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Rise to Fame
The villain role in The Patriot (2000) put him on casting directors' radar, but Lucius Malfoy made him a household name. He'd originally auditioned for Gilderoy Lockhart before Kenneth Branagh got that part, and producers redirected him toward the Malfoys. He prepped for Lucius by studying Tom Felton's work as Draco in the first film, building the father from the son before they'd shared a scene. Six films later, nobody remembers the part he actually wanted.
In the Spotlight
His Star Trek: Discovery run lasted one season by design: Captain Lorca was a mirror-universe imposter, and they killed him off once the twist landed. He won an Empire Award for it. Then came The White Lotus Season 3 in 2025, a performance mostly without dialogue that earned him his first Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nod. The role he was reportedly terrified to take ended up being the best thing to happen to his career in decades.
Side Notes
He grew up in Liverpool's Jewish community and moved to London as a kid, where the National Front was visible enough that his family eventually made aliyah to Israel in 1988. He's said the antisemitism he witnessed as a child was preparation for the villains he spent his career playing. Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, where he studied, also produced Sacha Baron Cohen, Matt Lucas, and David Baddiel. He opened up in 2020 about a decades-long struggle with drugs and alcohol that started when he was 12.