The English actor Tobias Menzies was already an appreciated actor for his dual roles in the historical series Outlander, but The Crown took his popularity to a whole another level. He has played various types of characters on stage, on television, and in films. Menzies was born on 7 March 1974 in Hammersmith, a district in west London. His original name is Hanan Tobias Simpson Menzies. His mother Gillian is a drama teacher and his Peter Menzies worked as a radio producer in BBC. His parents got divorced when Menzies was at the age of six. He has a younger brother called Luke. Menzies grew up watching plays and this might have shown him his path to the acting career. His mother used to take him to watch plays in the theater and this is one of his best memories of his childhood. Wallace Shawn’s The Fever was one of the plays he watched at the Edinburgh festival. The play influenced him so much and he later performed it in front of small groups of audience. Menzies had a dream to attend a mime school but because of insufficient funds, he went to a drama school to study.
Menzies learned instrumental music and singing in the Perry Court Rudolf Steiner School in Canterbury. He graduated with a BA degree in acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1998. After graduation, Menzies participated in several workshops of the British improvisational theatre company, The Spontaneity Shop. Menzies’ resume is quite long with several major projects.
Along with being an excellent actor, Menzies is an expert swordsman too. He also loves tennis. Let us get to know him more in this article.
Net Worth
Tobias Menzies’s net worth has increased over the years with his rising popularity. His role as Prince Philip has a major contribution in improving his market value. As of 2021, this 47-year-old English actor has a net worth of 4 million dollars with acting as his major source of income.
Tobias Menzies’s house
In London, Menzies had occupied a lodging built before the war. He moved on to the flat just before the lockdown began. He has a black cat named Bernie as a companion in his new home.
Relationship and marital status
Tobias Menzies is unmarried and prefers to keep his relationship status private. He had a relationship with the British actress, Kristin Scott Thomas. Kristin was married at the time they met. But she divorced after she started dating Menzies. The couple first met in 2003 at the set of the play Three Sisters played in Playhouse Theatre. They also worked together in the play As you Desire Me in 2006 at the Playhouse Theatre. The couple broke after some time. After the relationship with Kristin Scott, there is no news about the dating status of Tobias Menzies.
As Prince Philip in The Crown
The Crown is a Netflix original historical drama series that follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Tobias Menzies was cast in the role of Prince Philip in the third and fourth seasons of the show. The role was challenging for the actor, but he was always good at handling complex characters. Menzies painted the mannerisms and plausibility of Prince Philip flawlessly into the show’s canvas.
“He was someone who was very wary to show his feelings, and yet, atmospherically, he’s not a cool presence, he’s quite hot … He’s abrasive. He’s challenging. He’s funny.” – Menzies to The Guardian
Prince Philip’s midlife crisis and his pondering over life’s purpose made the role more complicated. Menzies had done a lot of homework for this role and all his work paid off. This was one of the most popular roles in his career and he won many awards for his marvelous performance.
Other roles
Menzies television debut was in 1998 through BBC’s medical drama series Casualty. Later he did many roles in different television series and documentaries. Some of them are Longitude, Ultimate Force, Foyle’s War, The Relief of Belsen, Simon Schama’s Shakespeare, The Honourable Woman. Menzies’s dual role as Frank Randall and Black Jack Randall in the Outlander was much acclaimed. He also played a minor role, Edmure Tully in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. Menzies also appeared in the 2006 James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Even though some of his roles were minor but the viewers will not forget his face because of his memorable presence.
Menzies has done several films and was also active on stage since 1998. His debut in films was through the short film The Audition. Some of his films are The Low Down, The Genius of Christopher Marlowe, Forget Me Not, Off the Page: Groove Is in the Heart, The Velvet Abstract, Underworld: Blood Wars, and Carmilla.
Awards and nominations
Tobias Menzies has received recognition for his versatile acting on both stage and television. He was nominated for Commendation for the best classical stage performance in Britain by an actor under age 30 in 2003 for the play Three Sisters at Ian Charleson Awards. Menzies won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at EWwy Awards. It was for his performance in Outlander. For the same role, he also won the 2016 Satellite Awards for Best Television Ensemble. His role in The Crown brought him several awards and nominations in 2020 and 2021. He won the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at Screen Actors Guild Awards (in 2020 and 2021), Satellite Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama, and was nominated in the Critics’ Choice Television Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series in two consecutive years.
Menzies is on his way to more exciting and challenging roles in the future. His straightforward nature and passion for acting make him one of the best actors on television now. Tennis is still his hobby for life and is very fond of it. At the same time, he loves to ride his motorcycle and reading books.