Tobias Alistair Patrick "Toby" Kebbell is an English actor, known for his roles in the films Dead Manitoba"s Shoes, RocknRolla, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorcerer"s Apprentice, War Horse, Wrath of the Titans, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Fantastic Four and Warcraft.
Background
Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in South Elmsall, on the A638 between Doncaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire. He was brought up by his mother, Michelle (née Mathers), a cook and landscape gardener, after his parents divorced when he was eighteen months old. His father, Robert Kebbell, is an engineer
Career
He went to a Catholic primary school. Kebbell first came to notice when director Shane Meadows cast him in the role of Anthony in the film Dead Manitoba"s Shoes. He was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Awards and was widely lauded for his sensitive, moving portrayal of a young man with a learning difficulty.
Kebbell then appeared in Oliver Stone"s Alexander and Match Point, which Woody Allen cast him in without audition after being impressed with his performance in Dead Manitoba"s Shoes.
Kebbell"s most critically acclaimed role came in 2007 when he played Rob Gretton, the manager of Joy Division in Anton Corbijn"s award-winning biopic of Ian Curtis, Control. He was also nominated for the London Critics" Circle Best Supporting Actor Award alongside Albert Finney and Tom Wilkinson.
His other work for the British Broadcasting Corporation included a modern retelling of Macbeth alongside James McAvoy, while his theatre roles included spells at the Almeida Theatre in David Hare"s reworking of Maxim Gorky"s Enemies and at the Playhouse in Roman Catholic Sherriff"s classic, Journey"s End. In September 2008, Kebbell was featured in the film RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, alongside actors Tom Wilkinson, Gerard Butler and Thandie Newton.
Kebbell played a crack-addicted musician, Johnny Quid.
To play the role Toby Kebbell learned to play the piano and operate a semi automatic. This award is voted for by the public. Kebbell appeared in the 2009 film Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, in which he took a small role alongside Michelle Pfeiffer.
He filmed in Morocco and London with Jake Gyllenhaal for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
In February 2009, it was reported that Kebbell was dating the former Oxford Union president Ruzwana Bashir, whom he met at a party given by the journalist Andrew Neil. In 2011, Kebbell played a leading role in "The Entire History of You", the finale of the first season of Charlie Brooker"s critically acclaimed Black Mirror.
The episode was written by Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show, The Thick of lieutenant). Robert Downey, Junior. has since bought the rights to adapt the script for a forthcoming film.
In 2014, Kebbell took over the role of Koba in the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Koba was a badly treated experimental bonobo whose grudge against humans leads to conflict with Caesar, Andy Serkis"s character from Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In December 2013, Legendary Pictures announced that Kebbell would be joining the cast of Warcraft film adaptation as Durotan, set to be released in March 2016. Kebbell played the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom in 2015"s Fantastic Four film.
In 2017,he will portray King Kong through motion-capture and voice over acting in the character"s reboot film Kong: Skull Island.