Rupert Friend's Real Name: Rupert Friend

Quick answer: The actor is documented as Rupert Friend. The Television Academy records an October 1 birthday and a birthplace of Oxfordshire, England, without a year. Guardian interviews independently describe a childhood in Oxfordshire, including the village of Stonesfield (Television Academy; The Guardian; The Guardian).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Rupert Friend. Fuller names sometimes listed in databases are not used in the Television Academy biography or the Guardian interviews cited here, and are not repeated in the title. A 2009 Guardian profile says he grew up in the small Oxfordshire village of Stonesfield, attended the comprehensive in nearby Woodstock, and is the son of a solicitor and an art historian. A 2015 Guardian interview also places the childhood in an Oxfordshire one-pub village, but describes his father as an art historian and his mother as a mediator. Those two accounts agree on an art-historian parent and an Oxfordshire upbringing, and they describe the other parent's work differently. The 2009 profile says he applied to the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London without telling anyone and won a place; the Television Academy independently records that training.

Career highlights

The Television Academy says he first came to wide attention as Mr. Wickham in the 2005 film of Pride & Prejudice, opposite Keira Knightley and directed by Joe Wright, and that he was named Outstanding New Talent at the 2005 Satellite Awards and nominated as Best Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards. The 2009 Guardian interview independently notes the Pride & Prejudice role and a 2004 film debut alongside Johnny Depp in The Libertine. The academy biography also lists Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), The Young Victoria (2009), and, from 2012, the role of Peter Quinn on Showtime's Homeland. Written when Starred Up was still upcoming, that academy page also names the David Mackenzie film. The 2015 Guardian interview later discusses Homeland as well, returning to the same Oxfordshire childhood in more general terms.

Name notes for searchers

Rupert Friend is the documented professional name in the sources cited here. Searchers looking for Mr. Wickham in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice or Peter Quinn on Homeland are usually aiming at the same person.