Northam was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, the youngest of four siblings. His mother, Rachel (née Howard), was a potter and professor of economics, and his father, John Northam, was a professor of literature and theatre, as well as being an Ibsen specialist and lecturer (first at Clare College, Cambridge and later at Bristol).
Northam was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Bedford College, University of London (Bachelor English 1984) now part of Royal Holloway, University of London, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He is best known for his roles in the films Gosford Park, Emma, Amistad, The Winslow Boy, Enigma, Martin and Lewis, and as Thomas More in the Showtime series The Tudors. Most recently, he starred in the British Broadcasting Corporation Two drama White Heat. Screen and stage He has appeared frequently in British films such as Carrington (1995), Emma (1996), The Winslow Boy (1999), An Ideal Husband (1999), Enigma (2001) and as Welsh actor and singer Ivor Novello in Gosford Park (2001).
He made his American film debut in The Net (1995).
In 2002 he starred in the film Cypher alongside Lucy Liu. That same year, he portrayed singer Dean Martin in the Columbia Broadcasting System film Martin and Lewis and golfer Walter Hagen in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius in 2004.
In 2007 and 2008, he portrayed Thomas More on the Showtime series, The Tudors. He played John Brodie Innes in the 2009 film Creation, based on the life of Charles Darwin.
He will play British Prime Minister Anthony Eden on the upcoming Netflix drama series, The Crown.
Other work Mr.
