Background
He is the son of a consultant physician and a charity worker, and has a younger brother and sister.
He is the son of a consultant physician and a charity worker, and has a younger brother and sister.
He later obtained a first class degree in Drama at the University of Birmingham, before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, from which he graduated in July 2001.
He also starred as Lorenzo de" Medici in Da Vinci"s Demons. Although born in London, Cowan was brought up in Colchester, Essex. Cowan boarded at Uppingham School in Rutland.
He plays guitar and cello, and has worked with the London Sinfonia.
He lives in Dalston, London. On 7 August 2011, Elliot swam the 16 miles long Lake Zurich Swim race to raise funds for Guy"s and Saint Thomas"s Neonatal Unit, in memory of Alfie Blacksell.
Cowan"s television credits include Judge John Deed, Ultimate Force, Jonathan Creek, Poirot, Foyle"s War, The Ruby in the Smoke, Lost in Austen and the television movie The Project. He also appeared in a 2009 commercial for Women"s Aid.
Cowan has appeared in the films The Golden Compass, Happy-Go-Lucky, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, Love and Other Disasters, and Howl.
His theatre work includes productions of The Revenger"s Tragedy, Women Beware Women, Henry V, The Seagull and Camille. He has recently played Stanley Kowalski in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse, and is attached to star in the movie Heaven and Earth, a biopic of James Miranda Barry. He played Macbeth at the Globe Theatre from 23 April- 27 June 2010 alongside Laura Rogers as Lady Macbeth.
He starred as Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre in London"s West End from 4 November 2010 to 19 February 2011.
As of 2010, he voiced Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye 007 for the Wii console, also providing his likeness.
From 1994 to 1996, Cowan was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre.