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Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the "Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions Made in Britain (1982) and Meantime (1983), Roth was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer in his theatrical film debut The Hit (1984). He gained further recognition for his roles in films, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Vincent & Theo, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (both 1990).
Roth has collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on several films, including Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Four Rooms (1995), and The Hateful Eight (2015). For his performance in Rob Roy (1995), he won a BAFTA Award, and was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award. Other film credits include The Legend of 1900 (1998), Planet of the Apes (2001), Funny Games (2007), Selma (2014), Luce (2019), and Bergman Island (2021).
Roth made his directorial debut with the film The War Zone (1999). He played Cal Lightman on the Fox series Lie to Me (2009–11), Jim Worth / Jack Devlin on the Sky Atlantic series Tin Star (2017–20), and Emil Blonsky / Abomination in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the films The Incredible Hulk (2008), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and the Disney+ series (2022).
Roth is a survivor of child sexual abuse, committed by his paternal grandfather, whom he has stated sexually abused him from childhood until his early teen years. He first revealed that he was a victim of sexual abuse during press for the 1999 film The War Zone, which dealt with the topics of incest and sexual violence within a family, but declined to name the perpetrator at that time. In December 2016, he gave an interview to The Guardian in which he said that his abuser was his grandfather, who had also abused his father when he was a child.
Roth attended school in Lambeth before moving to Croydon College, due to bullying. He attended the Strand School in Tulse Hill. Roth wanted to be a sculptor and studied at London's Camberwell College of Arts.
In 1990, he played Vincent van Gogh in Vincent & Theo, and Guildenstern in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.
Roth became an international star when he collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on several films, including Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Four Rooms.
He played Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe. Roth starred in Woody Allen's musical film Everyone Says I Love You and in The Legend of 1900. He also co-starred with Tupac Shakur in the film Gridlock'd. Roth made his directorial debut film The War Zone, a film version of Alexander Stuart's novel. In 2001, he played General Thade the evil chimpanzee in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. For the Harry Potter film series, Roth declined the role of Severus Snape, which went to Alan Rickman.
Roth starred in Francis Ford Coppola's film Youth Without Youth, Michael Haneke's Funny Games, and played Emil Blonsky / Abomination, a Russian-born officer in the British Royal Marines Commandos, in The Incredible Hulk. Louis Leterrier was a fan of Roth's work. Leterrier wrote on Empire magazine: "it's great watching a normal Cockney boy become a superhero!". Roth starred in the television series Lie to Me as Cal Lightman, an expert on body language assisting local and federal law organisations with crime. A fan of Monty Python since his youth, Roth appeared in the 2009 television documentary, . He appeared on the cover of Manic Street Preachers' 2010 studio album, Postcards from a Young Man.
In 2012, he became the president of the jury for the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. He starred as FIFA President Sepp Blatter in United Passions, a film about football's governing body, released in 2014, to coincide with FIFA's 110th anniversary, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Roth played Oswaldo Mobray in the ensemble western film The Hateful Eight, and played a butler in a deleted scene for the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Roth starred in the 2015 film Chronic which had a limited release. He received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead nomination. Roth collaborated with director Michel Franco again, in 2021, when he starred in Sundown. Roth was also an executive producer on Franco's 2017 film, April's Daughter.
In 2017, Roth appeared in five episodes of the third season of Twin Peaks. Roth also starred in British crime drama Tin Star, which ran from 2017 to 2020.
Roth reprised his role as Emil Blonsky / Abomination in the film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and in the Disney+ series (2022), both set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In 2022, Roth starred in the psychological horror film Resurrection. The same year he also appeared in New Zealand sports drama, Punch. In 2023, Roth appeared in 10 episodes of the Australian drama, Last King of the Cross.
In 2025, Roth starred in the British thriller Tornado. He is due to appear in historical crime drama, The Immortal Man, a continuation of the British television series Peaky Blinders.
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