Theatre Havill began his career with the
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). In 1989, he portrayed
Lysander at the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre's production of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' The following year, Havill was cast as the Reverend James Morell in
George Bernard Shaw's
Candida, for which
The Guardians
Lyn Gardner wrote "Much of the pleasure of Christopher Luscombe's well-observed period production is in watching Andrew Havill's interesting Morell move from confident self-belief to bewildered self-doubt as he starts to understand that even goodness is a form of selfishness." Havill's other stage roles of the 2000s include working with
Alan Ayckbourn on his play
Virtual Reality, a West End production of
Jean Anouilh's
Ring Around the Moon, and roles in director Chris Luscombe's productions of
The Comedy of Errors and
The Merry Wives of Windsor at
Shakespeare's Globe. Of the latter, Gardner wrote "Havill's comic timing is a joy." Havill also appeared as Frank Ford in
The Merry Wives of Windsor US tour of 2010.
Ben Brantley commented in
The New York Times, "As Ford... the excellent Mr. Havill is exactly as serious as he needs to be, reminding us that one of comedy’s main functions is to defuse bombs that in real life often explode and destroy." In 2012 and 2013, he was part of the original cast of James Graham's play
This House, at the
National Theatre, directed by
Jeremy Herrin. His work has included three roles at Hampstead Theatre in the plays
Farewell to the Theatre,
Drawing the Line, and
Wonderland, and a portrayal of the English physician Sir Gilbert Wedgecroft in a
National Theatre production of
Waste, with Anne Cox writing "Havill offers excellent support... as always." In 2019, Havill portrayed
Warren Lewis at the
Chichester Festival Theatre's production of
Shadowlands opposite actors
Liz White and
Hugh Bonneville, having appeared with Bonneville in the
Downton Abbey film of the same year.
Television Havill made his television debut in
Lucy Gannon's
Soldier Soldier in 1993, followed by a portrayal of English critic
John Davenport in
The House of Elliot Series 3 the following year. and was in the BBC drama
Spooks Series 8. His work of the 2010s includes playing Victor McKinley on the BBC's
Father Brown, Edward Sidwell on
The Coroner Series 1, episode 8 (''Napoleon's Violin
), and Gareth Anderson on Vera (in the episode Natural Selection
) in 2017. and Professor Lucius Stamfield in Endeavour of the same year. In the fifth and sixth seasons of The Crown'', he portrayed
Robert Fellowes, the Queen's private secretary and brother-in-law of
Princess Diana. He and twelve other cast members were nominated for the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for their roles in
The Crown. In 2024, he portrayed the criminal defence lawyer Stuart Wentworth QC in the British television drama
Mr Bates vs The Post Office. In
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), he played a First Order Officer with a small speaking role. and
General Reginald Dyer in the
Bollywood biographical historical drama film
Sardar Udham. In 2024, he portrayed Commander
Oliver Locker-Lampson in the
Netflix documentary drama
Einstein and the Bomb with
Aidan McArdle as
Einstein. ==Filmography==