Biography
British actor Ben Chaplin carved out a lengthy career on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to his versatility. Born in Windsor, England, he began studying acting in London as a teen. He made his screen debut in the television movie "Bye Bye Baby" (Channel 4, 1992). A role in the James Ivory-Ismael Merchant film "The Remains of the Day" (1993) upped his profile considerably. He went on to star in the sitcom "Game On" (BBC2, 1995-98), as well as the comedy "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" as the object of affection of both Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo. He joined Jennifer Jason Leigh for a fresh adaptation of Henry James's "Washington Square" (1997) and was cast by filmmaker Terrence Malik in the director's World War II epic "The Thin Red Line" (1998). His run of appearing with strong leading ladies continued with roles opposite Nicole Kidman in "Birthday Girl" (2001), Michelle Yeoh in "The Touch" (2002), and Sandra Bullock in "Murder By Numbers" (2002). He bounced from roles in the historical drama "Stage Beauty" (2004) to appearing with Penelope Cruz and Ralph Fiennes in the modern thriller "Chromophobia" (2005). He starred with Sally Field in "Two Weeks" (2006) as a man going home to see his dying mother for the final time. He then joined Emily Watson in the family film "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" (2007), based on the popular British children's novel. Director Richard Linklater pulled him back to historical drama for "Me and Orson Welles" (2009), where Chaplin played famed English actor George Coulouris, part of Wells' Mercury Theatre troupe and one of the stars of "Citizen Kane" (1941). He then appeared in Oliver Parker's "Dorian Gray" (2009) remake. He moved into playing father roles with "Ways to Live Forever" (2010), an archetype he would repeat in "Cinderella" (2015). He didn't entirely tone down his career, though, appearing with Colin Farrell and Kiera Knightley in the crime thriller "London Boulevard" (2010). He worked in television roles as well, starring in "Mad Dogs" (Sky1, 2010-11), as the early retiree who draws his friends into a murder mystery, and also joined the cast for the U.S. retelling, also called "Mad Dogs" (Amazon, 2015-16). He starred in the British miniseries "World Without End" (Channel 4, 2012), based on Ken Follett's best-selling novel, and "The Book of Negroes" (BET, 2015). He reteamed with Emily Watson for the miniseries "Apple Tree Yard" (BBC One, 2017). He earned critical raves for his performance opposite Charlotte Riley as newspaper editor Duncan Allen in "Press" (BBC One, 2018). He didn't step away entirely from films, appearing in "The Legend of Tarzan" (2016) and Oliver Stone's "Snowden" (2016). He also took a role in Sebastian Schipper's movie "Roads" (2019). He went on to join the cast of Joss Whedon's Victorian sci-fi series "The Nevers" (HBO, 2020- ) playing tough police detective Frank Mundi.
