Award winning actor and director Adrian Lester CBE started his career with a string of successful West End productions including Company, for which he received an Olivier Award for Best Actor, Six Degrees Of Separation and Sweeny Todd, before playing the lead role in movie Primary Colors, directed by Mike Nicholls and co-starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson and Kathy Bates. 

Other movie roles include Day After Tomorrow, As You Like It, Dust, Final Curtain, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Starting Out In The Evening, Doomsday, All Is By My Side, Best,Born Romantic, Maybe Baby, Loves Labour’s Lost, Grey Lady, Up on the Roof, Les Soeurs Soleil, The Affair, Case 39, Euphoria and the Oscar nominated Mary Queen of Scots.

TV work includes The Undeclared War, Undercover, Trauma, Trigger Point, Girlfriends (US), Red Band Society (US), London Spy, Curfew, Being Human, Merlin, Bonekickers, Ballet Shoes, Afterlife, Beyond, Ghost Squad, Jason & The Argonauts, Storm Damage, Silent Witness, Teaching Matthew, Sleep With Me, US series The Rook, the hugely successful Riviera for Sky Atlantic, BBC One drama Life and playing Mickey 'Bricks’ Stone in the long running BBC One series Hustle. Forthcoming projects include the Disney+ series The Ballard of Renegade Nell.

Adrian has played the title roles in Henry V and Othello at the National Theatre, for which he won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor, Rosalind in As You Like It for Declan Donnellan & Cheek By Jowl, Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet in London and New York, for which he won the Critics Circle Best Actor award, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opposite James Earl Jones and Hamlet in Peter Brook’s The Tragedy Of Hamlet in London, Paris, Japan and New York. 

In October 2021 he appeared in the National Theatre's transfer of The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway in New York, alongside Simon Russell Beale and Adam Godley, directed by Sir Sam Mendes, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Other theatre includes Kiss of the Spiderwomen, Fences,The Winter’s Tale, Hanging the President and a Mid Summer Night’s Dream.  In 2018 he appeared as Sky Masterson in Guys & Dolls at the Royal Albert Hall and earlier this year starred in the Pulitzer Prize winning Cost of Living at the Hampstead Theatre. In February 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic, Adrian joined Danny Sapani starring in Hymn, which was streamed live from The Almeida over six performances, was available on demand and opened to live audiences in July 2021. He also appeared as Prince in the National Theatre's Romeo & Juliet, which was broadcast on Sky Arts in April 2021.

In 2010, alongside wife, actress and playwright Lolita Charkrabarti, Adrian appeared in When Romeo met Juliet for BBC2.  He was also featured in Empire’s Children for Channel 4, retracing his grandfather’s step when he risked everything to travel 5,000 miles to Britain.

Directing work includes short Of Mary, Hustle, Riviera and The Greatest Wealth, a series of monologues, at The Old Vic Theatre in London.

Adrian also featured in the 2019 Portrait Artist of the Year Award on Sky Arts.

Adrian lives in South London with his wife, actress and playwright Lolita Chakrabarti and their two daughters.

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Adrian Lester CBE is an award-winning actor and director. His career started with a string of successful West End productions including Company, for which he received an Olivier Award, Six Degrees of Separation and Sweeny Todd, before taking the lead role in Mike Nichol's film Primary Colors. Other film roles include Day After Tomorrow, As You Like It, Loves Labour’s Lost, Grey Lady, Dust, Case No39 and the Oscar nominated Mary Queen of Scots. 

Adrian is also well known for his TV work including the long running BBC1 series Hustle, Sky Atlantic’s Riviera, US sitcom Girlfriends, Undercover, Curfew, Trauma, The Rook, Life and The Undeclared War.  Directing credits include Hustle, Riviera, short film Of Mary and The Greatest Wealth at The Old Vic.  

Adrian has played the title roles in Henry V and Othello (National Theatre), for which he won Best Actor at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards; Rosalind in As You Like It (Declan Donnellan & Cheek By Jowl); Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet (Tricycle Theatre / St Ann’s Warehouse New York / Garrick Theatre), for which he won Best Actor at the Critics Circle Awards; Hamlet in Peter Brook’s The Tragedy Of Hamlet (London, Paris, Japan and New York), Guys & Dolls (Royal Albert Hall), Cost of Living (Hampstead) and Hymn (The Almeida), which was streamed live and opened to audiences. He also appeared as Prince in the National Theatre's production of Romeo & Juliet, which was broadcast on Sky Arts in April 2021.

He made is Broadway debut in The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sir Sam Mendes in October 2021, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Forthcoming projects include the Disney+ series The Ballard of Renegade Nell.

Award winning actor and director Adrian Lester CBE started his career with a string of successful West End productions including Company and Sweeny Todd. He played Hamlet, directed by Peter Brook then Henry V and Othello at the National Theatre and Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet in London and New York. Other credits including Guys & Dolls, Cost of Living and Hymn. He made is Broadway debut in The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway, New York in October 2021, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.  

Movies include Primary Colors, Day After Tomorrow, Loves Labour’s Lost and Oscar nominated Mary Queen of Scots.  

Adrian is also well known for his TV work including the BBC1 series Hustle, Undercover, Trauma, Trigger Point, Riviera, BBC One drama Life and the forthcoming Disney+ series The Ballard of Renegade Nell.