Timothy Spall

Acting

Timothy Spall

Born 1957-02-27 · Battersea, London, England, UK

Timothy Leonard Spall (born February 27, 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Spall performed in Secrets & Lies (1996), and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Subsequently, he starred in many films, including Hamlet (1996), Still Crazy (1998), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Enchanted (2007), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), The Damned United (2009), The King's Speech (2010), Ginger and Rosa (2012), Denial (2016), and The Party (2017). He voiced Nick, a cynical, portly rat in Chicken Run (2000). He played Peter Pettigrew in five Harry Potter films, from Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). Spall has collaborated with director Mike Leigh, making six films together: Home Sweet Home (1982), Life is Sweet (1990), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002), and Mr. Turner (2014). Spall won great acclaim for his performance in the last of these for his portrayal as J. M. W. Turner winning him the Best Actor Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. He starred in the television documentary Timothy Spall: ...at Sea (2010–2012) and in 2019 he appeared as Lord Arthur Wallington in the 6-part BBC Cold War drama Summer of Rockets.

Acting credits

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 poster
8.1

Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2011

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban poster
8.0

Harry Potter's life is in danger once more as dangerous wizard Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is heading to Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2004

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 poster
7.7

Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire poster
7.8

When his name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools. Signs of Voldemort's return emerge as Harry's friends help him prepare for the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince poster
7.7

Dumbledore tries to prepare Harry for the final battle with Voldemort while Death Eaters wreak havoc in both Muggle and Wizard worlds.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix poster
7.7

When a new professor's methods leave Hogwarts unprepared to fight the rising tide of evil, Harry teaches students how to defend against the dark arts.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007

The Last Samurai poster
7.6

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

The Last Samurai

2003

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

The King's Speech poster
7.7

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

The King's Speech

2010

Alice Through the Looking Glass poster
6.6

Alice Kingsleigh returns to Underland and faces a new adventure in saving the Mad Hatter.

Alice Through the Looking Glass

2016

Enchanted poster
6.8

The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

Enchanted

2007

Early Man poster
6.1

Dug, along with his sidekick Hognob, unite a cavemen tribe to save their hidden valley from being spoiled and, all together as a team, to face the menace of a mysterious and mighty enemy, on the turf of an ancient and sacred sport.

Early Man

2018

Vanilla Sky poster
6.8

David Aames has it all: wealth, good looks and gorgeous women on his arm. But just as he begins falling for the warmhearted Sofia, his face is horribly disfigured in a car accident. That's just the beginning of his troubles as the lines between illusion and reality, between life and death, are blurred.

Vanilla Sky

2001

Chicken Run poster
6.9

The creators of Wallace & Gromit bring you an exciting and original story about a group of chickens determined to fly the coop–even if they can’t fly! It’s hardly poultry in motion when Rocky attempts to teach Ginger and her feathered friends to fly…but, with teamwork, determination and a little bit o’ cluck, the fearless flock plots one last attempt in a spectacular bid for freedom.

Chicken Run

2000

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events poster
6.8

Three wealthy children's parents are killed in a fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

2004

Intimacy poster
6.2

Failed musician Jay abandoned his family and now earns a living as head bartender in a trendy London pub. Every Wednesday afternoon, a woman comes to his house for graphic, almost wordless, sex. One day, Jay follows her and learns about her. This eventually disrupts their relationship.

Intimacy

2001

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street poster
7.2

The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2007

Death Defying Acts poster
5.9

On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.

Death Defying Acts

2007

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman poster
7.1

Following in his father's footsteps, Albert Pierrepoint becomes one of Britain's most prolific executioners, hiding his identity as a grocery deliveryman. But when his ambition to be the best inadvertently exposes his gruesome secret, he becomes a minor celebrity & faces a public outcry against the practice of hanging. Based on true events.

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

2005

The Pale Blue Eye poster
6.8

West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Pale Blue Eye

2022

Upside Down poster
6.3

In an alternate universe where twinned worlds have opposite gravities, a young man battles interplanetary prejudice and the laws of physics in his quest to reunite with the long-lost girl of his dreams in this visually stunning romantic adventure that poses the question: what if love was stronger than gravity?

Upside Down

2012

Desert Flower poster
7.6

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad who was sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.

Desert Flower

2009

Goodbye June poster
6.6

Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.

Goodbye June

2025

Appaloosa poster
6.6

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.

Appaloosa

2008

Behind the camera