| Family briefly moved to St Louis, MO when he was in his early teens |
| Joined the National Theater doing odd jobs for the wardrobe department |
| Lived in Nigeria with parents until the age of four |
| Trained at the Drama Centre in North London, where he performed his first amateur "Hamlet" |
1983 | London stage debut, "Another Country"; replaced Rupert Everett in the role of Guy Bennett |
1984 | American TV-movie debut, "Camille" (CBS) |
1984 | Film debut, "Another Country"; played Tommy Judd opposite Rupert Everett's Guy Bennett |
1986 | Cast as an aspiring artist in the British miniseries "Lost Empires" (aired on PBS in 1987) |
1987 | Won critical acclaim for "A Month in the Country" |
1988 | Played a film buff who takes in a mysterious boarder in "Apartment Zero" |
1989 | First starring role, playing the lead in Milos Forman's "Valmont" |
1989 | Offered a harrowing portrayal of real-life Scottish soldier Robert Lawrence who had been left paralyzed in "Tumbledown" |
1993 | Co-starred in the HBO TV drama "Hostages" |
1995 | Breakthrough role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC miniseries adaptation of Jane Austen's classic "Pride and Prejudice" |
1995 | Played pivotal role of Simon Westward in "Circle of Friends" |
1996 | Landed featured role as Kristin Scott Thomas' husband in Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient" |
1997 | Portrayed a foul-mouthed soccer player in "Fever Pitch" |
1998 | Played Wessex, the intended groom of Gwyneth Paltrow's Viola, in "Shakespeare in Love" |
1999 | Received raves for his stage performance in the London premiere of "Three Days of Rain" by Richard Greenberg |
2000 | First published work "The Department of Nothing," a short story that appeared in Speaking with the Angel |
2000 | Had featured role in "Relative Values" a film adaptation of a Noel Coward play |
2001 | Played Mark Darcy opposite Renee Zellwegger's title character in "Bridget Jones' Diary" |
2001 | Portrayed the Nazi secretary of state who took part in the Wannsee Conference in the historical drama "Conspiracy" (HBO); received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor |
2002 | Played Jack Worthing in the remake of "The Importance of Being Earnest" |
2003 | Co-Starred with Scarlett Johansson as painter Johannes Vermeer in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" |
2003 | Joined the Richard Curtis ensemble, "Love Actually" |
2004 | Reprised his role as Mark Darcy in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason |
2005 | Co-starred with Kevin Bacon as a showbiz duo whose career was ended abruptly amid scandal in "Where the Truth Lies" |
2006 | Co-starred with Emma Thompson and Angela Lansbury in "Nanny McPhee"; scripted by Thompson |
2007 | Portrayed general Aurelius in "The Last Legion" |
2008 | Cast as Uma Thurman's fiancée in the romantic comedy "The Accidental Husband" |
2008 | Cast as one of the potential fathers in the the film version of the ABBA-inspired musical "Mamma Mia!" |
2008 | Featured in Helen Hunt's directorial debut, "Then She Found Me" |
2009 | Co-starred in an adaptation of the play by Noël Coward, "Easy Virtue" |
2009 | Starred as a college professor grappling with solitude after his longtime partner dies in Tom Ford's directorial debut "A Single Man"; earned Independent Spirit, Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actor |
2009 | Voiced Scrooge's nephew in Robert Zemeckis' animated adaptation of A Christmas Carol |
2010 | Earned critical acclaim for playing King George VI in "The King's Speech" |
2011 | Co-starred with Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy in the thriller "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" |
2011 | Co-starred with Orlando Bloom and Patricia Clarkson in the small-town drama "Main Street" (lensed 2010) |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama ("The King's Speech") |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role ("The King's Speech") |
