyttelton Theatre as one of the Lehman Brothers in The Lehman Trilogy.
In 2019 he played Commander Danny Hart in The Capture and John Profumo in The Trial of Christine Keeler, both on BBC One.
In 2021, it was announced that he would appear in a new Star Wars spin-off television series for Disney, Andor. Miles played Tay Kolma, a banker friend of Mon Mothma (played by Genevieve O'Reilly).
He collaborated with Hilary Mantel on the adaptation of her novel, The Mirror & the Light, into a play at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, in which he also starred. The two worked again on a picture book based on her trilogy,https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/10/im-against-parallels-hilary-mantel-is-wary-of-drawing-shallow-links-with-the-past, and she chose him to read the audiobook versions.https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hilary-mantel-casts-miles-mirror-and-light-audio-1147291
Personal life
Miles married the actress Emily Raymond. They have three children. The two also appeared together in the episode of Peak Practice, "Before The Lights Go Out" in 1999.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Getting It Right | Spiro | |
| 1997 | The Wings of the Dove | Journalist #1 | |
| Keep the Aspidistra Flying | Ravenscroft Waiter | US Title: A Merry War | |
| 2001 | The Affair of the Necklace | Baron Courchamps | |
| 2003 | Three Blind Mice | Lindsey | |
| 2005 | Imagine Me & You | Rob | |
| 2006 | V for Vendetta | Roger Dascombe | |
| 2008 | Speed Racer | Cass Jones | |
| 2009 | Ninja Assassin | Europol Agent Ryan Maslow | |
| 2015 | Woman in Gold | Ronald Lauder | |
| 2018 | The Catcher Was a Spy | Jerry Fredericks | |
| Red Joan | Nick | ||
| 2023 | Tetris | Howard Lincoln | |
| Widow Clicquot | Philippe Clicquot | ||
| Napoleon | Caulaincourt | ||
| 2024 | Canary Black | DCIA Nathan Evans | |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–1991 | Zorro | José Rivas | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Soldier Soldier | John McGovern | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Is It Legal? | Tom | 1 episode |
| 1997 | Melissa | 1st Editor | 1 episode |
| 1998 | The Round Tower | Angus Cotton | Television movie |
| 1997–1999 | The Bill | D.C. Colin Waterman / Dan Price | 2 episodes |
| 1998 | The Life and Crimes of William Palmer | Thomas Palmer | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Wonderful You | Ray | 4 episodes |
| 1999–2000 | Peak Practice | Rob Sinclair | 5 episodes |
| 2000 | Cold Feet | Robert Brown | 7 episodes |
| 2000–2004 | Coupling | Patrick Maitland | 28 episodes |
| 2001 | Holby City | Ed Somers | Episode: "Tip of the Iceberg" |
| 2002–2003 | The Forsyte Saga | Montague Dartie | |
| 2003 | Prime Suspect 6 | DCI Simon Finch | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Hustle | Stephen Winterborn | 1 episode |
| 2005 | The Government Inspector | Kevin Marsh | Television movie |
| 2005 | Under the Greenwood Tree | Parson Maybold | Television film |
| 2008 | Lark Rise to Candleford | Sir Timothy Midwinter | 10 episodes |
| 2009 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Percival Fortescue | Episode: "A Pocket Full of Rye" |
| 2010 | Pulse | Joe Sennet | Television movie |
| 2011 | Zen | Amedeo Colonna | 3 episodes |
| Television miniseries | |||
| 2011 | The Promise | Max Meyer | 4 episodes |
| Television miniseries | |||
| 2011 | The Suspicions of Mr Whicher | Dr. Stapleton | Episode: "The Murder at Road Hill House" |
| 2011 | Masterpiece Mystery | Amedeo Colonna | Episode: "Ratking" |
| 2013–2014 | Dracula | Browning | 10 episodes |
| 2016 | The Hollow Crown | Duke of Somerset | 2 episodes |
| Television miniseries | |||
| 2016 | Black Mirror | Tom Pickering | Episode: Hated In The Nation |
| 2016–2017, 2022 | The Crown | Peter Townsend | Main role (Seasons 1–2) |
| Guest role (Season 5) | |||
| 10 episodes | |||
| 2017–2018 | Bob the Builder | Ace (voice) | UK version |
| 4 episodes | |||
| 2017 | The Last Post | Major Harry Markham | 6 episodes |
| 2018 | Collateral | DSU Jack Haley | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | The Romanoffs | George Burrows | Episode: "The One That Holds Everything" |
| 2019–present | The Capture | Commander Daniel "Danny" Hart | Main role |
| 2019–2020 | The Trial of Christine Keeler | John Profumo | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | The One Show | Himself | One episode |
| 2020 | Devils | Edward Stuart | 2 episodes |
| 2022–2025 | Andor | Tay Kolma | 7 episodes |
| 2023 | Hijack | Captain Robin Allen | Main role |
| 2024 | Douglas Is Cancelled | Toby | Main role |
| 2025 | The Trial | David Sinclair | Lead role |
| 2025 | Death by Lightning | George Scovile | Television miniseries |
| 2025 | The Girlfriend | Max Kader | Television miniseries |
| :: |
Video Games
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | Sir Ansbach | Elden Ring DLC |
| :: |
References
References
- (15 Oct 2008). "Ben Miles".
- "Ben Miles Credits3". tvguide.com.
- [http://film-directory.britishcouncil.org/the-round-tower "The Round Tower"], [[British Council]], accessed 26 April 2024
- (1 May 2007). "Daddy dearest". [[The Times]].
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/12_december/17/lark_miles.shtml Lark Rise to Candleford] from [[BBC]]
- Wightman, Catriona. (28 May 2010). "Ben Miles: 'BBC Three show defies genre'".
- Jones, Kenneth. (26 July 2009). "Exit, Laughing: Tony-Winning Norman Conquests Ends Broadway Run".
- (18 March 2015). "Ben Miles Takes On 'Wolf Hall' Onstage". [[The New York Times]].
- Hetrick, Adam. (9 April 2015). "Epic London Double-Bill Wolf Hall Opens On Broadway".
- (13 July 2018). "Theatre review: The Lehman Trilogy at Lyttelton Theatre, SE1". The Times.
- Maxwell, Dominic. (23 July 2021). "Ben Miles: How playing Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall changed my life". The Times.
- (20 August 2021). "The Mirror And The Light – 2021 – Full Cast Announced, New Pictures!". London Box Office.
- (3 September 2019). "The amount of privacy we give up is scary". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
- Rowan, Iona. (6 May 2025). "Chilling new UK drama with adored cast of actors sets release date with tense first-look trailer".
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