John Hopkins

Acting

John Hopkins

Born 1975-01-01 · Luton, England, UK

John Hopkins was born in Luton and majored in English at the University of Leeds from 1993 to 1996. As an undergrad, he joined the university's drama group and appeared in several plays, ultimately winning the "Sunday Times" student-actor award for his performance in "A Short Play About Sex and Death." With his thespian credentials thus bolstered, John was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 2000. Almost immediately, he was recruited by the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, with which he performed his first repertory season, from 2001 to 2002. Around this time, his looks encouraged television offers and, after minor roles in "Love in a Cold Climate" and "Trial and Retribution 7," he was offered and accepted the role for which he is best known to non-theater goers, as Sergeant Scott in the increasingly labored but popular British whodunit television series Midsomer Murders (1997). Give him his due: he left the show after the 2004-2005 season and was back with the Royal Shakespeare Company for its 2006-2007 season in both London and Stratford-upon-Avon, playing Caesar opposite Patrick Stewart in 'Antony and Cleopatra'. More recently his stage roles have included Richard Hannay in Patrick Barlow's comedic four handed version of 'The 39 Steps', Richard I in the new play 'Holy Warriors' at Shakespeare's Globe, and Benedick in 'Much Ado About Nothing', a performance which The Guardian said "confirms Hopkins as one of our best Shakespearean actors". Back on television he was a villain in 'Stan Lee's Lucky Man', and played Sir Francis Basset for two series of the BBC drama 'Poldark'. In a 2020 article in The Times (London), he was named one of '10 of the best British actors on stage now'.

Acting credits

Toy Story 5 poster
8.3

When Bonnie receives a Lilypad tablet as a gift and becomes obsessed, Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs become exponentially harder when they have to go head to head with the all-new threat to playtime.

Toy Story 5

2026

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.6

Alice, now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny.

Alice in Wonderland

2010

Hilda and the Mountain King poster
7.6

When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again — and save the city of Trolberg.

Hilda and the Mountain King

2021

Experiment poster
4.3

A young woman, Anna, walks the streets of a foreign city. Her mind full of pain. No memory of who she is. and plagued by nightmarish visions. Then she meets Morgan, a man who also has no memory. Forced to trust each other, the two feel a mysterious connection. A strong powerful feeling that bonds the two together Unknown to them their every action is being guided by unseen forces from the dark underground shadows of the city. Anna and Morgan are part of a frightening experiment that will have a terrifying and shocking conclusion. There is no escape in this dark psychological thriller

Experiment

2005

The Child in Time poster
5.8

A successful writer of children's books, Stephen Lewis is confronted with the unthinkable—he loses his only child, four-year-old Kate, in a supermarket. In one horrifying moment that replays itself over the years that follow, Stephen realises his daughter is gone. Kate's absence sets Stephen and his wife on diverging paths as both struggle with an all-consuming grief.

The Child in Time

2018

The Pool poster
5.2

International students at an elite Prague school are stalked and murdered by a masked killer while holding a party in an abandoned water park.

The Pool

2001

National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove poster
6.5

Seven-time BAFTA Award-winner Steve Coogan plays four roles in the world premiere stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece Dr. Strangelove. This explosively funny satire, about a rogue U.S General who triggers a nuclear attack. Based on the motion picture directed by Stanley Kubrick, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern and Peter George, based on the book 'Red Alert' by Peter George.

National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove

2025

Smile School poster
NR

Lloyd is a self-help guru, larger than life with a smile as wide as his ego. Eva is one of his many obsessive followers, deluded in their belief that he can help them to build a truly extraordinary life. At his "Smile School" seminar, chancing her luck to meet Lloyd, Eva finally comes face to face with the reality. As the rug is pulled out from under her, Eva's ability to smile through anything is pushed to the limit.

Smile School

2023

A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint poster
6.9

1923. In the heart of an old English college, Edward Williams receives an engraving of of an unknown country house with an imposing facade, a sweeping lawn - and, just perhaps, something else.

A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint

2021

A Christmas Carol poster
10.0

The turkeys are hanging in the butchers shop on Gloucester Road, the Christmas Steps are decked with holly, but Christmas Eve is a bleak night for miserly money-lender Ebenezer Scrooge. Before the night is through, he is visited by four ghosts who show him chilling portraits of his past, present and future. As the sun rises, will he come to see the bitter truth of his selfish life, learning kindness, compassion and, ultimately, the true meaning of Christmas? Join Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and Scrooge himself in this riot of music and theatrical imagination, to find out.

A Christmas Carol

2020

Absent Now the Dead poster
10.0

The ghost of a soldier from the Trojan War travels through the ruins of the ancient world to confront a council of tyrants who make war on reason. A film dramatizing the ancient relevance of protest over power. Available Now on: watch.eventive.org

Absent Now the Dead

2021

Behind the camera