Michael Shaeffer is an English television and stage actor. He is especially known for his role as "Longcross" 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 ...

political-thriller television series ''

Bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

'' (2018). He has also appeared in the television series ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

'' (2013), '' The ABC Murders'' (2018) and '' The Salisbury Poisonings'' (2020), as well as the 2000 film adaptation of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

.'' He has also played smaller roles in television shows, including ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' and ''

Chernobyl Chernobyl, officially called Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to the north of Kyiv and to the southwest of Gomel in neighbouring Belarus. ...

'', and films such as '' Kingdom of Heaven'' and ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the first '' ...

.''

Early life and education

Michael Shaeffer was born in

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. He trained at the

Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a higher education institution in the London Borough of Bexley. Bruford has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various ...

Career

Shaeffer played

Annas Annas (also Ananus or Ananias;Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007) , ; , ; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly form ...

in the 2000 ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...

'' film adaptation of ''

.'' In 2013, he appeared in the ''

'' episode " The Waldo Moment" as the character Roy. Shaeffer portrayed General Corssin in the 2016 ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' film ''

.'' In 2018 Shaeffer played

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

agent Richard Longcross in the

political-thriller television series ''

''. In the same year, he played Sergeant Yelland in the BBC mystery thriller '' The ABC Murders''. In 2019, Shaeffer played a small role in the critically acclaimed

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

historical drama ''

'', where he portrayed a

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

officer. In 2020, he played Stephen Kemp in the BBC fact-based drama '' The Salisbury Poisonings''. In Summer 2023, Shaeffer was cast as Edward Daffarn in ''Grenfell'', author and playwright

Gillian Slovo Gillian Slovo (born 15 March 1952) is a South African-born writer who lives in the UK. She was a recipient of the Golden PEN Award. Early life and education Gillian Slovo was born on 15 March 1952 in Johannesburg, South Africa, a daughter of Jo ...

's verbatim theatre project with the community and survivors about the Grenfell fire disaster, staged at the National Theatre's Dorfman Theatre.

Filmography

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaeffer, Michael 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Rose Bruford College English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Brockley Male actors from London Actors from the London Borough of Lewisham