New was born and raised in Swindon, United Kingdom, and comes from a working-class background. His father was a lorry driver and his mother held various short-term jobs, and New has an older brother. According to his own account, New "ran away" from Swindon in order to attend the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.
Theatre work New has extensive theatre credits. His first professional stage credit occurred just weeks after graduation, when he appeared in the summer of 2006 as Mosby in the
Elizabethan-era play
Arden of Faversham at the
White Bear Theatre in London. A reviewer for
The Stage remarked that he played the villainous role with "brooding menace". That December, he appeared as Horst opposite theatre veteran
Alan Cumming in a production of
Bent, by
Martin Sherman, at Trafalgar Studios in London. His performance won him an
Evening Standard Award nomination for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer of 2006, and a
What's On Stage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award nomination for Best London Newcomer of the Year for 2006. In February 2007, New took on the role of Louis in
The Reporter, a play by
Nicholas Wright about the mysterious suicide of journalist
David James Mossman in 1971. The play was produced by the
Royal National Theatre at the Cottesloe Theatre in London. Philip Fisher for
The British Theatre Guide had equally good things to say, noting that "New, who received universal plaudits for his performance opposite Alan Cumming in
Bent once again shows real talent as Louis." In October 2007, New played Dromio of Ephesus in
William Shakespeare The Comedy of Errors. The comedy was mounted by the
Royal Shakespeare Company, and New was part of the national touring cast. The play marked New's Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) debut. When
The Comedy of Errors neared the end of its tour, New took on the role of Viola in the RSC's production of William Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night. The play is about a shipwrecked woman who adopts a male identity, only to discover her long-lost twin brother is also on the island. The Neil Bartlett production was a gender-bending one, in which the female roles were played by men, and the male roles by women.
John Lithgow co-starred as Malvolio. Charles Spencer, writing for
The Daily Telegraph, was harsh in his appraisal: "in Chris New's performance, apart from an opening sequence in unconvincing drag, there is no attempt to capture Viola's femininity. He just comes over as a strangely charmless, somewhat priggish gay young man." Michael Billington in
The Guardian had few good things to write about the production as a whole, but highly praised New's performance: What's On Stage's anonymous reviewer also greatly enjoyed New's performance, noting: "Playing a woman who in turn plays a man, New is superbly deft and delicate, richly deserving of further accolades." New subsequently starred as Simon Bliss in a July 2008 revival of
Noël Coward 1924 comedy
Hay Fever at the
Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England. Critic Mark Powell wrote in
Metro News that "It's hard to see how this reasonably plush production could have been cast much better as Belinda Lang and Chris New...arguably grate the most joyously as the passive-aggressive mother and son." Alfred Hickling in
The Guardian also enjoyed New's work, noting that he played Simon Bliss "like [an] overgrown toddler[] in evening wear", while Natalie Anglesey in
The Stage praised his performance as "exuberant". In December 2008, New appeared as the college student Ricardo in the
Young Vic production of
Colin Teevan and Paul Heritage's play
Amazonia. In October 2009, New played
Joe Orton in the original London production of the dark comedy
Prick Up Your Ears. The concept for the play came from New's roommate. New contacted actor and comedian
Matt Lucas, who was looking to do a play. Bent agreed to script the work, and Sonia Friedman came aboard as producer and Daniel Kramer as director. New followed up playing selfish lover Steven in
Peter Nichols new play
Lingua Franca at the
Finborough Theatre in London in July 2010. Critic Michael Billington praised New's casting. In September 2011, New played the title role in
Edward II by
Christopher Marlowe at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Alfred Hickling had high praise for New's performance as Edward II, a decidedly non-sympathetic role. "Chris New's Edward earns pity, if not respect. His incessant vacillation is perfectly illustrated in the childish manner with which he folds his abdication papers into a crown, as if the realm of England were something that fell out of a cracker." David Chadderton, writing for
The British Theatre Guide, found New equally praiseworthy: "The production is held together by a superb pairing of Chris New as Edward and
Samuel Collings as Gaveston and later as the sinister murderer Lightborn. There is never any doubt about the sexual nature of their relationship and the bond feels genuine, and, while neither character is particularly attractive, they both have great charisma." Interestingly, although New has not necessarily sought out gay-themed plays or characters, Ben Walker in
Attitude magazine noted in 2011 that it's this work which has attracted the most acclaim. New co-starred in a revival of
Philip Ridley 1991 play
The Pitchfork Disney in February 2012. The play ran at the
Arcola Theatre in London. Lyn Gardner, critiquing the play for
The Guardian, called New's one of several excellent performances in the play. After an absence from the stage for nearly a year, New appeared in the Chris Dunkley play
Smallholding at the Nuffield Theatre at University of Southampton. David Penrose of the
The Portsmouth News wrote that New and co-star Matti Houghton provided performances of "energy and great emotional weight. Both are charismatic, highly physical performers, being funny and manic." The
HighTide Festival Theatre production then moved to the
Soho Theatre in January 2014. In Summer 2013, New directed the play
The Precariat at the Finborough Theatre. New subsequently wrote the short play
A New Play for the General Election in 2015. It debuted under his direction at the Finborough Theatre in April 2015 to mixed reviews. New played the title role of Tom Wingfield in the
Nottingham Playhouse production of
Tennessee Williams'
The Glass Menagerie in March 2016, for which he won raves from the
Nottingham Post. In 2017, New and Mark Edel-Hunt played Daniel Quinn in
City of Glass, adapted by Duncan Macmillan from the first novel of
Paul Auster’s
New York Trilogy, and the graphic novel by
Paul Karasik and
David Mazzucchelli. The play had its premier in March at
HOME in Manchester and continued at the
Lyric Theatre in London in April. A cast of four adults and a child played sixteen parts and a narrator. "The ensemble...are excellent", writes
The Arts Desk. In March 2017 New performed a reading of
Tibor Fischer’s
Portrait of the Artist as a Foaming Deathmonger. New played the part of pilot Lars Koch in
Ferdinand von Schirach’s courtroom drama
Terror at the
Brisbane Festival in September 2017. The
Lyric Theatre production previously had its UK premier in June 2017, with a different cast. “Chris New as Lars Koch, the pilot, is stunningly adamant and fragile”, writes Meredith McLean in the
AU review. "Chris New plays the dignified Koch with convincing restraint", wrote Jo Litson in
Limelight. New returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the 2018 summer season. He played the Cardinal in a modern dress production of
John Webster’s
The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Maria Aberg, at the
Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Film work New made his cinema acting debut alongside
Tom Cullen in the film
Weekend in 2011, a film directed by
Andrew Haigh. Karen Durbin, writing for
The New York Times, called New one of the "faces to watch" for his outstanding performance. His performance won him a nomination as Best Newcomer at the 2011
BFI London Film Festival Awards. For reasons which are unclear, the character was voiced by a different actor. (The film was finally released in 2012.) New auditioned for the role of Jesus for an American network in 2012, but did not get the part. New suspects he was turned down because of his sexuality, but cautioned "There could be a million reasons why you might not get a job and gay people have to be careful about blaming [homophobia] because they're reinforcing their own closet door." Scheduling conflicts forced New to drop out of the project as an actor. The film was released in 2015, and played several festivals before finding an international distributor. New made his cinema directorial debut in April 2013 with the short film
Ticking, which premiered at the
Nashville Film Festival. New returned to cinema in 2014, directing the micro-budget film
A Smallholding. New had previously starred in the stage play of the same name by playwright Chris Dunkley. The film was produced by Man in Rum, and the budget was raised entirely on Kickstarter, a crowd-sourcing funding Web site. Principal photography on the film wrapped in early March 2014. New co-wrote the film with Dunkley, and also acted as its cinematographer, film editor, and sound editor. ==Personal life==