Alec Newman

Alec Newman was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

After graduating from LAMDA he built up a steady list of theatre and screen credits before landing the lead role of Paul Atreides in the Emmy award winning miniseries Dune (2000). Introduced to US audiences, a string of appearances on American TV and film followed. He won the coveted role of Barnabus Collins for a 2005 reboot of Dark Shadows (2005) produced by John Wells. Also for television, Frankenstein (2004) saw Newman in the title role, reunited with William Hurt as well as Donald Sutherland.

Continuing work on film included playing aspiring writer Paul in Penny Woolcock's The Principles of Lust (2003) and a supporting role in the Stephen Fry directed Bright Young Things (2003). Both films played at festivals worldwide including Cannes, Sundance and LIFF.

Newman has maintained a consistent presence on the London stage with work at the National Theatre, Almeida, Hampstead and Young Vic as well as the Donmar Warehouse. The 2011 Donmar production of "King Lear" starring Derek Jacobi, featured Newman as Edmund and transferred to BAM, New York. In 2015, the National Theatre production of "The Motherfucker with The Hat" in which he played the title role, garnered an Evening Standard award for Best Play.

Television series regular roles in Kurt Sutter's The Bastard Executioner (2015), Amazon's Rogue (2013) and HBO's Strike Back (2010) saw Newman in edgier often action oriented form, the turn as Strikeback villain Pavel Kuragin perhaps in particular.

In Guy Pitt's 2014 drama Greyhawk (2014) though, Newman's performance was low key and intimate, contributing to the film's nomination for that years EIFF Michael Powell award. Since then, he's been directed by Tomas Alfredson, Amma Assante and George Clooney among others.

A reputation for darker complex characters has some justification . His work in Showtrial (2021) and Karen Pirie (2022) are good examples, with Newman tackling characters in complex moral conflict.

Also a prolific voice artist, he's featured in numerous video game titles including Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (2020),Cyberpunk 2077 (2020),and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (2022).

He is a huge football fan and has indulged his love of mountains by twice trekking in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest.

Newman lives with his wife and daughter in Surrey, England.