Jay Simpson

Acting

Jay Simpson

Born 1966-01-01 · London, England, UK

Jay Simpson is a prolific English film, television and stage actor. Most recently, he has appeared in Chernobyl and Frontier. Simpson is perhaps best known in television for portraying cockney desk sergeant Ian 'Brookie' Brooke in Foyle's War, and he has also appeared on television in Recovery with David Tennant and Sarah Parish, Hot Money, Bad Crowd, A Touch of Frost, Casualty, Primeval, The Bill, Peep Show, Rome, Ashes to Ashes, Murder in Suburbia and Soundproof. Jay also uses his charm and voice skills as he is the voice of 'The Tree of Temptation' in Big Brother. His films include Hush Your Mouth, The Holiday, Pride and Prejudice and Erik the Viking and the 1988 TV film The Firm with Gary Oldman. He also voiced a major character, Flea, in the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film, Free Jimmy, alongside Woody Harrelson and with dialogue written by Simon Pegg. The character of Flea was something of comedy relief in the film, with a character partly inspired by Sean Ryder. In 2008 he appeared alongside Ross Boatman and Roger Lloyd-Pack in Patrick Marber's play Dealer's Choice for a run on the West End. In 2011 he appeared as George Redman in the television film The Suspicions of Mr Whicher for ITV. In 2011, he appeared in "The National Anthem", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror On 13 April 2012, he appeared as Stretch in the sitcom Not Going Out and appeared in the ITV series Mrs Biggs as one of the great train robbers, Bruce Reynolds.

Acting credits

Pride & Prejudice poster
8.1

A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.

Pride & Prejudice

2005

The Holiday poster
7.1

Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.

The Holiday

2006

Enola Holmes poster
7.2

While searching for her missing mother, intrepid teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outsmart big brother Sherlock and help a runaway lord.

Enola Holmes

2020

Rush poster
7.7

In the 1970s, a rivalry propels race car drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt to fame and glory — until a horrible accident threatens to end it all.

Rush

2013

Terminal poster
5.5

In the dark heart of a sprawling, anonymous city, two assassins carry out a sinister mission, a teacher battles a fatal illness, and an enigmatic janitor and a curious waitress lead dangerous double lives. Murderous consequences unravel in the dead of night, as their lives intertwine at the hands of a mysterious criminal mastermind who is hell-bent on revenge.

Terminal

2018

Their Finest poster
6.6

During the Blitz of World War II, a female screenwriter works on a film celebrating England's resilience as a way to buoy a weary populace's spirits. Her efforts to dramatise the true story of two sisters who undertook their own maritime mission to rescue wounded soldiers are met with mixed feelings by a dismissive all-male staff.

Their Finest

2017

Tuesday poster
6.7

A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.

Tuesday

2024

The I Inside poster
5.9

When Simon awakens in the hospital after surviving a near-fatal accident, amnesia has erased the last two years from his memory. He learns that his brother was killed, he has married a woman he doesn't remember and he's haunted by strange visions of the woman he loved.

The I Inside

2004

Blitz poster
6.0

In World War II London, nine-year-old George is evacuated to the countryside by his mother, Rita, to escape the bombings. Defiant and determined to return to his family, George embarks on an epic, perilous journey back home as Rita searches for him.

Blitz

2024

Brexit: The Uncivil War poster
6.6

Political strategist Dominic Cummings leads a popular but controversial campaign to convince British voters to leave the European Union from 2015 up until the present day.

Brexit: The Uncivil War

2019

Erik the Viking poster
5.9

Erik the Viking gathers warriors from his village and sets out on a dangerous journey to Valhalla, to ask the gods to end the Age of Ragnorok and allow his people to see sunlight again. A Pythonesque satire of Viking life.

Erik the Viking

1989

The Critic poster
5.8

Jimmy Erskine is the most feared theatre critic of the age. He lives as flamboyantly as he writes and takes pleasure in savagely taking down any actor who fails to meet his standards. When the owner of the Daily Chronicle dies, and his son takes over, Jimmy quickly finds himself at odds with his new boss and his position under threat. In an attempt to preserve the power and influence he holds so sacred, Jimmy strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actress, entangling them and the boss in a thrilling but deadly web of desire, blackmail, and betrayal.

The Critic

2024

Bull poster
6.4

Ten years after he was last seen, a vicious mob enforcer returns home to find his son and methodically track down the gang that double-crossed him. His quest for revenge soon leads to a savage showdown between his wife and her mob boss father.

Bull

2021

Age of Heroes poster
5.5

The true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.

Age of Heroes

2011

Wild Bill poster
6.8

Out on parole after 8 years inside Bill Hayward returns home to find his now 11 and 15 year old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves. Unwilling to play Dad, an uncaring Bill is determined to move on.

Wild Bill

2011

The Firm poster
6.5

A seemingly respectable estate agent leads a double life as the head of a vicious, well-organised gang of football hooligans. When 'The Firm' decide to confront a rival gang, it ends in tragedy.

The Firm

1989

Sherbet poster
NR

Set entirely inside the confines of an taxi cab, on what seems like just another late-night taxi fare, this particular trip is anything but, altering the course of the lives of both driver and rider forever. One evening 15-year-old Isa enters Rene's cab and his life. At first, he perceives her as just another annoying 'woke' teenager on what he hoped was another simple and quiet journey, but as a revelation about Isa's situation comes to light, this goes from a dime-a-dozen taxi fare to a life-changing experience that forces Rene to confront things in his life that he has been running from for the longest time.

Sherbet

2024

No artwork available
5.5

Drama about the world of deregulated financial trading in the City of London during the Thatcher era.

The Moneymen

1988

The Murder at Road Hill House poster
6.2

In 1860, Inspector Jack Whicher of Scotland Yard is sent to rural Wiltshire to investigate the murder of the three-year-old boy Saville Kent, who was snatched from his bed at night and murdered.

The Murder at Road Hill House

2011

The Guvnors poster
5.3

A violent thriller set amongst the clans and firms of South-East London, bringing two generations together in brutal conflict.

The Guvnors

2014

The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared poster
6.4

Drinking the tasty Folk Soda puts a spring in the 101 Year Old Man’s step and his next adventure takes him around the World and back to Sweden, during which time he is chased by the CIA, a Balinese debt collector and becomes an executive at a soft drink company.

The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared

2016

Black Cab poster
NR

Harry, a third-generation cab driver in London, struggles to find his place and purpose in a fast-changing world.

Black Cab

National Theatre at Home: The Story poster
NR

When a white teacher is killed in a black neighbourhood, four journalists race to get the headline – at any cost. But when shocking new evidence pulls them into the dark heart of the case, they are each forced to confront what they're prepared to risk to tell their version of the truth. Gripping and adrenaline-fuelled, Tracey Scott Wilson's seminal newsroom thriller is directed by Clint Dyer, with a cast including BAFTA Award-winner Letitia Wright, Ashley Thomas, Lorraine Toussaint, and Wilf Scolding.

National Theatre at Home: The Story

2026

Ferryman poster
6.0

A beautiful, reckless woman joins a secret club whose sinister but brilliant premise seems to provide the solution to her problem. But when she falls for a haunted young soldier, his desperation to keep her alive pulls him deeper into his own demons and threatens to destroy their relationship. A dark, poignant love story where every moment matters.

Ferryman

2022