William Anthony Friend was born on 9 October 1981 and is a British actor.
46 Facts About Rupert Friend
2.
Rupert Friend first gained recognition for his roles in The Libertine and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, both of which won him awards for best newcomer.
3.
Rupert Friend wrote lyrics for the Kairos 4Tet 2013 album Everything We Hold.
4.
Rupert Friend grew up in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, and attended The Marlborough School in Woodstock.
5.
Rupert Friend received his professional acting training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
6.
Originally, Rupert Friend wanted to be an archaeologist and travel around the world after seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, but scrapped the idea after realizing that the occupation was perhaps not as exciting as Indiana Jones's adventures had led him to believe.
7.
Rupert Friend played three minor roles in a stage production of The Laramie Project when he was in his third year in drama school, and was spotted by a casting director.
8.
Rupert Friend made his acting debut as Billy Downs opposite Johnny Depp in the 2004 film The Libertine, for which he was named "outstanding new talent" at the 2005 Satellite Awards.
9.
Rupert Friend later stated that working with Depp so early in his career was a great lesson in film-acting.
10.
In 2005, Rupert Friend had his first starring role as Ludovic Meyer in the film adaption of Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, in which he starred opposite Joan Plowright.
11.
Aged 22, Rupert Friend was offered a screentest for the part of James Bond after Pierce Brosnan stepped down from the role.
12.
Rupert Friend refused, because he felt he lacked the life experience necessary to play the role of Bond.
13.
In 2009, Rupert Friend starred in the film Cheri, playing the title character opposite Michelle Pfeiffer.
14.
Rupert Friend joined the cast of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as Kurt Kotler, a lieutenant in Nazi Germany.
15.
In 2010, Rupert Friend played Albert, Prince Consort in The Young Victoria.
16.
Rupert Friend said that the real challenge had been to find a way to portray the darker sides of an essentially good man like Albert, in order to give depth to the character.
17.
In 2010, Rupert Friend made his stage debut as Mitchell in the UK premiere of The Little Dog Laughed.
18.
Rupert Friend followed this with Dennis Potter's Brimstone and Treacle, in which he played the lead character to good reviews.
19.
Rupert Friend starred in the film The Kid, based on the novel by Kevin Lewis.
20.
Rupert Friend starred in a French film called Lullaby for Pi, playing a singer called Sam.
21.
Rupert Friend has dismissed reports in the media that at that time he considered giving up acting entirely.
22.
Rupert Friend's performance was applauded by critics and nominated for a BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
23.
However, Rupert Friend who calls himself a technophobe, was only able to walk his avatar in circles and soon gave up.
24.
In 2015, Rupert Friend provided narration for Nick Knight's folk horror fashion film, The Face of a Dying Dog.
25.
Rupert Friend gained worldwide recognition as CIA operative and assassin Peter Quinn in the acclaimed political thriller series Homeland, his first role in a television-series.
26.
Rupert Friend's performance received widespread acclaim and he was nominated for three awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series in 2013.
27.
Rupert Friend was offered the lead role in Paul Feig's A Simple Favor, but turned it down to play a funny smaller part in the film instead.
28.
Rupert Friend was described as displaying "serious comedic chops" in Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin, where he played Stalin's son Vasily.
29.
Rupert Friend was asked by director and painter Julian Schnabel to play Theo van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate, an award-winning biopic about Vincent van Gogh who was played by Willem Dafoe.
30.
Rupert Friend played the role of the mysterious Ernest Donovan in the series Strange Angel from 2018 to 2019; his performance was praised as being 'of amusing weirdness and a creepy-crawly intensity'.
31.
In 2018 Rupert Friend performed a new audio drama by John Patrick Shanley, Last Night in the Garden I Saw You, which featured Michelle Williams.
32.
Rupert Friend voiced the character of Peter Hardy in the 2019 Gimlet scripted podcast Motherhacker.
33.
In 2021, after his success portraying a spy in Homeland, Rupert Friend was mentioned as the possible next James Bond when Daniel Craig gave up the role.
34.
Rupert Friend played a lead role in the 2021 horror film Separation, which got largely negative reviews although Friend's performance as a single father did receive praise.
35.
Rupert Friend initially turned down the role twice, because he did not feel enough affinity with the privileged Whitehouse.
36.
Rupert Friend's acting was generally praised, with the series itself getting mixed reviews from critics.
37.
Rupert Friend featured as the Grand Inquisitor in Disney+'s series Obi-Wan Kenobi, an experience he said he enjoyed and would like to repeat.
38.
Rupert Friend will portray one of the main characters in the comedy series High Desert, with Patricia Arquette and Matt Dillon.
39.
Rupert Friend will be part of the QCode musical podcast series Cupid, planned for release in the summer of 2022.
40.
Rupert Friend has stated that he believes imagination is an actor's most important tool.
41.
Rupert Friend learned to ride a horse, walk, talk, play the piano and even write like Albert would have done.
42.
In preparation for the role, Rupert Friend spoke with veterans and medical specialists to help him portray these conditions realistically and with respect.
43.
Rupert Friend founded his own production company called Beat Pictures, and he made his directorial debut with a short film in 2010 called Steve, starring Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Tom Mison.
44.
In 2018, plans were announced for the feature film Cornerman about boxing trainer Cus D'Amato, with Rupert Friend to write and direct and Bruce Willis playing D'Amato.
45.
Rupert Friend was asked by Adam Waldmann, the leader of the jazz ensemble Kairos 4tet, to write the lyrics for a track on their 2011 album Statement of Intent, and was then asked to contribute lyrics for their 2013 album Everything We Hold, which received positive reviews.
46.
Rupert Friend met American athlete and actress Aimee Mullins in 2013, and they became engaged in December 2014.