Marton Paul Csokas (, ; born 30 June 1966) is a New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with his native country, and often portrays villainous roles. His notable roles include Celeborn in the '' Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003), Yorgi in '' XXX'' (2002), Guy de Lusignan in '' Kingdom of Heaven'' (2005), Trevor Goodchild in '' Æon Flux'' (2005), Hora in '' Romulus, My Father'' (2007), Nico in '' Dead Europe'' (2012), Jack Barts in '' Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'' (2012), Nicolai Itchenko A.K.A. Teddy Rensen in '' The Equalizer'' (2014), and Quinn on the U.S. television series '' Into the Badlands''. Earlier in his career, he played Leonard Dodds on the New Zealand soap opera ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

''. Csokas is a three-time AACTA Award nominee, winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in ''Romulus My Father''. He was also nominated for Best Male Actor in a Play at the 2008 Helpmann Awards, for his portrayal of George in Belvoir's revival of ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they rece ...

Early life

Csokas was born in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, the son of Margaret Christine (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Rayner), a nurse, and Márton Csókás I, who worked as a mechanical engineer for E. Hayes & Sons. His father was Hungarian and his mother had English, Irish, and Danish ancestry. Csokas graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1989 with a Diploma in Acting.

Career

Csokas made his acting debut in 1990 on the New Zealand drama series '' Shark in the Park'', as Terry Mercer in the episode "Technical K.O.". He also portrayed Leonard Rossi-Dodds in the long-running soap opera ''

'' from 1993 until 1995. In 1996, he starred in the romantic drama film '' Broken English''; and from 1997 to 2001, he had a recurring role on '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', portraying the character Borias. Csokas also portrayed Lord Celeborn in '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001) and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003), Yorgi in '' XXX'' (2002), Mr. Smith in '' Kangaroo Jack'' (2003), Jarda in '' The Bourne Supremacy'' (2004), Trevor Goodchild in '' Æon Flux'' (2005), and Guy de Lusignan in '' Kingdom of Heaven'' (2005). Csokas' stage credits include plays by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in the 1990s in New Zealand, and ''

'' (2007) and '' Peribáñez'' (2006) with Company B in Australia. In 2007, he portrayed Hora in the drama film '' Romulus, My Father'', for which he won an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2012, he appeared in the drama film '' Dead Europe''. For his role in ''Dead Europe'', he was again nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2013, Csokas co-starred in the crime-thriller '' Pawn'' with

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and activist. His accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Best Actor Award at the ...

and Michael Chiklis, and portrayed Jimmy Laszlo in the

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

police drama '' Rogue'', starring opposite Thandiwe Newton. In 2014, he had roles in the films ''

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

'', '' The Amazing Spider-Man 2'', and '' Sin City: A Dame to Kill For'', and as Nicolai Itchenko in '' The Equalizer''. Also in 2014, he starred as the superintendent in the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

's scripted miniseries '' Klondike''. Csokas then portrayed General Thomas Gage in

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

's three-part miniseries ''

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It p ...

'' in 2015. In May 2015, Csokas joined the cast of

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's martial arts drama '' Into the Badlands'', playing the role of Quinn, the most powerful baron in the badlands. The show was canceled in 2019 after three seasons. In 2016, he co-starred with Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in the Jeff Nichols-directed drama film '' Loving'', and starred alongside Vera Farmiga in the comedy-drama '' Burn Your Maps''. Csokas starred alongside Emilia Clarke in the supernatural thriller '' Voice from the Stone'' released in April 2017. He also starred in ''Mark Felt The Man Who Brought Down the White House'' with Liam Neeson. In 2021, Csokas appeared in ''

Juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

'' with

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging London, Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film ''Georgy Girl'', which starred Lynn ...

and in the historical drama film '' The Last Duel'' directed by Ridley Scott.

Personal life

Csokas holds dual New Zealand and Hungarian citizenship. From 2005 to 2009, he was in a romantic relationship with

Eva Green Eva Gaëlle Green (; ; born ) is a French British-based actress, known for appearing in blockbuster and independent films, in which she often portrays eccentric, villainous, and complex characters. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video game

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Csokas, Marton 1966 births Living people New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male soap opera actors New Zealand male video game actors New Zealand male voice actors New Zealand people of Hungarian descent New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand people of Danish descent New Zealand people of Irish descent People educated at King's College, Auckland People from Invercargill Toi Whakaari alumni 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors New Zealand expatriate male actors in the United States New Zealand stage actors