Aneurin Barnard

Barnard was born in Bridgend in Wales on 1 May 1987, the son of factory worker June and coal miner Terry Barnard.^[2][3] His first language is Welsh.^[4] He attended Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari in Rhondda Cynon Taf during his secondary school years. Barnard trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, graduating as salutatorian in 2008,^[3] and was credited as a RWCMD Associate Award in 2019.^[5]

Barnard was aged five when he began to be involved in the theatre at the Bridgend County Youth Theatre in 1992.^[6] Whilst a student at drama school, he appeared in productions of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Hobson's Choice, The Importance of Being Earnest, Heathers: The Musical, and West Side Story, in which he played Tony. He was also involved in a radio production of Under Milk Wood.^[7]

He played Melchior, one of the three leads, in the London premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening, which opened in February 2009 at the Lyric Hammersmith.^[8] The play later transferred to the Novello Theatre in March 2009, running until May 2009. For his performance, Barnard won the Laurence Olivier Award.^[9]

Barnard starred in the HTV Wales series Jacob's Ladder as a 16-year-old. He has appeared in guest roles in TV series Doctors, Casualty, Shameless, and Y Pris.^[10] He has also appeared in the short TV films The Big Day, Night on the Tiles and the BAFTA Cymru-winning Owl Creek Bridge.^[6]

In 2011 Barnard starred in Hunky Dory,^[2] co-starring with Minnie Driver.^[3] Barnard played the role of Davey and in the film sang songs from the era such as David Bowie's "Life on Mars" and The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me".^[1]

In January 2012, Barnard starred as photographer David Bailey in the television film We'll Take Manhattan.^[2] He also appeared in the 2012 horror film Elfie Hopkins. Barnard then appeared in the lead role in Vertigo Films's Guinea Pigs,^[11] a micro-budget horror film about volunteers fighting for their lives after a drug trial goes wrong. Later in 2012 he starred in the horror-thriller film Citadel.^[4]

In 2012 Barnard filmed the fantasy adventure film The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box^[12] throughout the South West of England, playing the title role of Mariah Mundi alongside Michael Sheen.^[4] The film was released in 2014.^[12] Barnard also featured in Trap for Cinderella (2013),^[12] and as Claude in Francesca Gregorini's drama thriller, The Truth About Emanuel.^[12] In 2013 Barnard portrayed King Richard III of England in the television series The White Queen on BBC One.^[3] He also appeared as John Trenchard in a two-part Sky TV adaptation of Moonfleet.^[2]

In 2016 he starred as Prince Boris Drubetskoy in Andrew Davies's television adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, broadcast on BBC One,^[13] for which he was nominated for Best Actor (Yr Actor Gorau).^[14] He starred as Tim Hobson, boyfriend of Ivy Moxham, (played by Jodie Comer) in the BBC 5 part drama Thirteen.^[1]

In 2017 he appeared in the film Bitter Harvest. He played the music manager Bobby Willis in ITV's 3-part drama Cilla.^[1]

Also in 2017, Barnard had the lead role as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Interlude in Prague. The following year, he played William in the British comedy, Dead in a Week or Your Money Back. In 2022 it was announced that Barnard would appear in the fourteenth series of Doctor Who as Roger ap Gwilliam.^[15]

In 2021 Barnard starred in the BBC One prison drama Time alongside Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, earning a fifteenth nomination for Best Actor (Yr Actor Gorau).^[16]

In January 2023, Barnard starred as Ryan in the Channel 5 series The Catch,^[17] alongside Jason Watkins and Poppy Gilbert.^[1] In 2023 he was featured as a patient with erectile dysfunction in the BBC television feature Men Up, about the first clinical trials for the drug Viagra that took place in Swansea in 1994.^[18]