Early life

Spall was born at King's College Hospital in Camberwell, London, the second of three children of Shane (née Baker) and actor Timothy Spall. Unlike his two sisters, Mercedes and Pascale, a primary school teacher and a textile designer, respectively, Spall followed in his father's footsteps. Named after the protagonist in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, a role his father played in the Royal Shakespeare Company and one he would later play himself, he always had ambitions to act. Having achieved poor grades at his school, Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College, he left to become an actor and joined the National Youth Theatre after failing to get into his chosen drama schools.

Career

Spall has frequently collaborated with Edgar Wright, appearing in his films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Spall was also featured in Wright's segment in the 2007 Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez film Grindhouse.

In 2007 he performed for the first time with his father in the ITV adaptation of A Room with a View playing father and son.

In 2012, Spall portrayed Canadian author Yann Martel in the Academy Award-winning drama film Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and starring Suraj Sharma and Irrfan Khan. The film was a critical and financial success, winning four Academy Awards and making over $600 million at the box office. In 2013, he played the newlywed husband in I Give It a Year, a comedy about the trials and tribulations of a couple during their first year of marriage.

In 2014, Spall appeared in the coming-of-age drama X+Y, alongside Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins, and the seasonal family comedy Get Santa. In 2015, he played John Hancock in the History Channel three-part series, Sons of Liberty, alongside Jim Broadbent, and appeared in the Academy Award-winning biographical comedy-drama The Big Short, alongside Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell. Also that year, Spall played Harry Price in Harry Price: Ghost Hunter, ITV's adaptation of Neil Spring's debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. The film aired on ITV1 on 27 December.

Personal life

Spall claims to have always struggled with his weight, going up to 114 kg, but said that he was given so many character parts that he attempted to slim down, losing over 32 kg. Like his father, he is a very keen supporter of Crystal Palace. He is a patron of the Actors' Centre.

While living in London Fields, he was in a relationship with his The Rotter's Club co-star Alice Eve from 2004 to 2006. In 2007, he dated Alexandra Mann, a designer and stylist. In February 2008, he met actress Elize du Toit through friends at a bar in London. They were married on 14 August 2010 and live in West Kensington, London. They have two children: a daughter named Lena (born 2011) and a son named Rex (born November 2012).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Beginner's Luck
2004	Shaun of the Dead	Noel
2004	The Calcium Kid	Stan Parlour
2005	Green Street	Swill
2005	The Last Drop	Pvt. Wellings
2006	Kidulthood	Lenny
2006	A Good Year	Kenny
2007	Get Off My Land	Man
2007	Hot Fuzz	DC Cartwright
2007	Grindhouse	Ghost	Featured in the segment "Don't"
2008	Close	Eric
2009	The Scouting Book For Boys	Steve
2009	Modern Life Is Rubbish	Liam
2010	Behind the Door	Bobby
2010	Sus	D.C. Wilby
2011	Anonymous	William Shakespeare
2011	One Day	Ian
2012	Prometheus	Millburn
2012	Life of Pi	Yann Martel	Replaced Tobey Maguire in post-production
2012	Earthbound	Joe Norman
2013	I Give It a Year	Josh
2013	The World's End	House Buyer
2013	The F Word	Ben
2014	X+Y	Mr. Humphreys	Nominated — BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Indiana Film Journalists Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
2014	Get Santa	Steve
2015	The Big Short	Danny Moses	Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2016	Swallows and Amazons	Jim Turner	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Out of Control	Ray
2003	The Lion in Winter	Prince John
2004	The Legend of the Tamworth Two	Crustie
2005	The Rotters' Club	Sean Harding
2005	Twisted Tales	Dominic	Episode: "Death Metal Chronicles"
2006	The Romantics	John Clare
2006	The Chatterley Affair	Keith
2006	Cracker	DS McAllister
2006	Wide Sargasso Sea	Edward Rochester
2006	Dracula	Jonathan Harker
2007	A Room with a View	George Emerson
2008	He Kills Coppers	Frank Taylor
2008	Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me	Dennis Heymer
2009	Agatha Christie's Marple	Roger Bassington	Episode: "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?"
2009	Desperate Romantics	William 'Maniac' Hunt
2011	The Shadow Line	Jay Wratten
2010-2011	Pete Versus Life	Pete Griffiths
2014	Black Mirror	Joe Potter	Episode: "White Christmas"
2015	Sons of Liberty	John Hancock

Stage

• Betrayal by Harold Pinter at the Ethel Barrymore Theater as Jerry (2013)
• Constellations by Nick Payne at the Royal Court Theatre as Roland (2012)
• If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet by Nick Payne at the Bush Theatre as Terry (2009)
• Hello and Goodbye by Athol Fugard with the English Touring Theatre as Johnny (2008)
• Alaska by DC Moore at the Royal Court Theatre as Frank (2007)
• John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen at the Donmar Warehouse as Erhart Borkman (2007)
• The Knight of the Burning Pestle by Francis Beaumont at the Young Vic Theatre/Barbican Theatre as Rafe (2005)
• Just a Bloke by David Watson at the Royal Court Theatre as Nathan (2002)
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by Simon Bent at the National Theatre as Harold Crosby/Coach Chickering/Larry Lish (2002)

Radio

• The Daily Bacon BBC Radio 5 Live 3 (2010)
• Words and Music: Crushed BBC Radio 3 as a guest reader (2008)
• Hide BBC Radio 3 as the convict (2007)
• The Real Thing BBC Radio 4 as Billy (2006)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]