Cast & creator
Mark Rylance
Best known for Great Performances, The South Bank Show, American Playhouse
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960 in Ashford, Kent, England) is an English actor, theatre director, and playwright. He was the first artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe in London, between 1995 and 2005. His film appearances include Prospero's Books (1991), Angels and Insects (1995), Institute Benjamenta (1996), and Intimacy (2001). Rylance won the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Rudolf Abel in Bridge of Spies (2015). Rylance played the title role in Steven Spielberg's The BFG (2016), a live-action film adaptation of the children's book by Roald Dahl, and appeared in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017), based on the British evacuation in World War II. He appeared as James Halliday in Spielberg's 2018 film Ready Player One, based on the novel of the same name.
Also known as: David Mark Rylance Waters, Mark Rylance Waters, Sir David Mark Rylance Waters
57
film credits
13
television credits
66
1956–2027 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (70)
Showing 70 of 70 credits
Great Performances
King Henry V
1971
The South Bank Show
1978
American Playhouse
William Adamson
1982
Tony Awards
Self - Winner
1956
Screen Two
Charlie Raunce
1985
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Self
2022
ScreenPlay
Conn Ellis
1986
Ready Player One
Anorak / Halliday
2018
Don't Look Up
Peter Isherwell
2021
Dunkirk
Mr. Dawson
2017
Wolf Hall
Thomas Cromwell
2015
Bones and All
Sully
2022
Bridge of Spies
Rudolf Abel
2015
The BFG
The BFG
2016
Bing
Narrator / Flop (voice)
2014
Intimacy
Jay
2001
The Undeclared War
John Yeabsley
2022
The Outfit
Leonard Burling
2022
The Other Boleyn Girl
Sir Thomas Boleyn
2008
The Trial of the Chicago 7
William Kunstler
2020
The Gunman
Terrance Cox
2015
Blitz
Roberts
2011
Waiting for the Barbarians
The Magistrate
2020
Artificial
Geoffrey Hinton
2026
Anonymous
Condell
2011
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
Nikki Fodor
1985
My Grandparents' War
Self
2019
The Phantom of the Open
Maurice Flitcroft
2022The Phantom of the Open
Executive Producer
2022
The Nightingale
2027
Prospero's Books
Ferdinand
1991
Muse of Fire
Self
2013
The Way of the Wind
Satan
Angels and Insects
William Adamson
1995
The Colorado
Self - Narrator (voice)
2016
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Jakob
1995
Days and Nights
Stephen
2014
Hearts of Fire
Fizz
1987
A Case of the Cold War: Bridge of Spies
Self
2016
The Government Inspector
Dr. David Kelly
2005
Richard II - Live at Shakespeare's Globe
Richard II
2003
Bing & Friends: Birthday Celebration
Flop (voice)
2024Nice Fish
Nice Fish
Director
Nice Fish
Screenplay
Nice Fish
Producer
The Grass Arena
John Healy
1991
Nothing Is Truer than Truth
Self
2018
Measure for Measure: Live from the Globe
Vincentio, Duke of Vienna
2004
Twelfth Night
Olivia
2012
We Are Many
Self
2014
Love Lies Bleeding
Conn Ellis
1993
Bing’s Christmas and Other Stories
Flop
2020
Henry V at Shakespeare's Globe
Henry V
1997
In Lambeth
William Blake
1993
Measure for Measure: Live from The Globe
Vincentio, Duke of Vienna
2004Wolf Hall: The Inside Story
Self
2015
On the Edge
(voice)
2027
Leonardo
Leonardo
2003
Inland
Dunleavy
2023
The McGuffin
Gavin
1986The Flaneur
Narrator
2019
Loving
Charlie Raunce
1996Incident in Judaea
1991
Inside The Institute
Self
2010
Much Ado About Something
Himself
2001
Hamlet {Solo}
Self
2007
Spirit of Place
2024
Shakespeare's Globe
Himself
2005