Daniel Mays

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title: "Daniel Mays" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "1978-births", "20th-century-english-male-actors", "21st-century-english-male-actors", "actors-from-epping", "alumni-of-the-italia-conti-academy-of-theatre-arts", "alumni-of-the-royal-academy-of-dramatic-art", "english-male-film-actors", "english-male-stage-actors", "english-male-television-actors", "english-male-voice-actors", "male-actors-from-essex", "people-from-buckhurst-hill"] description: "British actor (born 1978)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Mays" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British actor (born 1978) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
image	Daniel Mays.png
image_size	200
caption	Mays at Soccer Aid for Unicef 2025
birth_date
birth_place	Epping, Essex, England
occupation	Actor
alma_mater	Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
years_active	1995–present
spouse	Louise Burton
children	2
website
::

| image = Daniel Mays.png | image_size = 200 | caption = Mays at Soccer Aid for Unicef 2025 | birth_date = | birth_place = Epping, Essex, England | occupation = Actor | alma_mater = Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art | years_active = 1995–present | spouse = Louise Burton | children = 2 | website =

Daniel Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor who has had television roles in EastEnders (2000), Rehab (2005), Red Riding (2008), Ashes to Ashes (2010), Outcasts (2011), Mrs Biggs, Line of Duty, Des and White Lines (2020), and film roles in Pearl Harbor (2001), All or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Shifty, Made in Dagenham, Byzantium (2012), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and The Thursday Murder Club (2025).

Mays has been nominated as Best Supporting Actor for the BIFA and the BAFTA TV, as well as having extensive experience in theatre. In 2024, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre.

Early life and education

Born in Epping, Essex, the third of four boys, Mays was brought up in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, before going on to become a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), graduating in 2000 with an Acting Diploma.

Career

In 2000, Mays' debut role was a slot in EastEnders. Mays started his big screen career in 2001, as a pilot in the film Pearl Harbor. His big break happened in 2002, when Mike Leigh cast him in both All or Nothing and Vera Drake, and Mays has said that working with Leigh was a big influence, advising that no stone be unturned when creating truly believable characters.

In 2005, he was cast in the BBC drama Rehab, then in 2008, played the role of Michael Myshkin in Channel 4's adaptation of David Peace's Red Riding trilogy. His appearance in the 2008 independent British crime film Shifty, co-starring Riz Ahmed, earned him a nomination for best supporting actor at the British Independent Film Awards.

In 2010, Mays starred as Eddie O'Grady in the film Made in Dagenham. In the same year, he played DCI Jim Keats in the third series of Ashes to Ashes, in which he portrayed a character that was the antagonist of Philip Glenister's Gene Hunt.

In 2011, Mays appeared in the BBC sci-fi series Outcasts. He had roles in No One Gets Off in This Town and a supporting role in the Steven Spielberg film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. He then played a criminal on a curfew after serving a 10-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend when he was 19 in the programme Public Enemies, which aired on BBC One in early January 2012. He played Ronnie Biggs in a 5-part drama called Mrs Biggs. In 2012, he starred alongside Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan in the vampire film Byzantium.

For much of the latter half of 2013, Mays performed on stage. Performing in Nick Payne's Same Deep Water As Me at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Nigel Lindsay and in the first major revival of Jez Butterworth's debut play Mojo at the Harold Pinter Theatre. He starred alongside Ben Whishaw, Brendan Coyle, Rupert Grint and Colin Morgan.

In 2016, Mays starred in series 3 of BBC drama Line of Duty as Sergeant Danny Waldron, an armed response officer whose troubled and abusive childhood comes under investigation as part of wider investigation of police corruption throughout the serial. He was nominated for a BAFTA Television Award for Supporting Actor for his role. In 2016, Mays played the part of Aston in Harold Pinter's play The Caretaker directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic Theatre in London opposite Timothy Spall and George MacKay. The same year, Mays portrayed Tivik in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

In 2020, Mays starred as lead investigator Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay in the ITV three-part television drama miniseries Des, about the 1983 arrest of the serial killer Dennis Nilsen, and as Marcus in the Ibiza based whodunnit series White Lines.

In March 2023, Mays made his musical debut as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls directed by Nicholas Hytner at the Bridge Theatre. He left the production temporarily in July (where the role was taken over by Owain Arthur) due to filming commitments before returning to it in October. For his performance, Mays was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2024.

Personal life

Mays has a son and a daughter with makeup artist Louise Burton. As of 2005, he was living in Crouch End, an area in the London Borough of Haringey. A keen football fan, he is a supporter of Leyton Orient.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Pearl Harbor	Pilot No. 3
2002	All or Nothing	Jason
2004	Vera Drake	Sid
2005	The Secret Life of Words	Martin
The Best Man	Pool Guy
2006	Middletown	Jim Hunter
A Good Year	Bert the Doorman
2007	Atonement	Tommy Nettle
2008	The Bank Job	Dave Shilling
Shifty	Chris
2009	Mr. Nobody	Young Journalist
The Firm	Yeti
2010	Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang	Blenkinsop
Hippie Hippie Shake	Widgery
Made in Dagenham	Eddie
No One Gets Off in This Town
2011	The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn	Allan
2012	Byzantium	Noel
2013	Welcome to the Punch	Nathan Bartnick
2015	Victor Frankenstein	Barnaby
2016	Dad's Army	Private Joe Walker
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story	Tivik	Cameo
The Infiltrator	Frankie
2017	The Limehouse Golem	George Flood
2018	Swimming with Men	Colin
Two for Joy	Lias
Shaun	William
2019	Fisherman's Friends	Danny Anderson
1917	Sergeant Sanders
2020	The Rhythm Section	Dean West
2022	Your Christmas or Mine?	Geoff Taylor
2023	Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget	Fetcher	Voice, replacing Phil Daniels
Your Christmas or Mine 2	Geoff Taylor
2025	The Thursday Murder Club	DCI Chris Hudson
2026	Shelter	Arthur Booth
		Grant	Post-production
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Fist of Fun	Patrick Nuffy	Episodes 2.5–2.6
2000	EastEnders	Kevin	4 episodes
2001	In Deep	Dave Street	Episode: "Ghost Squad: Part 1"
The Bill	Warren Debdale	Episode: "Temptation"
2002	Manchild	Mechanic	Episode: "Fiftysomething"
NCS: Manhunt	Danny Bird	5 episodes
Dead Casual		TV film
Tipping the Velvet	Jimmy Burns	2 episodes
2003	Rehab	Adam	TV film
2004	Top Buzzer	Carlton	Main cast
Keen Eddie	Ronnie Wiggensey Jr.	Episode: "Sticky Fingers"
2005	Beneath the Skin	Moz Burnside	TV film
Class of '76	DS Steven Grant	TV film
Funland	Carter Krantz	Main cast
2007	Consent	Steve	TV film
Saddam's Tribe: Bound by Blood	Uday Hussein	TV film
Half Broken Things	Michael	TV film
2008	White Girl	Steve	TV film
Consuming Passion: 100 Years of Mills & Boon	Charles Boon	TV film
2009	Plus One	Rob Black	Main role
Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983	Michael Myshkin	TV film
The Street	Mark	Episode: "Meet the Parents"
2010	Hustle	Mervyn Lloyd	Episode: "Conned Out of Luck"
Ashes to Ashes	Jim Keats	Main cast
2011	Outcasts	Cass Cromwell	Main cast
Doctor Who	Alex	Episode: "Night Terrors"
2012	Treasure Island	Doctor Livesey	Miniseries
Public Enemies	Eddie Mottram	Main cast
Mrs Biggs	Ronnie Biggs	Main cast
2014	Playhouse Presents	Guv	Episode: "Nightshift"
Common	Tommy Ward	TV film
The Great War: The People's Story	Reg Evans	2 episodes
The Great Fire	Samuel Pepys	4 episodes
Knifeman	Julian Tattersal	TV film
2016	Line of Duty	Sergeant Danny Waldron	3 episodes
2017	Guerrilla	Cullen	Main cast
Born to Kill	Bill	Main cast
Against the Law	Peter Wildeblood	Docu-drama
2018	Urban Myths	Mike Housego	Episode: "The Sex Pistols Vs. Bill Grundy"
Mother's Day	Colin	TV film
My Dinner with Hervé	Casey	TV film
The Interrogation of Tony Martin	DC Peters	TV film
2019	Porters	Anthony De La Mer	Main cast (series 2)
Good Omens	Arthur Young	Recurring cast
Do Not Disturb		Episode: "Silent Treatment"
2019–2021	Temple	Lee Simmons	14 episodes
2020	The Kemps: All True	Himself	TV film
White Lines	Marcus	Main cast
Des	Peter Jay	Main cast
2020–2022	Code 404	DI John Major	Main role
2022	Inside No. 9	Shane	Episode: "Kid/Nap"
Magpie Murders	Locke/Chubb	Main cast
Maryland	PC Moody	TV film
2023	The Long Shadow	Sydney Jackson	3 episodes
Still Up	Rich	Episode: "Veggie Veggie Bing Bong"
2024	Franklin	Edward Bancroft	Main cast
Moonflower Murders	Locke/ Chubb	Main cast
2025–present	A Thousand Blows	William "Punch" Lewis	Main cast
2025	Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes	Cliff Todd	2 episodes
Bookish	Eric Wellbeloved
Lynley	DCI Brian Nies
TBA	Lord of the Flies	Fred
Believe Me	John Worboys	Upcoming drama
::

Short film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Skin Deep	Flashback youth	Credited as Daniel Mayes
2008	Bitter	Tony
2016	Rags	Gerry
2018	Furies	The Furies
2024	The Awakening	Mike
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2004	Reims International Television Days	Best Actor	*Rehab *
2008	British Independent Film Awards	BIFA TV Award for Best Supporting Actor	Shifty
2013	National Television Awards	Most Popular Male Drama Performance	Mrs Biggs
2017	British Academy Television Awards	BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actor	Line of Duty
2024	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Guys and Dolls
::

References

References

1. (13 June 2022). "Daniel Mays". italiaconti.com.
2. "Student & graduate profiles: Daniel Mays". RADA.
3. Paddock, Terri. (11 February 2008). ""20 Questions With… Daniel Mays"". whatsonstage.com.
4. Raphael, Amy. (12 April 2009). "'Deeply scary, deeply lovable'". theguardian.com.
5. (27 September 2005). "Funland Starts this autumn on BBC Three". bbc.co.uk.
6. Barnett, David. (9 September 2008). "Bradford: City gives a backdrop to new drama". Bradford Telegraph & Argus.
7. (28 October 2008). "The nominations and jury members for the 11th annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFA 2008)". BIFA.
8. (28 April 2010). "Ashes To Ashes: Daniel Mays". Manchester Evening News.
9. (3 March 2010). "Ashes To Ashes series three press pack: Daniel Mays". BBC.
10. "Outcasts". BBC One.
11. (31 May 2013). "Byzantium-Contains very strong language, strong violence, sex and sex references". bbfc.co.uk.
12. "Past productions – Donmar Warehouse". Donmar Warehouse.
13. "Sonia Friedman Productions". soniafriedman.com.
14. "Television: Supporting Actor in 2017". BAFTA.
15. "The Caretaker". British Theatre Guide.
16. Staunton, Terry. "Rogue One: Review". radiotimes.com.
17. Gillibrand, Abigail. (18 May 2020). "White Lines season 2: Daniel Mays believes Netflix's new show is 'crying out for another series'". metro.co.uk.
18. Neville, Ryan. (10 January 2016). "Finally, Daniel Mays married his girlfriend Louise Burton, who is also the mother of his children". hitberry.com.
19. (17 April 2009). "On Soccer AM… This Saturday Gazza joins Max and Helen". Sky Sports.
20. (8 October 2014). "Dad's Army film cast announced". BBC.
21. "Rogue One".
22. Ritman, Alex. (20 January 2022). "New 'Wallace & Gromit' Film in Works From Aardman/Netflix; 'Chicken Run 2' Cast and Title Unveiled".
23. "Half Broken Things".
24. Goldberg, Lesley. (2014-05-14). "Tom Hollander, Daniel Mays to Star in AMC's 'Knifeman' (Exclusive)".
25. Wollaston, Sam. (2018-09-03). "Mother's Day review – gut-wrenchingly hard to watch, but hugely inspiring". The Guardian.
26. "The Long Shadow casting announcement".
27. "Moonflower Murders cast {{!}} Meet the characters {{!}} Radio Times".
28. "First look images released and further casting announced for Moonflower Murders, sequel to mystery drama Magpie Murders".
29. "Line of Duty star cast as serial sex attacker John Worboys in new ITV true crime drama".
30. "Watch Skin Deep online - BFI Player".
31. "The Awakening".
32. "Daniel Mays Awards". IMDB (Index source only).
33. [https://variety.com/2024/theater/global/olivier-awards-nominations-full-list-1235939291/ Olivier Award Nominees]

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