Mathew Baynton

Early life

Baynton was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, the youngest of three brothers. He was educated at Southend High School for Boys. He graduated with first class honours from the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, and later trained in clowning at École Philippe Gaulier in Paris. Baynton explained his motivation in an interview with Metro, "The performing instinct came from making my family laugh, so I've always been drawn to the funny side of things. Comedy is really rewarding."

Acting and writing

In 2009, Baynton featured in the video for The Maccabees' single "No Kind Words" alongside Mathew Horne.

Baynton teamed with friend and fellow Gavin & Stacey alumnus James Corden to create, write, and star in The Wrong Mans, a comedy-thriller for BBC Two that premiered in autumn 2013. The series is co-produced by online television provider Hulu.com in the United States, where it premiered in November 2013. The first six-part series proved a critical and commercial success, and a similarly well-received two-part sequel was broadcast in December 2014.

Baynton is also familiar as one of the stars of the hit children's television series Horrible Histories, appearing over all five series as a singer, actor, and occasional writer. Other notable roles include the recurring character of Deano in Gavin & Stacey and co-starring as Chris in the Darren Boyd sitcom vehicle Spy.

Along with the five other members of the Horrible Histories cast, Baynton is the creator, writer, and star of Yonderland, an eight-part family fantasy comedy series that premiered on Sky1 on 10 November 2013. He starred with the same troupe in Bill, a BBC family comedy film based loosely around the early life of William Shakespeare.

Baynton appeared at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, starring in the world premiere of Tom Basden's play Holes. He reprised his role of Gus in a London revival of the same play in summer 2014.

In late 2015, Baynton starred in a dual role as Jamie Winton and his evil twin Ariel Conroy in Sky1's science fiction comedy-drama miniseries You, Me and the Apocalypse.

Music

Baynton is a former member of the band Special Benny as a vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. Their debut album Toys was released in 2010. He has also performed as a solo act under the name Dog Ears. His debut solo EP, So It Goes, was released in November 2011. It consists of four self-penned songs.

Personal life

Baynton is the youngest of three brothers. He and wife Kelly, a film historian, have a son, Bo, born in 2011, and a daughter, Ida. Baynton has said that he sees no problem with the boy following in his footsteps: "I enjoy it, so why shouldn't I let him?"

Television

He was also involved in the music video for "Listening Man" by The Bees.

Awards and nominations

In 2012, Baynton was nominated for a Children's BAFTA for Best Performer for his work on Series Four of Horrible Histories. He lost to Khalil Madovi for 4 O'Clock Club.

With Corden and Tom Basden, he won a 2013 Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Award for Best Writer—Comedy for The Wrong Mans. Baynton and Corden also received a 2014 BAFTA TV Craft Award nomination in the same category, and were nominated for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme in the same year's BAFTA Television Awards.