Toby Kebbell

Early life

Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in South Elmsall, on the A638 between Doncaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottingham. He was brought up by his mother, Michelle (née Mathers), a cook and landscape gardener, after his parents divorced. His father, Robert Kebbell, is an engineer. He was raised Catholic, and went to a Catholic primary school.

Career

Kebbell trained in acting at the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham along with Andrew Shim and Vicky McClure. first came to notice when director Shane Meadows cast him in the role of Anthony in the film Dead Man's Shoes. He was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards and was widely lauded for his sensitive, moving portrayal of a young man with a learning difficulty. Kebbell then appeared in Oliver Stone's Alexander and Match Point, which Woody Allen cast him in without audition after being impressed with his performance in Dead Man's Shoes.

Kebbell's most critically acclaimed role came in 2007 when he played Rob Gretton, the manager of Joy Division in Anton Corbijn's award-winning biopic of Ian Curtis, Control. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the British Independent Film Awards; other nominees for the award included Cate Blanchett, Colin Firth and Control co-star Samantha Morton. He was also nominated for the London Critics' Circle Best Supporting Actor Award alongside Albert Finney and Tom Wilkinson.

In December 2007, Kebbell took the lead in an episode of Jimmy McGovern's BBC series The Street, which subsequently won the BAFTA for Best Drama series. His other work for the BBC included a modern retelling of Macbeth alongside James McAvoy, while his theatre roles included spells at the Almeida Theatre in David Hare's reworking of Maxim Gorky's Enemies and at the Playhouse in R.C. Sherriff's classic, Journey's End.

In September 2008, Kebbell was featured in the film RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, alongside actors Tom Wilkinson, Gerard Butler and Thandie Newton. Kebbell played a crack-addicted musician, Johnny Quid. To play the role Toby Kebbell learned to play the piano and operate a semi automatic.

In January 2009, Kebbell was nominated in the "Orange Rising Star Award" category of the 2009 BAFTA Awards. This award is voted for by the public. Kebbell appeared in the 2009 film Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, in which he took a small role alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. He filmed in Morocco and London with Jake Gyllenhaal for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

In 2011, Kebbell played a leading role in "The Entire History of You", the finale of the first season of Charlie Brooker's critically acclaimed anthology series Black Mirror, which was written by Jesse Armstrong. Robert Downey Jr. has since bought the rights to adapt the script for a forthcoming film.

In 2014, Kebbell took over the role of Koba in the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Koba was a badly treated experimental bonobo whose grudge against humans leads to conflict with Caesar, Andy Serkis's character from Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Kebbell played the Marvel antagonist, Doctor Doom, in the 2015 Fantastic Four film, and an orc, Durotan, in the 2016 Warcraft. He played Chapman in the fantasy action film Kong: Skull Island (2017), while also providing guidance for Kong's motion capture sequences.

Personal life

In 2009, Kebbell was linked to British entrepreneur Ruzwana Bashir after they met at a Christmas party given by director Andrew Neil. Kebbell has stated that he is not in a hurry to marry and wishes to be established, and even own a home before settling down. He has since been reported to be single.