Ferdinand James M. Kingsley (born 13 February 1988) is a British actor. He is known for portraying the roles of Hamza Bey in the film ''

Dracula Untold ''Dracula Untold'' is a 2014 American action horror film directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The plot creates an origin story for the title character, rather than using the storylin ...

'' (2014), Mr. Francatelli in the television series ''

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

'' (2016–2019),

Irving Thalberg Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...

in the film ''

Mank ''Mank'' is a 2020 American biographical drama film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his development of the screenplay for the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane''. It was directed by David Fincher based on a screenplay written by his lat ...

'' (2020), and Hob Gadling in Netflix's adaptation of '' The Sandman'' (2022). In 2023, he played the mysterious villain A.M. in '' Reacher'' on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Early life

Ferdinand James M. Kingsley was born on 13 February 1988 in

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, the son of actor

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

and theatre director

Alison Sutcliffe Alison Sutcliffe is a British theatre director who, until 2011, was Artistic Director of The Bridge Project at the Bridge House Theatre, Warwick, during which time she created an ensemble theatre company which produced eleven productions. Her wo ...

. He is of predominantly English descent; his paternal grandfather was of

Khoja The Khoja are a caste of Muslims mainly members of the Nizari Ismaʿiliyyah sect of Islam with a minority of followers of Shia Islam originating the western Indian subcontinent, and converted to Islam from Hinduism by the 14th century by the Pe ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

descent and one of his great-grandfathers was believed by the family to have been of either

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

descent.: "The grandmother of the knighted Royal Shakespeare Company alum spoke Yiddish she picked up while a garment worker in London's East End a century ago. "She was violently opposed to talking about this, so my poor mother was at the receiving end of a rage attack every time my grandmother was asked about her husband, her lover, whoever it was, but it's believed that he was a Russian Jew or a German Jew called Goodman", Kingsley told ''The Jerusalem Post''". Kingsley attended the RSC theatre nursery,

Warwick School Warwick School is a British Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent school (UK), independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school) for boys, in the market town of Warwick, in Warwickshire, England. Known as ...

and the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

Acting career

Kingsley's theatre credits include ''

Troilus and Cressida ''The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida'', often shortened to ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forc ...

'', and ''

Little Eyolf ''Little Eyolf'' (''Lille Eyolf'' in the original Norwegian title) is an 1894 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play was first performed in Norwegian on December 3, 1894, at a 9 a.m. matinee performance in the Haymarket Theatre in Lo ...

'' for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. He played

Rosencrantz Rosenkranz is the Danish and German word for rosary. The literal German meaning is 'wreath of roses'. Rosenkranz, Rosenkrantz, Rosencrance, Rosencrans or Rosencrantz is a Germanic and Ashkenazi Jewish surname and may refer to: People * Rosenkran ...

in the National Theatre's 2010–11 production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'', for which he received a commendation at the 2010

Ian Charleson Awards The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in memory of the British actor Ian Charleson, and are run by the '' Sunday Times'' newspaper ...

, and Phaeax in '' Welcome to Thebes''. In the film ''

The Last Legion ''The Last Legion'' is a 2007 historical action adventure film directed by Doug Lefler and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It is based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It stars Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwary ...

'' he played Young Ambrosinus in flashbacks to the younger days of the character Ambrosinus, played by his father

. He took the part of Albert Aurier in the BBC production ''Vincent Van Gogh: Painted With Words''. He plays Bushy in ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

'', which is part of the BBC's ''

The Hollow Crown ''The Hollow Crown'' may refer to: * a passage in Shakespeare's play ''Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward ...

'' series of

Shakespeare's history plays In the First Folio (1623), the plays of William Shakespeare were in three categories: (i) comedies, (ii) histories, and (iii) tragedies. Besides the history plays of his Renaissance playwright contemporaries, the histories of Shakespeare def ...

aired in Summer 2012. He played both Jesus and God the Father in the August 2012 production of the ''

York Mystery Plays The York Mystery Plays, or the York Corpus Christi Plays, are a Middle English play cycle, cycle of 48 mystery plays or pageants covering sacred history from the Genesis creation myth, creation to the Last Judgment. They were traditionally pres ...

''. In 2013, Kingsley played the part of murdered Jewish anarchist Joshua Bloom in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

period crime drama ''

Ripper Street ''Ripper Street'' is a British mystery drama television series set in Whitechapel in the East End of London starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, and MyAnna Buring. It begins in 1889, six months after the infamous Jack t ...

'', and filmed prominent roles in ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...

Elephants Can Remember ''Elephants Can Remember'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in 1972.Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions''. Dragonby Press (Seco ...

'', the BBC feature film '' The Whale'' as Obed Hendricks, and

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

' 2014 feature ''

'' as Hamza Bey. In Spring 2013, Kingsley starred in the short film ''Dance in Colour'' by

The Crookes The Crookes were a British indie rock band who formed in Sheffield in 2007. They released their first single "A Collier's Wife" in 2009 as part of the Too Pure singles club, followed by single "Bloodshot Days" that was released on Heist or H ...

. From 2016 to 2019, Kingsley starred in ITV's drama ''

'' as Italian British cook

Charles Elmé Francatelli Charles Elmé Francatelli (180510 August 1876) was a British chef, known for four cookery books popular in the Victorian era, including ''The Modern Cook''. He trained in Paris under Marie-Antoine Carême , Antonin Carême and became one of Lon ...

. In 2020, he played

in the film ''

'' (2020). In 2022, Kingsley featured in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' The Sandman'' as Hob Gadling in episode 6, "The Sound of Her Wings". In 2023, Kingsley portrayed George Wilkins in the series ''

Silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...

'' on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

, and the mysterious villain A.M. in '' Reacher'' (season 2) on

. On the air, he has portrayed Aldrich Kemp in the series “Who is Aldrich Kemp”, “Who Killed Aldrich Kemp”, and “Aldrich Kemp and the Rose of Pamir” by ‘’

Julian Simpson Julian Simpson is a British writer and director working in film, television and audio. He is best known for his radio plays for BBC Radio, most of which take place within his "Pleasant Green" universe with loose connections to each other, including ...

’’

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

Stage

References

External links

*
Conway VanGelder Grant
(agency's promotional website) *
2020 Interview with Ferdinand Kingsley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Ferdinand 1988 births Living people 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama English electronic musicians English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English people of Gujarati descent English people of Indian descent English people of Kenyan descent British people of Indo-Kenyan descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent Male actors from Leamington Spa