Ferdinand Kingsley
Born
Ferdinand James M. Kingsley

(1988-02-13) 13 February 1988 (age 35)
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
Education
Occupation
  • Actor
Years active2007–present
Parents

Ferdinand James M. Kingsley (born 13 February 1988) is a British actor. He is known for portraying the roles of Hamza Bey in the film Dracula Untold (2014), Mr. Francatelli in the television series Victoria (2016–2019), Irving Thalberg in the film Mank (2020), and Hob Gadling in Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman (2022). In 2023, he is playing the mysterious villain A.M. in Reacher on Amazon Prime Video.

Early life

Ferdinand James M. Kingsley was born on 13 February 1988 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the son of actor Ben Kingsley and theatre director Alison Sutcliffe. He is of predominantly English descent; his paternal grandfather was of Khoja Gujarati descent[1][2][3] and one of his great-grandfathers was believed by the family to have been of either German-Jewish or Russian-Jewish descent.[4][5]

Kingsley attended the RSC theatre nursery, Warwick School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[6]

Acting career

Kingsley's theatre credits include Troilus and Cressida, and Little Eyolf for the Royal Shakespeare Company.[6][7] He played Rosencrantz in the National Theatre's 2010–11 production of Hamlet, for which he received a commendation at the 2010 Ian Charleson Awards, and Phaeax in Welcome to Thebes.[6][7]

In the film The Last Legion he played Young Ambrosinus in flashbacks to the younger days of the character Ambrosinus, played by his father Ben Kingsley.[8] He took the part of Albert Aurier in the BBC production Vincent Van Gogh: Painted With Words.[6][7][9] He plays Bushy in Richard II, which is part of the BBC's The Hollow Crown series of Shakespeare's history plays aired in Summer 2012.[7][10]

He played both Jesus and God the Father in the August 2012 production of the York Mystery Plays.[7][11] In 2013, Kingsley played the part of murdered Jewish anarchist Joshua Bloom in the BBC period crime drama Ripper Street, and filmed prominent roles in Agatha Christie's Poirot: Elephants Can Remember, the BBC feature film The Whale as Obed Hendricks, and Universal Pictures' 2014 feature Dracula Untold as Hamza Bey.[12] In Spring 2013, Kingsley starred in the short film Dance in Colour by The Crookes. From 2016 to 2019, Kingsley starred in ITV's drama Victoria as Italian British cook Charles Elmé Francatelli. In 2020, he played Irving Thalberg in the film Mank (2020). In 2022, Kingsley featured in the Netflix series The Sandman as Hob Gadling in episode 6, "The Sound of Her Wings".

In 2023, Kingsley is portraying George Wilkins in the series Silo on Apple TV+,[13] and the mysterious villain A.M. in Reacher (season 2) on Amazon Prime Video.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Last Legion Young Ambrosinus
2014 Dracula Untold Hamza Bey
2020 Mank Irving Thalberg

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Painted with Words Albert Aurier TV movie
2012 The Hollow Crown Sir John Bushy Episode: "Richard II"
2013 Ripper Street Joshua Bloom Episode: "Tournament of Shadows"
Agatha Christie's Poirot Desmond Burton-Cox Episode: "Elephants Can Remember"
The Whale Obed Hendricks TV movie
2014 Borgia Giulio d'Este Episodes: "1503, Part One","1503, Part Two",
"1504","1506" and "1507"
2016–2019 Victoria Charles Elmé Francatelli Main cast
2017 Still Star-Crossed Aldo Lazzara Episodes: "Pluck Out the Heart of My Mystery",
"Nature Hath Framed Strange Fellows in Her Time"
and "Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here"
Doctor Who Neville Catchlove Episode: "Empress of Mars"
2022 The Sandman Hob Gadling Episode: "The Sound of Her Wings"
2023 Silo George Wilkins Episodes: "Freedom Day", "Holston's Pick" and "The Relic"
Reacher A. M. Main cast

References

  1. ^ Bennetts, Leslie (13 December 1982). "Ben Kingsley's Journey From Hamlet to Gandhi". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022. Although born and raised in England, Mr. Kingsley is half Indian: his mother was an English model and his father, a physician, was Indian.
  2. ^ Husband, Stuart (24 April 2013). "Sir Ben Kingsley: 'Without a mask, I haven't got a clue'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  3. ^ "BBC – A History of the World – Object : Sir Ben Kingsley's gold turban". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016. ...[H]is grandfather (a spice trader) [...] was a prominent member of the Ismaili Koja community in Zanzibar (in the Indian Ocean). Ismaili's are Shi'a Muslims, and followers of the Aga Khan (a descendent of the prophet Muhammad).
  4. ^ Krieger, Hilary Leila (10 April 2005). "'Gandhi' brings his 'truth-force' to Palestinian audiences". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2007.: "The grandmother of the knighted Royal Shakespeare Company alum spoke Yiddish she picked up while a garment worker in London's East End a century ago. "She was violently opposed to talking about this, so my poor mother was at the receiving end of a rage attack every time my grandmother was asked about her husband, her lover, whoever it was, but it's believed that he was a Russian Jew or a German Jew called Goodman", Kingsley told The Jerusalem Post".
  5. ^ Pollack, Joe (3 January 1994). "He's No Stranger to Holocaust". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2011. I'm not Jewish," he said, "and though there might be some Russian-Jewish heritage way back on my mother's side, the thread is so fine there's no real evidence...
  6. ^ a b c d "National Theatre". Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Meet God — and Jesus Christ". The Press. York. 24 May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Film4oD – the Last Legion". Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Painted with Words". Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  10. ^ "Cast confirmed for BBC Two's cycle of Shakespeare films". BBC Media Centre. 24 November 2011. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Actor to play both God and Jesus". BBC News Online. 24 May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Ferdinand Kingsley". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  13. ^ Fremont, Maggie (30 June 2023). "Let's Get to the Bottom of That Silo Finale". Vulture. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  14. ^ Petski, Denise (21 September 2022). "Reacher Rounds Out Season 2 Cast With Serinda Swan, Ferdinand Kingsley, Rory Cochrane, More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.

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