Ben Whishaw facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ben Whishaw
Whishaw in 2018
Born	Benjamin John Whishaw (1980-10-14) 14 October 1980 (age 44) Clifton, Bedfordshire, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Partner(s)	Mark Bradshaw (2012–2022)

Ben Whishaw is a talented English actor, born on October 14, 1980. He is known for his amazing acting in many movies, TV shows, and plays. He has won several important awards, including British Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe.

Ben is famous for playing Q in the James Bond movies like Skyfall and No Time to Die. He is also the voice of the lovable Paddington Bear in the Paddington films.

Early Life and Acting Start

Ben Whishaw was born on October 14, 1980, in Clifton, Bedfordshire, England. He grew up there with his parents, Linda and Jose, and his twin brother, James.

From a young age, Ben loved acting. He joined a youth theatre group called the Bancroft Players. This helped him learn a lot about performing. Later, he went on to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), which is a very famous acting school in London. He graduated from RADA in 2003.

Becoming a Star

Ben Whishaw started his acting career in the late 1990s. He quickly became known for his powerful performances.

Early Roles and Stage Success

One of Ben's first big roles was in the movie My Brother Tom (2001). For this, he won an award for "Most Promising Newcomer."

In 2004, he played the main character in a famous play called Hamlet at the Old Vic theatre. His performance was highly praised, and he was even nominated for a big award called the Olivier Award for Best Actor.

Whishaw with Judi Dench in Peter and Alice, at the Noël Coward Theatre in 2013

Film and TV Breakthroughs

Ben appeared in the TV show Nathan Barley in 2005. He also starred in the movie Perfume (2006), where he played a perfume maker.

In 2008, he was in the TV series Criminal Justice. For this role, he received his first nomination for a BAFTA Award. He also appeared in the film Brideshead Revisited.

Famous Roles: Q and Paddington

A very important year for Ben was 2012. He played King Richard II in a BBC TV movie. He won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor for this role.

The same year, he joined the James Bond movies as Q, the clever inventor who creates gadgets for Bond. He played Q in Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).

In 2014, Ben became the voice of Paddington Bear in the movie Paddington. He continued to voice Paddington in Paddington 2 (2017) and The Adventures of Paddington TV series.

Whishaw's Paddington Bear designed statue—"Special Delivery"—in Covent Garden, London, auctioned to raise funds for the NSPCC

Other Notable Projects

Ben has been in many other interesting films, including Cloud Atlas (2012), The Lobster (2015), and Mary Poppins Returns (2018), where he played Michael Banks.

In 2018, he starred in the TV miniseries A Very English Scandal. His performance earned him another BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Emmy Award.

More recently, Ben has starred in the TV series Fargo (2020) and the medical drama This Is Going to Hurt (2022). He also appeared in the critically acclaimed film Women Talking (2022).

Acting Credits

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Trench, TheThe Trench	Pte. James Deamis
	The Escort	Jay
2001	Baby	Little Joe	Short film
	My Brother Tom	Tom
2002	Spiritual Rampage		Short film
2003	Ready When You Are Mr. McGill	Bruno
	... Cruise, TheThe ... Cruise	Daniel
2004	77 Beds	Ishmael	Short film
	Enduring Love	Spud
	Layer Cake	Sidney
2006	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer	Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
2007	I'm Not There	Arthur
2008	Brideshead Revisited	Sebastian Flyte
2009	The International	Rene Antall
	Bright Star	John Keats
	Love Hate	Tom	Short film
2010	Tempest, TheThe Tempest	Ariel
2011	The Prodigies	Gil Yepes	Irish and UK dub
2012	Skyfall	Q
	Cloud Atlas	Cabin Boy / Robert Frobisher / Store Clerk / Georgette / Tribesman
2013	Beat	Unknown	Short film
	The Zero Theorem	Doctor 3
	Teenage	British Boy (voice)	Documentary
	Days and Nights	Eric
2014	Lilting	Richard
	Paddington	Paddington Bear	Voice and Facial Motion Capture
2015	The Muse	Edward Dunstan	Short film
	The Lobster	Limping Man
	Unity	Narrator (voice)	Documentary
	Suffragette	Sonny
	The Danish Girl	Henrik
	Spectre	Q
	In the Heart of the Sea	Herman Melville
2016	A Hologram for the King	Dave
2017	Paddington 2	Paddington Bear	Voice
	Family Happiness		Short film
2018	National Theatre Live: Julius Caesar	Brutus
	Palo Santo	Palo Santo Hologram	Short film
	Mary Poppins Returns	Michael Banks
2019	Little Joe	Chris
	The Personal History of David Copperfield	Uriah Heep
2020	Surge	Joseph
2021	No Time to Die	Q
2022	Women Talking	August Epp
2023	Bad Behaviour	Elon Bello
	Passages	Martin
	Good Boy	Danny	Short film
2024	Limonov: The Ballad	Eduard Limonov
	Paddington in Peru	Paddington Bear	Voice
2025	Peter Hujar's Day	Peter Hujar	Completed

Television

Key

Denotes television series that have not yet been released

Theatre

Radio

Awards and Nominations

Ben Whishaw has won many awards throughout his career. You can find a full list of his awards and nominations here: List of awards and nominations received by Ben Whishaw.

See also

In Spanish: Ben Whishaw para niños

• List of British actors
• List of Royal National Theatre Company actors
• List of Royal Academy of Dramatic Art alumni