Robert John Appleby (born 18 November 1983), known professionally as Robert Kazinsky, is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Casper Rose in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

drama '' Dream Team'' (2005–2006) and Sean Slater 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 ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' (2006–2009, 2019, 2021, 2022). In 2013, he portrayed Chuck Hansen in ''

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire. List ...

'' and Macklyn Warlow in the sixth season of

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's '' True Blood''. In 2016, he played Orgrim Doomhammer in ''

Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ...

'' and Jimmy Pritchard in the Fox television series '' Second Chance''. In 2019, he appeared as the Don in '' Captain Marvel''.

Early life

Kazinsky was born Robert John Appleby in

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath ( ) is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, England on 18 November 1983. Kazinsky is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is also a fluent speaker of Hebrew. Kazinsky was educated at Hove Park School in

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

as well as K-Bis Theatre School in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, from 1995 to 2000. He appeared in their productions of ''Bugsy Malone'' and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Kazinsky trained as an actor at the Guildford School of Acting from September 2002 to July 2005. He took his grandfather's middle name as his stage name.

Career

Kazinsky appeared in Israeli television commercials before he started acting. He made his acting debut in 2005, when he had a guest role in an episode of the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

children's programme '' The Basil Brush Show'', playing a character named Sven Garley. Kazinsky then got a role in

's football drama series '' Dream Team'', in which he played Casper Rose from late 2005 to 2006, when he was killed off towards the end of the ninth series, after he announced his intention to leave. Kazinsky next played Sean Slater in ''

''; he made his first appearance on 22 August 2006. On 27 March 2007, Kazinsky was suspended from work on ''EastEnders'' for two months. A story in ''

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'' newspaper alleged that Kazinsky had bombarded a model with "obscene text messages and photographs." Kazinsky issued a statement apologising "for any offence caused and for bringing the show into disrepute". Kazinsky announced he would be leaving the show in October 2008 and made his last appearance in the show on 1 January 2009. On

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, Kazinsky was featured as the presenter in the ''EastEnders'' launch video when they launched their own video channel on the website. He made his film debut in 2012 when director

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

offered him a part in his

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

film '' Red Tails'', in which Kazinsky plays a "pilot who has to adapt to being among African-American comrades." In October 2010, Kazinsky was cast in the film '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey''. He would have played Fili, a member of the Company of Dwarves, but in April 2011, Kazinsky resigned from the role for personal reasons. On 9 January 2011, he guest starred on the drama series '' Brothers & Sisters'' as Dr Rick Appleton. On 13 November 2012, Kazinsky joined the cast of the sixth season of the fantasy drama series '' True Blood'', which premiered in 2013. That same year, Kazinsky appeared in

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

's science-fiction monster film ''

'', as Chuck Hansen, an Australian Jaeger pilot. In March 2015, he was cast in the leading role in the Fox drama series '' Second Chance''. His character, Jimmy Pritchard, was a murdered elderly ex-cop who is genetically brought back to life as a man in his mid-30s with unusual powers. The series debuted in 2016. Due to low ratings, it was cancelled after one series. Kazinsky co-starred as Orgrim Doomhammer in the fantasy adventure film ''

'', based on the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

of the same name which was released in May 2016. An avid ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...

'' player, Kazinsky credits the game with giving him self-confidence during a period in which he would be harassed and attacked by people who confused him for the Sean Slater character. In 2018, he appeared in the science-fiction film '' Mute'' which premiered on

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. In 2019, he had a cameo in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

film '' Captain Marvel''. On 17 January 2019, it was announced that Kazinsky would reprise his role of Sean Slater for a guest appearance. He returned to ''EastEnders'' for a brief stint which commenced on 26 April 2019. Kazinsky returned for two further one-off appearances, in the episode broadcast on 1 November 2021, and appeared via video call on 7 April 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazinsky, Robert Living people 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting British Soap Award for Best Actor winners English expatriate male actors in the United States 1983 births English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male television actors Jewish English male actors Actors from Haywards Heath Male actors from West Sussex