Gwilym Lee (born 24 November 1983) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in Midsomer Murders (2013–2016), A Song for Jenny (2015), Jamestown (2017), Top End Wedding (2019), The Great (2020–2023), and for playing guitarist Brian May in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).
Lee was commended in the 2008 Ian Charleson Awards for his appearance in the National Theatre's production of Oedipus and in 2009 played Laertes to Jude Law's Hamlet in the Donmar West End season.
He won first prize of the 2011 Ian Charleson Award for his role as Edgar in the 2010 King Lear production at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2012, Lee starred in the Donmar Trafalgar Studios production of Aleksei Arbuzov's The Promise.
At Christmas 2013, Lee began a television starring role as DCI Barnaby's new sergeant, DS Charlie Nelson, in the 16th series of Midsomer Murders, which also included the show's 100th episode, partially shot in Denmark in collaboration with the local national broadcasting corporation, DR. In early 2014 he appeared in Versailles at the Donmar Warehouse.
In April 2016, it was announced by ITV that Lee was not returning for season 19 of Midsomer Murders. Lee, on his Twitter account, indicated he would be involved in an upcoming series Jamestown. Lee played guitarist Brian May in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Queen Pic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Finds Bandmates In Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee & Joe Mazzello, Retrieved 22 August 2017. which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards.
In 2018, it was announced that Lee had joined the cast of the Hulu series The Great; on the series airing for three seasons from 2020 to 2023, Lee starred amongst the ensemble cast as Grigor Dymov, a composite character of Catherine the Great's historical lovers Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin, and a childhood friend of Peter III. Bohemian Rhapsody's Gwilym Lee Joins Hulu Pilot 'The Great', Retrieved 13 May 2023.
In 2023, it was announced that Lee had been cast in the second season of . Filming begins on SAS Rogue Heroes series two, as new and returning cast are announced, Retrieved 13 May 2023.
| 2008 | The Escort | Short film | |
| 2010 | The Tourist | Senior Technician Mountain | |
| 2011 | Isle of Dogs | D.C. Block | |
| 2017 | The Agency | Alistair | Short film |
| 2018 | The Last Witness | John Underwood | |
| Bohemian Rhapsody | Brian May | ||
| 2019 | Top End Wedding | Ned Pelton | Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 |
| 2023 | Tall Dark and Handsome | James | Short film |
| 2024 | Oddity | Ted | |
| Here | John Harter | ||
| 1997–1998 | Animal Ark | James Hunter | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 2008 | Mutual Friends | Young Man | TV series, episode: #1.5 |
| 2009 | Lewis | Terry Bainbridge | Episode: "The Quality of Mercy" |
| Waterloo Road | Steven | TV series, episode #4.11 | |
| Ashes to Ashes | Young Summers | TV series, episode #2.7 | |
| 2010 | Doctors | Anatole Karpski | TV series, episode: "Idle Hands" |
| 2011 | Land Girls | Reverend Henry Jameson | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 2012 | The Hollow Crown | Williams | TV miniseries, episode: "Henry V" |
| Fresh Meat | Giles | TV series, episode #2.1 | |
| Monroe | Alex Scholfield | TV series, episode #2.3 | |
| Restless | Sean Gilmartin | Television film | |
| 2013–2016 | Midsomer Murders | DS Charlie Nelson | TV series, 15 episodes |
| 2015 | A Song for Jenny | James | Television film |
| 2017 | The Royal House of Windsor | Narrator | Documentary series |
| Jamestown | Samuel Castell | 8 episodes | |
| 2019 | The Man | Mark Baxter | Episode #1.2 |
| 2020–2023 | The Great | Grigory "Grigor" Dymov | Hulu series, main cast |
| 2024 | Bill Stirling | BBC series, season 2 | |
| 2025 | Top End Bub | Ned Pelton | TV series, main cast, sequel to Top End Wedding |
| 1999 | Richard III | Edward, Prince of Wales | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 2008 | Oedipus Rex | The Messenger and Understudy Oedipus | National Theatre | with Ralph Fiennes |
| 2009 | About Tommy | Tommy | Southwark Playhouse | |
| Hamlet | Laertes | Kronborg Castle and Broadhurst Theatre | with Jude Law | |
| Hamlet | Guildenstern | Donmar Warehouse | ||
| 2010 | The Fairy-Queen | Demetrius | Opera-Comique and Off-Broadway | |
| Danton's Death | Lacroix and Understudy Danton | National Theatre | ||
| 2010–2011 | King Lear | Edgar | Donmar Warehouse | |
| 2011 | Othello | Cassio | Sheffield Crucible | with Lily James, Dominic West |
| 2012 | The Promise | Leonidik | Donmar Warehouse at Trafalgar Studios | |
| 2014 | Versailles | Leonard | Donmar Warehouse | with Tom Hughes |
| 2017 | Diminished | Adam | Hampstead Theatre | |
| 2025 | Dear England | Gareth Southgate | Royal National Theatre |
| 2013 | Cloud Chamber | Tom | |
| 2015 | Psaro the Manslayer | English voice | |
| 2015 | Cid | English voice | |
| 2019 | Cid | English voice | |
| 2020 | South of the Circle | Peter | Voice, 3D motion capture |
| 2021 | Cid | English voice | |
| 2008 | Guildhall School of Music and Drama | Drama Gold Medal | |||
| Ian Charleson Awards | Commendations | portraying the Messenger in Oedipus Rex at National Theatre | Wise, Louis. "Award for young actors". Sunday Times. 19 June 2011. | ||
| 2010 | First Prize | portraying Edgar in King Lear at Donmar Warehouse | |||
| 2019 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Bohemian Rhapsody | ||
| 2021 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Great | ||
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