Ellis was born in Cardiff, the son of Marilyn Jean (Hooper) and Christopher John Ellis. His father, sister and uncle are all Baptist ministers, with his uncle, Robert Ellis, being principal of Regent"s Park College, Oxford, which his father also attended.
Ellis attended High Storrs School in Sheffield during his education and was a French Horn player in the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra.
He was also Sam in the British Broadcasting Corporation One comedy Pulling and he played Gary in the British Broadcasting Corporation Two/British Broadcasting Corporation One comedy Miranda. He is best known to audiences in the United States for two American television shows in which he played the title character, Rush and Fox"s Lucifer. Other notable roles include Justyn in Channel 4"s Number Angels and Thomas Milligan in the series three finale of resurrected British Broadcasting Corporation One science-fiction television programme Doctor Who.
In February 2015, it was announced that Ellis was cast as Lucifer Morningstar in the Fox Television drama Lucifer, based on the comic with the same name, which premiered on 25 January 2016.
In July and August 2009, Ellis starred in Independent Television comedy drama Monday Monday with Fay Ripley. Ellis was the star of the United States of America network series Rush, playing a Hollywood physician.
