BIOGRAPHY
Photo by Faye Thomas
Training: University of Bristol and Webber Douglas
Bio from IMDb: John was born in Billericay in Essex in 1981 to a couple of teachers, one of four brothers. He became interested in theatre as a young boy watching The Animated Shakespeare Tales on television and, when his parents separated and he moved with his mother to a village near to Stratford-on-Avon he spent his teen-age years watching productions of Shakespeare. After a three year university course he enrolled at the Webber Douglas Drama school in London, also taking on work experience as an usher at the Royal Shakespeare Company and, having graduated, he played walk-on roles with the company, being on stage for the RST Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival. His subsequent stage career includes appearing with the English Touring Theatre’s ‘Hamlet’, in the National Theatre’s ‘Major Barbara’. earning him third place at the Ian Charleson Awards for Most Promising Young Actor and in the black comedy ‘The Physicists’ at the Donmar Warehouse. before playing the title roles in ‘Edward II’ for the National Theatre in 2013 and in 2015 ‘Oppenheimer’ for the R.S.C. and Macbeth for the Young Vic. Having made his television debut in 2006, he has, during the 2010s, become an increasingly familiar face in either sinister roles (‘Luther’ as a killer). period pieces (‘Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’, ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher’ and lawyer Jaggers in ‘Dickensian’) or both (‘Ripper Street’.)
According to this interview, he’s a proud dad of a baby girl with his partner.
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AWARDS, NOMINATIONS AND COMMENDATIONS
- Nominated for an Evening Standard Award in 2013 for ‘Best Actor’.
- Ian Charleson Award nomination for Major Barbara
- Ian Charleson Award nomination for King Lear
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SKILLS & INTERESTS
- Achievements: Shortlisted for the BBC Radio Carleton Hobbs Award 2005
- Accents: RP, Essex, general American, good ear for accents
- Dance: Historical and Jazz
- Fighting: Stage Combat Training, Fencing Level 3
- Directing Experience: HAMLET and ONE FOR THE ROAD, Winston Theatre, Bristol (2003)
- Other: Co-Founder of the Mahwaff Theatre Company – Associate Artist of the British American Drama Academy (BADA) – male voiceover artist for SueTerryVoices
CAREER
John Heffernan Actor 