Matthew James Tennyson (born 1988) is an English actor of stage and screen. He won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer in 2012.
Early life and education Tennyson was born in Stoke Newington, London. His father, Jonathan Tennyson, is a physics professor, and his mother, Janice Mary Hopson, is a nurse. He is a grandson of the late radio producer Hallam Tennyson, who took him to the theatre as a child. His paternal grandmother, Margot Wallach, was a Jewish refugee who had fled Nazi Germany. Tennyson is a great-great-great-grandson of poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Tennyson was educated at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), from which he graduated in 2011.
Career
Stage Tennyson made his professional stage debut in 2011 under the direction of Trevor Nunn in the role of Percy in Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, followed by Jamie in Beautiful Thing at The Royal Exchange for which he received the Best Newcomer award at the 2011 Manchester Theatre Awards. The following year he was the recipient of the 2012 Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards for his performance as Eric in Making Noise Quietly at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2013 he played Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe.
In 2017 Tennyson played the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's gender-fluid 2017 production of Oscar Wilde's Salomé.
He is a frequent collaborator with the playwright Robert Holman since appearing in the Donmar Warehouse production of his play Making Noise Quietly. He went on to star in Holman's A Breakfast of Eels (2015) and The Lodger (2021). A Breakfast of Eels was written specifically for Tennyson and his co-star Andrew Sheridan. It also won Tennyson an Off West End Award for Best Male Actor in 2016.
In 2018, Tennyson was the lead in the Olivier Award winning A Monster Calls at The Old Vic.
In 2023, Tennyson joined the cast of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh at The Duke of York's Theatre alongside Steve Pemberton, Lily Allen and Paul Kaye.
In 2024 Tennyson played Edgar in King Lear at the Almeida Theatre directed by Yaël Farber. At the end of that year and into 2025 he starred alongside Simon Russell Beale as the younger A. E. Housman "played both gently and intensely" in the Hampstead Theatre's revival of Stoppard's The Invention of Love.
Films and television Tennyson's television roles include Clarence in The Hollow Crown (Henry IV Parts I and II), Ottaviano Riario in Borgia, and Lysander in Russell T Davies's television adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He has also appeared in the ITV detective dramas Midsomer Murders and Grantchester, and the BBC period drama Father Brown.
Tennyson was featured in the 2014 film Pride, directed by Matthew Warchus. In 2019, he reprised the role of Eric in the film adaptation of Making Noise Quietly directed by Dominic Dromgoole. He played the war poet Wilfred Owen in Terence Davies's 2021 biopic of Siegfried Sassoon, Benediction.
Audioplays Tennyson played Jamie Jones, the titular character in the BBC Radio 4 play Jonesy by Tom Wells, broadcast in February 2014. In 2016, he was the voice of Jude in the Amazon Audible drama Romeo and Jude, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written by Marty Ross.
Personal life Tennyson has spoken openly about being gay.
A descendant of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in 2025, he took part in a special reading of the poet's work, In Memoriam A. H. H., to mark the 175th anniversary of the poem's publication.
Filmography
Television YearTitleChannel/NetworkRoleNote/Ref2006Midsomer MurdersITVMichael ButlerSeries 9, episode 6 - "Vixen's Run"2012The Hollow CrownBBC Two and PBSClarenceSeries 1, episodes 4 and 5 - "Henry IV", Part I and Part II2013Da Vinci's DemonsStarz and FoxAltar BoySeries 1, episode 1 - "The Hanged Man"2013-2014BorgiaCanal+, ZDF, ORF, and Sky ItaliaOttaviano RiarioSeries 2 and 3, 3 episodes2014BabylonChannel 4CounsellorSeries 1, episode 42015Father BrownBBC OneThomas PottsSeries 3, episode 6 - "The Upcott Fraternity"2015HumansChannel 4HowardSeries 1, episode 42016GrantchesterITVKit BartlettSeries 2, episode 22016A Midsummer Night's DreamBBC OneLysanderTelevision film2026BetrayalITVGreg TaylorMain role
Films YearTitleRoleNote/Ref2014PrideBoy from Printers2019Making Noise QuietlyEric Baber2021BenedictionWilfred Owen2025HamnetActor who played Gertrude
Audioplays YearTitleStation/NetworkRoleNote/Ref2014JonesyBBC Radio 4Jamie Jones2014Close CallBBC Radio 4Vincent2014-2015Home FrontBBC Radio 4Humphrey Grimes2015PilgrimBBC Radio 4HartleySeries 6, episode 42015The Sea, The SeaBBC Radio 4Titus FitchAdaptation of the novel by Iris Murdoch2016Romeo and JudeAudibleJude2017The Dark TowerBBC Radio 3Gavin2017 remake2018TommiesBBC Radio 4Harry de Tullio2020Tess of the d'UrbervillesBBC Radio 4Angel2021Don JuanBBC Radio 3Don JuanAdaptation of the epic poem by Lord Byron2026Lonely No MoreBig Finish ProductionsTLKWritten by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Theatre YearTitleRoleVenue/ProductionRefs2011Flare PathPercyTheatre Royal Haymarket2011Beautiful ThingJamieRoyal Exchange, Manchester2012Making Noise Quietly (by Robert Holman)Eric FaberDonmar Warehouse2013A Midsummer Night's DreamPuckShakespeare's Globe2015A Breakfast of Eels (by Robert Holman)PenroseThe Coronet2015The SeagullKonstantinRegent's Park Open Air Theatre2016CleansedRobinDorfman Theatre2017SalomeSalomeSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon2018A Monster CallsConorBristol Old Vic and The Old Vic, London2021The Lodger (by Robert Holman)JudeThe Coronet2022The Misfortune of the English (by Pamela Carter)LyonsOrange Tree Theatre2023The PillowmanMichalDuke of York's Theatre2024King LearEdgarAlmeida Theatre2024-2025The Invention of LoveYoung A. E. HousmanHampstead Theatre2026Sanctuary (by Jacob Sparrow)MichaelThe Pleasance
Awards YearCeremonyCategoryNominated work(s)ResultRef.20122011 Manchester Theatre AwardsBest NewcomerBeautiful Thing2012Evening Standard Theatre AwardsMilton Shulman Award for Outstanding NewcomerMaking Noise Quietly2016Off West End Theatre AwardsBest MaleA Breakfast of Eels
References
External links