
Not a conventional hottie, Tom Hollander is a fine character actor who often plays bad guys and darker characters in historical costume movies and TV shows. He’s one of those quirky, smart fellows who turns up time and again and really makes a scene work just right. Thus, he deserves a Man Candy Monday too!
Sir John Ogelby in The Clandestine Marriage (1999)
Osborne Hamley in Wives and Daughters (1999)
Anthony Meredith in Gosford Park (2001)
George V in The Lost Prince (2003)
Sir Peter Lely in Stage Beauty (2004)
Etherege in The Libertine (2004)
Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Cutler Beckett in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) & At World’s End (2007)
Sir Amyas Paulet in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
King George III in John Adams (2008)
John Ruskin in Desperate Romantics (2009)
Duke of Windsor in Any Human Heart (2010)
Wilkie Collins in The Invisible Woman (2013)
Dylan Thomas in A Poet in New York (2014)
Doctor Thorne in Doctor Thorne (2016)
Cholmondeley in Taboo (2017)
What’s your favorite historical costume movie or TV role of Tom Hollander’s?
You didn’t mention his role as Guy Burgess in Cambridge Spies. Which also has Sam West as Anthony Blunt. Silly series; great performances. Otherwise, my vote goes to his portrayal of Ruskin in Desperate Romantics.
Silly?? It was excellent! And also with Toby Stephens!
I do love his portrayal of Ruskin in Desperate Romantics even though I absolutely hated the series.
I just saw Doctor Thorne yesterday and was delighted. Tom Hollander did an excellent job carrying the charming miniseries.
It made me wonder how old Mr. Hollander was, since his character seemed such a wise, patient, gray-haired pillar of the community, but I didn’t think the actor could possibly be 50 at the time of filming! (I think he was 47 or 48 at time of filming, which means at 38 he was a very old Mr. Collins in the 2005 P&P!)
He can do silly, he can do stately, he can do sweet. An actor I enjoy watching, even if he’s not on my “would put his poster on my wall” shortlist.
Many of the MCMs that I enjoy posting are actors that have a range & that make me think! Just a hot bod or pretty face doesn’t do it for me ;)
I’ve loved Tom Hollander since Wives and Daughters. Such a wonderful performance as Osborne Hamley. He completely sold me on the more sensitive, better looking brother, even playing against dreamy Anthony Howell.
I also adore his scene in the kitchen with Sophie Thompson in Gosford Park, where he tries some of the jam. One of the tenderest moments in a story full of self-serving cynics. I rather think he’s wasted in villainous roles. He’s good at them, but even better at characters with soul.
Osborne Hamley in Wives and Daughters, Doctor Thorne, Ruskin and one of the infamous Cambridge Communist spies in Cambridge Spies, Guy Burgess. The trial scene where he waxes on Middlemarsh is brilliant.
I’ve seen everything except A Poet in New York — not for Hollander, but because he keeps showing up in costume dramas I want to watch!! XD
He’s one of those great actors that disappear in a role, and you watch them going “I know him, but from what?”
Absolutely the best Mr. Collins ever. He also did a great job as a creepy villain in The Night Manager.
The “excellent boiled potatoes” comment always cracks me up.
Not a period piece, but he is absolutely outstanding in “Rev”, a British series in which he plays a vicar, with the splendid Olivia Coleman as his wife. There are turns from Simon McBurney as a waspish gay Archdeacon and Ralph Fiennes as a bishop; Liam Neeson shows up as Jesus …
Just spotted him in Bohemian Rhapsody as Jim Beach.
Oh, I love Tom Hollander! My answer is a bit of a cheat. My fave historical costume drama of his is “Possession” starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart. It’s (kind of) a cheat answer because Hollander’s small role is in the modern-day story rather than in the historical (Victoria-era) story.