.
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Dance was a member of the
Royal Shakespeare Company during the mid-to-late 1970s and was in many of their productions in London and
Stratford-upon-Avon. Later he returned to the RSC to take the title role in
Coriolanus at Stratford-upon-Avon and
Newcastle in 1989, and at the
Barbican Theatre in 1990. He received rave reviews and a
Critics' Circle Best Actor award for his performance as
C. S. Lewis in
William Nicholson's
Shadowlands, in the 2007 stage revival.
Television and film Dance made his screen debut in 1974, in the ITV series
Father Brown as Commandant Neil O'Brien in "The Secret Garden". Other small parts followed, including a 1983 cameo as a
South African assassin in
The Professionals, but his big break came the following year when he played Guy Perron in
The Jewel in the Crown (Granada Television, Christopher Morahan 1984), an adaptation of
Paul Scott's novels that also made stars of
Geraldine James and
Art Malik. Dance made one of his earliest big-screen appearances in the 1981
James Bond film
For Your Eyes Only as evil henchman Claus. Though he turned down the opportunity to screen test for the James Bond role, in 1989 he played Bond creator
Ian Fleming in
Anglia Television's dramatised biography directed by
Don Boyd,
Goldeneye (the name of
Fleming's estate in Jamaica and a title later used for a
James Bond film). He has also starred in many other British television dramas such as
Edward the Seventh (as
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale,
Edward VII's oldest son, and heir to the throne),
Murder Rooms,
Randall and Hopkirk,
Rebecca,
The Phantom of the Opera,
Fingersmith and
Bleak House (for which he received an
Emmy nomination for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie). He was name-checked in the British comedy series
Absolutely Fabulous, as being slated to play the title character in
The Life of Jesus Christ 2, which was filming in
Morocco at the same time as the main characters of the series were there for a photo shoot. He also played Guy Spencer, the pro-
Hitler propagandist, in the second instalment of ''
Foyle's War, and had an ongoing role as Dr. Maltravers in the ITV drama Trinity''. Dance made a guest appearance on the BBC drama series
Merlin as the Witchfinder Aredian, and as a vainglorious version of himself in the third series of
Jam & Jerusalem. He played
Lord Vetinari in the 2010 Sky adaptation of ''
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, and the Russian oligarch Aleksandr Borinski in Paris Connections''. He played the role of
Tywin Lannister in
HBO's
Game of Thrones, based on the
A Song of Ice and Fire novels by
George R. R. Martin. Dance was wooed for the role by the producers while filming
Your Highness in
Belfast. Dance also played Conrad Knox on the British television series
Strike Back: Vengeance as the primary villain in the series. Since 2012, Dance has had a recurring role in
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year reading excerpts from books, such as
Fifty Shades of Grey or the autobiographies of English media personalities, in a deadpan manner. On 30 June 2013, Dance appeared with other celebrities in an episode of the BBC's
Top Gear as a "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" for the debut of the
Vauxhall Astra. In summer 2018, Dance narrated a documentary entitled
Spitfire, which featured the legendary Supermarine Spitfire and recounted the efforts of the RAF pilots who flew them during the Second World War. In February 2017, Dance participated as a featured guest at the inaugural
Saudi Comic Con in
Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, alongside fellow
Game of Thrones actor
Julian Glover. In 2019 he played an antagonist in
Godzilla: King of the Monsters and appeared as
Lord Mountbatten in series 3 of
The Crown in the same year. In 2020, Dance portrayed
William Randolph Hearst in
David Fincher's
Mank, co-starring alongside
Gary Oldman and
Amanda Seyfried. In 2024 Dance starred as
Michelangelo in the BBC docu-drama
Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty.
Screenwriting and directing Dance's debut film as a screenwriter and director was
Ladies in Lavender (2004), which starred
Judi Dench and
Maggie Smith. In 2009, he directed his own adaptation of
Alice Thomas Ellis's
The Inn at the Edge of the World. == Personal life ==