Stephen Mangan

Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is a British actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Adrian Mole in The Cappuccino Years, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022). He has presented Artist of the Year since 2018 on Sky Arts. As a stage actor, he was Tony-nominated for his portrayal of Norman in The Norman Conquests on Broadway. He starred as Bertie Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End, which won the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. He co-presented the 2020 edition of Children in Need for the BBC. Mangan was born on 16 May 1968 in Ponders End, in Enfield, north London, to Irish parents. He has two younger sisters. Mangan was educated at two private schools, Lochinver House School for boys in Potters Bar, and Haileybury and Imperial Service College (now co-educational), a boarding school in the village of Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. He was in a school prog rock band called Aragon, which recorded an album called The Wizard's Dream. Mangan studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Law at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he appeared in 21 plays, although he did not join the Cambridge Footlights. Mangan took a year out to care for his mother, Mary, who died of colon cancer at age 45. Weeks after her death, he auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and went on to study there for three years. Mangan's first film part was as Doctor Crane in Billy Elliot, which was released in 2000. In 2001, he appeared in the Miramax film Birthday Girl, starring Nicole Kidman and Vincent Cassel; in the same year he appeared as French cabaret singer Pierre Dupont in the film Chunky Monkey alongside David Threlfall and Alison Steadman. In 2002, he appeared opposite Keira Knightley in the short New Year's Eve. He played the leading role in 2003's SuperTex, a Dutch film directed by Jan Schütte and filmed in English. In 2005, he played a comedian in Festival, a British black comedy film about a number of people at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, directed by Annie Griffin. The general shots of the festival were filmed during the 2004 event. Mangan was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA for his performance. He also played Josef in 2006's Confetti.