Sam Yates (born August 1983) is a British director working in theatre, film and television. He has been described as "a major talent" in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and "a director of unusual flair" in ''The Observer''. Yates is known for his "eclectic body of work" and his "superb sense for casting", having directed leading talent Andrew Scott, Daisy Ridley,

Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She has played the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama '' Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), Alison Lockhart in the Showtime dram ...

, Hayley Atwell,

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is a British actress. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature-film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' (2007). She p ...

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, Ciaran Hinds,

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in the stage pl ...

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, Matthew Rhys and Angelica Huston.

Early years and education

Yates grew up in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

and attended Poynton High School. He studied English with Education at

Homerton College Homerton College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of English Dissenters, Protestant dissente ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Career

Yates directed and co-created VANYA adapted by Simon Stephens and featuring Andrew Scott. The production won multiple awards including the

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

for Best Revival, Best Revival at the What'sOnStage Awards, and Best Actor for Andrew Scott at the Critics' Circle and

Evening Standard Awards The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standa ...

. The filmed

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London. It broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions (and those of other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I gre ...

production, directed by Yates, played in cinemas internationally and took over $2.5million at the box office. Yates' productions have been nominated for

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

: Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for '' Murder Ballad'' (2017), and Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for '' The Phlebotomist'' by Ella Road (2019). He directed feature debut ''

Magpie Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent c ...

'' featuring Daisy Ridley and Shazad Latif. The film premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in 2024.

Personal life

He is in a relationship with Irish actress Charlie Murphy.

Work

Theatre

Film and television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Sam 1983 births Living people British theatre directors People from Stockport Alumni of Homerton College, Cambridge