British Actors You Should Know: Toby Jones
There are certain actors who turn in such consistently excellent and interesting performances that you know watching their work is always going to be worth your time. For me, Toby Jones is one such actor. Be it BBC or Hollywood, big or small screen, comedy or drama, Mr. Jones’ versatility belies his unique physical attributes. He immerses himself totally into any given character until the short and slight of stature Toby practically melts away.
It’s a skill he’s been working on his entire life. Everyone in the Jones family has been in the entertainment business including his 88 year old father, Freddie Jones, who is still actively working on the British soap Emmerdale. Jones studied drama in Manchester and Paris before making it as a working actor. He did a stint as a pathologist on Midsomer Murders in the late 90’s, played Secretary of State Robert Cecil to Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth I and provided the voice for Dobby the House Elf in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Then in 2006, Jones snagged his first starring role playing Truman Capote in the film Infamous. Rex Reed, critic for the New York Observer said this of Jones’ performance, “A diminutive actor with a titanic talent named Toby Jones literally becomes the man himself. This is no lisping impersonation learned from watching old Johnny Carson shows: Mr. Jones moves into Truman's skin, heart and brains.”
His turn as Capote has not been Jones' only experience in the realm of biopics. He took on supporting roles in two 2008 political dramas - W. where he played George W. Bush’s deputy chief of staff Karl Rove and in Frost/Nixon as Swifty Lazar, the agent who negotiated Richard Nixon’s interview with David Frost.
He’s also been cast as other legendary icons like Alfred Hitchcock in HBO’s The Girl where Jones dramatized the famous director’s obsession with actress Tippi Hedren and his sadistic treatment of her on the set of The Birds.
On the other hand, Jones has convincingly portrayed inspiring, albeit lesser known, people such West Midlands’ local celebrity Neil Baldwin in the TV film Marvellous. His depictions of Hitchcock and Baldwin both earned him BAFTA nominations.
Not all of his roles are based on real life of course. His guest appearance on Doctor Who found him inhabiting a character that was less of a person and more a psychic manifestation of the darker side of the Doctor. But you’d never know he was all in our minds if you witnessed his performance as the mischievous and foreboding Dream Lord.
In 2014, Jones debuted in his first sitcom, Detectorists. He starred as divorcee Lance Stater, a part-time forklift truck driver and avid metal detecting hobbyist. He spends most of his free time in the fields of Danebury looking for historically significant treasure with his best friend Andy (Mackenzie Crook). Crook who is also the writer and director of the series reportedly wrote the part of Lance with Jones in mind.
No British actor’s CV would be complete without a period drama or two. Recently Jones starred in the Victorian era mini-series The Secret Agent, the most recent TV adaptation of the Joseph Conrad novel of the same name. Jones portrays Anton Verlock, the owner of a seedy Soho shop who is moonlighting as a spy for operatives at the Russian Embassy. His new boss is not satisfied with Anton’s duties as a simple informant and blackmails him into planning and carrying out an act of terrorism on English soil.
And while we wait to see Mr. Jones in the upcoming series of Sherlock or the new Agatha Christie remake Witness for the Prosecution or any of the half a dozen other projects he has in the pipeline, he can be found on the big screen at a theater near you in the sci-fi horror film Morgan. As part of a team of doctors who create a bio-engineered child, Jones and his cohorts must contend with a girl who has suddenly run amok and become dangerous to her handlers.
This list of roles just scratches the surface of Toby Jones’ illustrious and entertaining career, but it’s a good place to start if you’re just getting acquainted with this fine actor. If you too are a fan, please share your favorite performances in the comments.
